Notice of Privacy Practices
Luminary Sleep & Wellness Clinic
K. Nicole Mims, MD Board-Certified Sleep Medicine
Effective Date: October 1, 2026
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
Who We Are and Who Follows This Notice
Luminary Sleep & Wellness Clinic is a direct-pay (self-pay) telehealth sleep medicine practice led by K. Nicole Mims, MD, a board-certified sleep medicine physician. We care for patients located in North Carolina and Alabama. This notice applies to all health information we create or receive about you, and it is followed by our physician, staff, and any contractors who help us run the practice.
“Health information” (also called protected health information) means information that identifies you and relates to your past, present, or future health, the care you receive, or payment for that care — for example, your sleep history, sleep study results, prescriptions, lab results, and visit notes.
Your Rights
When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.
Get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record. You can ask to see or get a copy of your medical record and other health information we have about you, including in an electronic format (for example, through our patient portal or as a secure download). Ask us how to do this. We will provide a copy or a summary, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee. You may also ask us to send a copy directly to another person or provider you choose.
Ask us to correct your medical record. You can ask us to correct health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete. Ask us how to do this. We may say “no” to your request, but we will tell you why in writing within 60 days.
Request confidential communications. You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, at a different phone number or mailing address, or with no email or text reminders). We will say “yes to all reasonable requests.
Ask us to limit what we use or share. You can ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your care.
Restrict disclosures to your health plan when you pay in full. If you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full, you can ask us not to share information about that service with your health insurer for payment or health care operations. We will say yes unless a law requires us to share that information. Because our practice is direct-pay and does not bill insurance, we generally do not send your information to health plans at all. If you ask us for a superbill (an itemized receipt you can submit to your insurer yourself), you control whether and when it is sent to your plan.
Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared information. You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times we’ve shared your health information for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why. We will include all disclosures except those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). Well provide one accounting a year for free but may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.
Get a copy of this privacy notice. You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive it electronically. We will provide a paper copy promptly. This notice is also posted at luminarysleep.com.
Choose someone to act for you. If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information. For patients who cannot legally consent to their own care under North Carolina or Alabama law, a parent or legal guardian may act as the patient’s personal representative, subject to state rules. We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action.
File a complaint if you feel your rights are violated. You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting our Privacy Officer using the information at the end of this notice. You can also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
To exercise any of these rights, contact our Privacy Officer. We may ask you to make certain requests in writing (a portal message or email counts), and we will verify your identity before releasing records.
Your Choices
For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions.
In these cases, you have both the right and the choice to tell us to:
- Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in your care (for example, a bed partner who joins a telehealth visit to describe your snoring).
- Share information in a disaster relief situation.
If you are not able to tell us your preference for example, if you are unconscious — we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.
In these cases, we never share your information unless you give us written permission:
- Marketing purposes.
- Sale of your information.
- Most sharing of psychotherapy notes (our practice does not generally keep psychotherapy notes).
Fundraising: We do not conduct fundraising. If that ever changes, we will update this notice, and you would have the right to tell us not to contact you again.
Our Uses and Disclosures
How do we typically use or share your health information? We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.
Treat you. We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you. Examples: sending a prescription electronically to your pharmacy; ordering a home sleep apnea test from a testing vendor and receiving the results; ordering lab work; sending a sleep study report or visit note to your primary care doctor, dentist (for an oral appliance), or a durable medical equipment supplier for CPAP; or reviewing your prescription history through e-prescribing and state prescription monitoring databases.
Run our organization. We can use and share your health information to run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary. Examples: using our electronic health record and patient portal (OptiMantra) to store your records and communicate with you; automated appointment reminders; quality reviews; and working with our accountant, IT, or legal advisors.
Payment for your services. We are a direct-pay practice and do not bill health insurance. We use limited information (such as your name, services, and dates) to charge you and process your payments through secure payment processors. We do not share your health information with a health plan unless you ask us to or give written permission, or unless the law otherwise permits or requires it. If you request a superbill, we give it to you so you can decide whether to submit it to your plan.
