PRIVACY POLICY

This Privacy Policy is that of Downtown Veterinary Medical Hospitals PLLC doing business as (dba) Battery Park Veterinary Hospital (BPVH), dba Tribeca Soho Animal Hospital (TSAH), dba West Village Veterinary Hospital (WVVH), and dba DVM Hospitals (DVMH) as well as Wall Street Animal Hospital PLLC dba Seaport Animal Hospital together known as the Practice.  For questions or comment, please send a letter addressed to Mark G. Burns, DVM c/o Downtown Veterinary Medical Hospitals PLLC, 5 Lispenard Street, New York NY 10013. Allow 30 days for response.

Any information that we collect is private and for Practice use only except for:

1) Information that we may be required to provide by law or court order, or in the preparation of health certificates, or rabies vaccine certifications, or for pet licenses (if required to do so in the future by local, state, or federal law), or when requested by boarding facilities where you may board your pet such request to be received by phone, fax, letter, or electronically.

2) Information which may be reviewed by accountants, auditors, or other professionals in the course of their consultancy to the Practice.

3) Information required in the submission of laboratory samples to our outside laboratories for the purposes of performing diagnostic tests, or to vendors who prepare special medications or treatments or appliances for patients, or to pharmacies in the form of prescriptions, or to pet transporting agencies, or to other agencies that we may use in providing care to your pet.

4) Information sent or transmitted to other animal hospitals where patients may be transported or referred for other care or specialized care. This includes the sending or transmittal of radiographs or other un-limited client &/or patient information deemed necessary for or required for the submission of such data.

5) Information that you ask us to send to another animal hospital or any other facility or individual. We may or may not ask that this request be in writing.

5) Information that we may be required to submit to either initiate or respond to a court proceeding.

6) Information sent to agencies who prepare and send reminders to you for patient health care needs.

7) If you ask us to keep your credit card information on file, we will have your full credit card number and expiration date visible for use by our staff

Client and patient records are kept on paper and electronically. We maintain all medical records for 3 years after the date of the last patient visit. Out-of-date records as well as any and all transient forms completed by you about yourself or your pet or by us in the daily care of your pet are disposed of through our sanitation vendor Waste Management of New York, or M&M Sanitation, or our medical waste vendors, or a paper shredding vendor according to policies and procedures established by them. Information lying open on the reception desk or around the Practice in our day-to-day use may be visible to other clients, vendors, utility agents, or visiting individuals, or others. For your safety and privacy, we use truncated receipts in all of our credit card transactions. All information, medical records, and components of the medical records are the property of the Practice. We do not sell names, addresses, phones numbers, email addresses, pet information, or any other data or information to anyone for any purposes under any circumstances. We will speak with other doctors about your pet's care at your request and will send or fax limited information about your pet at no additional fee. Requests for the sending or transmittal of "complete medical records" will be done on a non-urgent basis; there will usually be a nominal fee for this request.

This encompasses our entire Privacy Policy and privacy commitment to our clients.