Website & Communications Privacy Policy
Carolina Ear, Nose & Throat – Sinus and Allergy Center • Effective 8/19/2026 •
1. Who we are and what this policy covers
Carolina Ear Nose & Throat Sinus And Allergy Center PA, doing business as Carolina Ear, Nose & Throat – Sinus and Allergy Center (“Carolina ENT,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), operates the website https://carolinaearnosethroat.com and the related online tools, forms, text-message (SMS) programs, email communications, and patient portal links that we make available to patients and visitors. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect through those channels, how we use it, when we share it, and the choices you have.
This policy is written in plain language. If anything is unclear, contact us using the information in Section 12.
2. How this relates to our HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices
Carolina ENT is a covered entity under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Our use and disclosure of your protected health information (PHI) – the health and billing information in your medical record – is governed by our Notice of Privacy Practices, available at [https://carolinaearnosethroat.com/notice-of-privacy-practices/] and at any of our offices. If there is ever a conflict between this Privacy Policy and the Notice of Privacy Practices regarding PHI, the Notice of Privacy Practices controls.
3. Information we collect
Information you give us
- Contact and appointment requests. Name, email address, phone number, and the message you type when you use a contact or appointment-request form on our website.
- Registration, check-in, and scheduling. When you pre-register, check in, schedule, or pay online, you provide demographic, insurance, and payment information through our patient-intake and scheduling vendor (see Section 5). Payment card details are entered directly with that vendor and are not stored on our website.
- Text-message (SMS) opt-in. Your mobile phone number and your consent to receive text messages, collected on paper at the office, during electronic check-in, or through our online consent form (see Section 6).
- Employment applications. Information you submit through the Careers page.
Information collected automatically
- Usage and device data. Like most websites, we use cookies and similar technologies (including Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics) to collect IP address, browser type, pages viewed, referring site, and general location. This data helps us understand how the site is used and keep it working. You can block cookies in your browser settings; some features may not work as intended.
- Links to other services. Our patient portal, online payment, scheduling, and social media links take you to third-party sites that have their own privacy policies. We do not control those sites.
4. How we use information
We use the information described above to:
- respond to your questions and appointment requests;
- schedule, confirm, remind you of, and follow up on appointments, testing, and procedures;
- send account, billing, and balance notifications and let you pay online;
- send forms, instructions, and other information related to your care;
- operate, secure, and improve our website and online tools; and
- comply with legal and regulatory obligations.
We do not use information collected through our website or text-message programs to sell you products, and we do not send marketing text messages unless you separately and specifically opt in to a marketing program.
5. When we share information
We share information only as described here:
- Service providers that help us operate. We use vendors to host the website, send text messages and emails, manage online check-in, scheduling, and payments, and run our electronic health record and practice-management systems. Current vendors in these roles include Vital Interaction (patient messaging), Clearwave (check-in, scheduling, and payments), Fuel Medical Group (website hosting and maintenance), and Veradigm (practice management and electronic health record). These vendors may access information only to perform services for us and are contractually required to protect it; where PHI is involved, they sign HIPAA business associate agreements.
- As required by law. We may disclose information to comply with a subpoena, court order, or other legal process, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of our patients, staff, or others.
- Business transfers. If our practice is merged, acquired, or reorganized, information may transfer to the successor organization, which will remain bound by this policy or one at least as protective.
This Practice does not share, sell, rent, or lease its customer lists or mobile opt-in data to third parties for marketing purposes.
The sentence above is required verbatim and in bold by the carrier registration. Do not edit its wording.
Mobile phone numbers and text-message opt-in consent are used only to deliver the messages you agreed to receive. They are shared only with the messaging platform that sends those messages on our behalf.
6. Text messages (SMS)
Carolina ENT offers a text-messaging program for appointment reminders and confirmations, scheduling and recall notices, pre- and post-visit instructions and forms, and account or balance notifications. Messages are sent only to patients (or their authorized representatives) who have opted in.
- How you opt in. You may opt in by checking the text-message consent box on our paper or electronic registration form or by confirming with our staff. Consent is never a condition of receiving care, and the consent box is never pre-checked for you.
- Message frequency. Frequency varies based on your appointments and account activity.
- Cost. Message and data rates may apply depending on your mobile carrier and plan.
- How to stop. Reply STOP to any message to opt out. You will receive one confirmation message and no further texts unless you opt in again. Reply HELP for assistance, or call us at (828) 322-2183.
- Carriers. Supported carriers include AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and other major U.S. carriers. Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.
- Record of consent. We maintain a record of your consent in our practice-management system. Full program terms are in our SMS Terms & Conditions at [https://carolinaearnosethroat.com/sms-terms/].
Text messages are not encrypted end to end and may be seen by anyone with access to your phone. We keep reminder texts brief and avoid detailed clinical information. If you prefer not to receive texts, tell us and we will use another method.
7. Email
If you provide an email address, we may email you appointment, scheduling, billing, and care-related notices. You may opt out of non-essential email by following the unsubscribe link in the message or by contacting us. Standard email is not a secure channel; please do not send sensitive health information by email. Use the patient portal for secure messages.
8. Cookies and analytics
We use cookies, tags, and analytics tools to measure site traffic and improve content. We do not use this data to build advertising profiles, and we do not place tracking technologies on patient-portal, check-in, or payment pages that we control. [Confirm with Fuel Medical Group which tags are deployed (GTM container GTM-NGL4V99 is live) and whether any advertising pixels exist; remove any pixel from authenticated or form pages.] You can manage cookies through your browser.
9. Security
We use reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards – including HTTPS encryption on our website, access controls, and vendor agreements – to protect the information we collect. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
10. Children
Our website is intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information online from children under 13 without parental consent. Parents and guardians provide information about minor patients as part of registration and care.
11. Your choices and rights
- You can opt out of text messages at any time by replying STOP, and out of email by unsubscribing or contacting us.
- You can ask us what contact information we have for you and ask us to correct it.
- Rights regarding your medical record (access, amendment, accounting of disclosures, restrictions, confidential communications) are described in our Notice of Privacy Practices.
- Our website does not currently respond to browser “Do Not Track” signals.
12. Contact us
Questions about this policy, or requests regarding your contact information, can be directed to:
Carolina Ear, Nose & Throat – Sinus and Allergy Center
Attn: Privacy Officer
256 10th Avenue NE, Hickory, NC 28601
Phone: (828) 322-2183 • Email: privacy@carolinaearnosethroat.com
13. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The effective date at the top shows when it was last revised. Material changes will be posted on this page. Your continued use of our website or communication programs after a change means you accept the revised policy.