Business associates. We use outside companies to help us provide care and run the practice — for example, our EHR, patient-portal, and telehealth video vendor (OptiMantra), home sleep testing companies, laboratories, and payment processors. When these companies handle your health information on our behalf, we require them by written agreement to protect it as HIPAA requires.
How Else Can We Use or Share Your Health Information?
We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. For more information, see www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/guidance-materials-for-consumers/index.html.
Help with public health and safety issues. For example: preventing disease; helping with product recalls (such as a CPAP device recall); reporting adverse reactions to medications; reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence; and preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety. Where state law requires, this may include reporting a medical condition that affects a persons ability to drive safely.
Do research. We can use or share your information for health research, only as the law allows (for example, with your authorization or approval by a research review board).
Comply with the law. We will share information about you if state or federal laws require it, including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we are complying with federal privacy law.
Respond to organ and tissue donation requests. We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.
Work with a medical examiner or funeral director. We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies.
Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests. We can use or share health information about you: for workers’ compensation claims; for law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official; with health oversight agencies (such as medical licensing boards) for activities authorized by law; and for special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services.
Respond to lawsuits and legal actions. We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.
Substance Use Disorder Records (42 CFR Part 2)
We are not a specialized substance use disorder treatment program. However, if we receive records about you from a federally assisted substance use disorder treatment program that are protected by federal law (42 CFR Part 2), those records, or testimony relaying their content, will not be used or disclosed in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceedings against you unless you give written consent, or a court orders it after you (or the holder of the records) are given notice and an opportunity to be heard. A court order authorizing use or disclosure must be accompanied by a subpoena or other legal requirement compelling disclosure before the record is used or disclosed. We do not use such records for fundraising.
Telehealth and Electronic Communications
Our patient portal (OptiMantra) is the primary way to reach us. Please use the portal’s secure messaging for questions, prescription requests, forms, and anything that involves your health information. Our system may also send automated appointment reminders and notifications (for example, “you have a new message in your portal”) by email or text message. These automated messages do not include clinical details, and they are not a way to communicate with us about your care. Standard email and text messages are not always encrypted, so we do not use them to discuss your health. You may opt out of email or text reminders at any time by letting us know through the portal. Please do not use the portal, email, or text for urgent or emergency matters; call 911 for emergencies.
Telehealth visits take place through our EHR’s secure, built-in video platform (OptiMantra). For your privacy, please join from a private location. We do not record telehealth visits without your permission. If you choose to share information from sleep trackers, wearables, CPAP apps, or other consumer apps with us, that information becomes part of your record once we receive it; the app companies themselves may not be covered by HIPAA.
If we share your information with someone who is not required to follow HIPAA (for example, at your request), the recipient could share it again, and it may no longer be protected by federal privacy law.
State Law
We follow North Carolina and Alabama laws where they give you greater privacy protection than federal law or impose additional requirements — for example, laws about certain sensitive information, minors, or required public health reports.
Our Responsibilities
- We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information and to provide you with this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices.
- We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.
- We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it.
- We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind; this will not undo any sharing that already happened while your permission was in effect.
For more information, see www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/notice-privacy-practices/index.html.
Changes to the Terms of This Notice
We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request, posted on our website (luminarysleep.com), and available through our patient portal. We will provide you with the revised notice at your next visit or by electronic means if you have agreed to that.
Contact Us
If you have questions about this notice or want to exercise your rights, please contact:
Privacy Officer: K. Nicole Mims, MD
Phone: (704) 749-0907
Email: mimsmd@luminarysleep.com
Mail: 615 Clinton Ave W #252, Huntsville, AL 35801
Website: luminarysleep.com
Effective Date: October 1, 2026
A printable copy of this notice is available upon request. To request a paper copy, contact our Privacy Officer at (704) 749-0907 or mimsmd@luminarysleep.com.