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
Last Updated: July 21, 2025
This Notice of Privacy Practices (the “Notice”) will tell you about the ways Loula Perinatal Health Services and the doula professionals providing professional services through Loula Perinatal Health Services (“Loula Providers”) (collectively the “Practice”), and its affiliates (including, Onu Wellness, Inc., acting as a HIPAA Business Associate to the Practice) (collectively, “Loula,” “we,” “us,” and “our”), may disclose health information about you. This Notice will also describe your rights and certain obligations that we have regarding the use and disclosure of your health information.
Loula is a perinatal health platform that offers services (including professional services provided by Loula Providers) across multiple legal entities, which are referred to by the HIPAA Privacy Rule as an "organized health care arrangement" (OHCA). Loula Providers listed on this website provide healthcare services via telehealth and/or in person. Loula’s legal entities share protected health information with each other, only as necessary, to carry out Loula’s treatment, payment, and health care operations, and for other purposes permitted or required by law under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”). All entities that comprise Loula agree to comply with the terms of this Notice.
This Notice applies only to health information that is “protected health information” (PHI) as defined by HIPAA. It does not apply to information not covered by HIPAA. Please see Loula’s Privacy Policy for terms that apply to non-HIPAA-covered products and services.
We are required by law to:
Although this Notice is being provided to you electronically, you have the right to request a paper copy at any time.
We reserve the right to change our privacy practices and the terms of this Notice at any time and to make those changes effective for all protected health information that we maintain. You may obtain a copy of the revised Notice on our website.
This Notice is effective as of July 21, 2025.
We may use and disclose your health information for purposes such as treatment, payment, and health care operations. These are necessary activities for quality care, and both state and federal laws allow such uses.
Examples:
Other uses and disclosures (e.g., marketing, selling information, or sharing visit notes) require your written authorization unless an exception applies. You may revoke such authorization in writing at any time, except to the extent we have already relied on it.
We may use or share your health information without your authorization in the following circumstances:
Emergencies. Sufficient information may be shared to address an immediate emergency you are facing.
Judicial and Administrative Proceedings. We may disclose your personal health information in the course of a judicial or administrative proceeding in response to a valid court order or other lawful process, including if you were to make a claim for Workers Compensation.
Public Health Activities. If we felt you were an immediate danger to yourself or others, we may disclose health information about you to the authorities, as well as alert any other person who may be in danger.
Child/Elder Abuse. We may disclose health information about you related to the suspicion of child and/or elder abuse or neglect.
Criminal Activity or Danger to Others. We may disclose health information if a crime is committed on our premises or against our personnel, or if we believe there is someone who is in immediate danger.
Health Oversight Activities. We may disclose health information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law. These activities might include audits or inspections and are necessary for the government to monitor the health care system and assure compliance with civil rights laws. Regulatory and accrediting organizations may review your case record to ensure compliance with their requirements. The minimum necessary information will be provided in these instances.
Business Associates. The Practice may disclose the minimum necessary health information to our business associates that perform functions on our behalf or provide us with services if the information is necessary for such functions or services. For example, the Practice contracts with a vendor for filing claims with insurance companies. In the process of filing claims, that organization will come into contact with your information. All of our business associates sign agreements to protect the privacy of your information and are not allowed to use or disclose any information other than as specified in our contract, and are obligated to promptly notify us in the event there is a breach of protected health information (as defined by HIPAA).
Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (“TEFCA”). The Practice or its business associates may disclose health information through a TEFCA for HIPAA-authorized treatment purposes, subject to contractual agreements to protect the privacy and security of health information as required by HIPAA, in order to manage or coordinate your health care, arrange for additional services, and/or for our health care operations.
Research. Under certain circumstances, we may use and disclose health information for research. We may permit researchers to look at non-identifying information to help them plan research projects.
Marketing related to Loula services. We may send you newsletters or information about services we provide in which we feel you might be interested. You may at any time request that your name be removed from our mailing list.
Patient communications. We may email or call you to remind you about visits and confirm visit details.
Some of our clients prefer to communicate with their provider via email or text message. Email and text messages have inherent privacy and security risks, and you should be aware of those before using emails and text messages. Errors in transmission or interception of messages can occur. Your email or text message is not a secure communication between you and your provider. At your provider’s discretion, your email or text message any and all responses may become part of your medical record. Additionally, for urgent or an emergency situation, you should not rely on email communication with providers affiliated with the Practice. In those situations, you should call 911.
Onu Wellness, Inc. (and its subsidiaries and affiliated companies, including, but not limited to, Loula Perinatal Health Services of California LLC) does not provide professional healthcare services. Subject to applicable HIPAA Privacy Rule protections (including a Business Associate Agreement), it provides only administrative, billing, payment, technical, quality and compliance oversight, and other non-clinical support services necessary for clients to receive professional healthcare services from a Loula Provider. These non-clinical support services allow Loula Providers to concentrate on offering professional healthcare services to clients as independent contractors.