Privacy policy

Who we are

Caretelly is an AI phone receptionist for dental offices, based in Los Angeles, California. Caretelly is in early access.

When you call a clinic that uses Caretelly, our assistant answers on the clinic's behalf. It can book appointments into the clinic's practice software, take messages, and send appointment texts.

This policy covers callers and patients of those clinics, clinic staff who use our dashboard, and visitors to caretelly.com.

What we collect

From calls

• Call audio. Calls are recorded. The assistant says so at the start of every call.
• Transcripts of what was said on the call.
• Phone numbers: the number you call from and any number you give us.
• What you tell the assistant, such as your name, date of birth, the reason for your visit, your preferred times, and appointment details.

From clinic staff

• Account details such as name, work email, role and the clinic you belong to.
• A log of actions in the dashboard, such as who listened to a call or changed a setting.

Usage analytics

We measure how the service performs, such as call counts, call length, how often calls are booked or handed to staff, and error rates. These measurements do not include patient health information.

From this website

This website does not use advertising or tracking cookies. Our hosting provider processes standard request data, such as IP address and browser type, to deliver and protect the site. If you email us, we keep your message so we can reply.

How we use it

• To run the service for the clinic: answer the call, understand what you need, book or change appointments, take messages, send appointment texts, and pass calls to clinic staff.
• Quality review: the clinic, and our staff where the clinic allows it, may review calls and transcripts to fix mistakes and improve how the assistant handles calls for that clinic.
• Safety: to recognise emergencies and route them as the clinic has set up, to detect misuse or fraud, and to keep the service secure.
• To support clinic staff and keep their accounts working.
• To meet legal obligations.

HIPAA and the business associate agreement

Clinics are "covered entities" under HIPAA. Caretelly is their "business associate". Each clinic signs a business associate agreement (BAA) with us before any patient information flows through Caretelly.

That means:

• We handle protected health information (PHI) only on behalf of the clinic and only to provide the service.
• The clinic controls it. The clinic decides how long it is kept and who on its staff can see it.
• We do not sell PHI.
• We do not use it for advertising or marketing.
• We do not use it to train AI models, ours or anyone else's.

Where this policy and a clinic's BAA differ about PHI, the BAA applies. The clinic's own notice of privacy practices also applies to you as its patient.

Service providers we use

We use a small number of providers to run Caretelly. Each one that handles PHI does so under a BAA.

• Retell AI runs the voice assistant: speech recognition, the conversation, and speech.
• Twilio carries the phone calls and text messages. We use Twilio through Retell AI.
• NexHealth connects Caretelly to the clinic's practice software so appointments can be read and written.
• Cloudflare hosts this website and parts of our service.

We will update this list before adding a provider that handles PHI. Clinics can ask us for the current list at any time.

How long we keep it

How long call recordings, transcripts and call details are kept is set by the clinic in its contract with us. When that period ends, we delete them.

If you want a recording deleted sooner, ask your clinic. The clinic can delete it or ask us to. Some records may need to be kept longer where the law requires it.

When a clinic stops using Caretelly, we return or delete its data as its BAA requires.

Security

• Transcripts: every call transcript is in the clinic's console, so the clinic can review what was said.
• Least privilege: staff and systems get only the access they need. Clinic owners, managers and front desk staff have separate roles.

No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects PHI, we will notify the clinic as our BAA and the law require, so the clinic can notify affected patients.

Your choices and rights

If you are a patient or caller, your clinic is in charge of your health information. To see, correct or delete a call recording or other records, contact your clinic. We help the clinic fulfil your request. If you contact us directly, we will pass your request to the clinic.

If you do not want your call recorded, you can hang up and contact the clinic another way.

If you are clinic staff or a website visitor, you can ask us what personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, and we will not treat you differently for asking. Email hello@caretelly.com.

Text messaging (SMS)

Caretelly sends appointment text messages on behalf of the clinics we work with. Messages name the clinic they come from.

Who receives texts

Patients who gave a mobile number on a call or to their clinic, and agreed to receive appointment texts. Agreeing to receive texts is not a condition of booking or of any purchase.

What we send

• Appointment confirmations
• New-patient instructions, such as forms and what to bring
• Callbacks and replies to messages you left with the clinic

We do not send marketing or promotional texts.

How often

Message frequency varies with your appointments. Message and data rates may apply.

Your mobile information

We do not sell, rent or share your mobile number or text messaging consent with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. We share it only with the providers that deliver the messages for us, as described above.

Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

Children

Caretelly is not directed at children. When a minor needs an appointment, a parent or guardian should make the call and give the child's details. If you believe a child has given us information without a parent or guardian, contact the clinic or email us and we will help the clinic remove it.

Changes to this policy

We will update this page when our practices change and change the effective date at the top. If a change is significant, we will tell the clinics we work with before it takes effect.

Contact

Questions about this policy or your information: hello@caretelly.com.

Caretelly, Los Angeles, California.

See also our terms of service.