Privacy Policy

NY MedCare is a medical practice in Manhattan, and Dr. Huma Irshad is a USCIS-designated civil surgeon who performs Form I-693 immigration medical examinations. If you are applying for a green card, questions about who sees your health information are not abstract. This policy explains what we collect, what goes to USCIS, what does not, and what control you have.

Section 1Who this policy covers

This Privacy Policy applies to NY MedCare ("NY MedCare," "we," "us," "our"), at 15 E 40th St, Suite 201, New York, NY 10016. It covers this website, our telephone communications, and the immigration medical examination services we provide in our office.

NY MedCare is a HIPAA covered entity. Health information you give us in connection with your examination is Protected Health Information (PHI), governed by the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, New York State health privacy law, and our Notice of Privacy Practices, which we provide at your appointment. Where this policy and that Notice differ as to PHI, the Notice of Privacy Practices controls.

Section 2Two different kinds of information

Different rules apply to each, so it helps to separate them:

Section 3Information we collect

When you contact us

We schedule appointments by telephone. This website has no booking form and no contact form, so the only way it collects anything you type is the chat window in the corner of the page. When you call, we take:

• Your name, date of birth, and a callback number
• Your preferred appointment date and time
• The reason for your visit, for example that you need a Form I-693 examination
• Your USCIS receipt number or A-number, if you choose to give it, so we can match your file

When you use the chat window

The chat window is operated for us by LeadConnector (HighLevel). Anything you type into it, along with any name, phone number or email address you give, is transmitted to and stored on LeadConnector's servers and reaches our staff there. It also records the page you were on and sets cookies so a conversation survives a page reload.

During your examination

The scope of the immigration medical examination is set by USCIS and the CDC Technical Instructions for Civil Surgeons, not by us. To complete and sign your Form I-693 we collect:

• Identity verification from your government-issued photo identification
• Medical history, current medications, allergies, and prior surgeries or hospitalizations
• Physical examination findings, including vital signs and a review of body systems
• Screening for communicable diseases of public health significance, including tuberculosis (by IGRA blood test and, where indicated, chest radiograph), syphilis, and gonorrhea
• Your vaccination history and records, and any vaccines administered or ordered
• A screening history for drug and alcohol use, and for mental or physical disorders with associated harmful behavior, because the form requires the civil surgeon to address them

Automatically, on this website

• Google Analytics 4 (measurement ID G-GFF61XS9JJ) records page views, approximate location derived from IP address, device and browser type, referring site, and how you move through the site. Google may set cookies to do this.
• Google Fonts serves the typefaces, which involves a request to Google's servers that includes your IP address.
• unpkg.com serves the 3D graphics library used for visual effects on the home page, which likewise involves a request carrying your IP address.
• LeadConnector (HighLevel) loads the chat window from leadconnectorhq.com on every page and may set its own cookies to keep a conversation going, whether or not you open it.
• Standard web server logs recording IP address, timestamp, and requested page.

We do not run advertising or retargeting pixels on this site, and we do not build advertising profiles from health-related page views.

Section 4How we use your information

• To schedule, confirm, and remind you about your appointment
• To perform your examination and complete and certify Form I-693
• To order the laboratory tests and vaccines the CDC Technical Instructions require, and to receive and review results
• To answer your questions by phone
• To bill you and process payment
• To keep the medical and consent records federal and New York law require
• To understand, in aggregate, which pages of this site are useful
• To protect the security of our systems and detect fraud or misuse

We do not use your health information for marketing and we do not sell it. Any marketing use of PHI that HIPAA would require written authorization for will not happen without that authorization.

Section 5How your I-693 information reaches USCIS

This is what patients ask about most, so it is worth being precise.

1. Dr. Irshad completes and signs your Form I-693 based on your examination, your laboratory results, and your vaccination record.
2. We place the completed form in an envelope, seal it, and sign across the seal exactly as USCIS requires. We also give you an identical copy for your own records.
3. You submit the sealed envelope to USCIS, with your application, at your interview, or in response to a Request for Evidence. We do not file your immigration application and we do not transmit your form to USCIS on your behalf.

What goes to USCIS is what Form I-693 asks for. Unrelated parts of your medical history that the form does not ask about are not included in the sealed envelope.

Section 6Who else we share information with

We share the minimum necessary, and only in these situations.

To complete your examination

• Clinical laboratories that run the blood tests USCIS requires, and radiology facilities if a chest radiograph is indicated. They receive your name, date of birth, and the test order.
• Pharmacies and vaccine suppliers, if we write you a prescription.
• Immunization registries. New York directs providers to report certain immunizations to the Citywide Immunization Registry or the New York State Immunization Information System.

Because public health law requires it

Tuberculosis, syphilis, gonorrhea, and certain other conditions are reportable to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene or the New York State Department of Health. If your results are positive for a reportable condition we are legally required to report it. This obligation applies to every patient in New York regardless of immigration status, and it is separate from your immigration case.

Service providers

• LeadConnector (HighLevel), which operates the chat window and stores the conversations
• Our electronic medical record and secure data hosting providers
• Our payment processor, which handles card data directly; we do not store full card numbers
• Google Analytics, for aggregate website measurement

Vendors that handle PHI on our behalf are bound by written HIPAA Business Associate Agreements and may use your information only to perform services for us.

When the law compels it

We may disclose information in response to a valid court order, subpoena, or other legally enforceable demand, or where disclosure is required to prevent a serious and imminent threat to health or safety. Where we have a lawful basis to object, to notify you, or to require more specific legal process, we will use it.

Business transfers

If the practice is sold, merged, or transferred, patient records may transfer with it as permitted by HIPAA and New York law. Any successor must continue to protect your information under terms at least as protective as these.

Section 7Immigration enforcement

We do not voluntarily disclose patient information, immigration status, appointment times, or addresses to immigration enforcement agencies. We do not permit warrantless access to non-public areas of our office. If we receive a demand for patient records from any law enforcement or immigration authority, we will review it, require the legal process the law actually requires, and disclose only what we are legally obligated to disclose.

Section 8Telephone calls and text messages

We schedule and confirm appointments by phone. If you give us your mobile number and agree, we may text you appointment confirmations, reminders, and results-ready notices. Agreeing to text messages is never a condition of receiving care.

• Reply STOP to any message to opt out, or HELP for help.
• Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply.
• No mobile information will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. Opt-in data and consent are not shared with any third party except the subcontractors that deliver messages for us.
• Standard SMS is not a fully secure channel. We keep clinical detail in text messages to a minimum, and you can ask us to reach you only by phone call.

Section 9Cookies and your choices

You can control cookies through your browser settings and block or delete them at any time. This site remains fully readable with cookies disabled.

• Opt out of Google Analytics across all sites with Google's browser add-on.
• Most browsers offer a Do Not Track signal and Global Privacy Control. We honor Global Privacy Control signals where applicable law requires it.
• Ask us to reach you only by phone, only by mail, or at an alternate number. See your rights below.

Section 10Your rights over your records

Under HIPAA and New York Public Health Law you have the right to:

• Get a copy of your medical record, including your completed Form I-693, on paper or electronically
• Ask us to correct information you believe is inaccurate or incomplete
• Receive an accounting of certain disclosures we have made
• Request restrictions on how we use or share your information
• Request confidential communications, for example that we call a specific number or never leave voicemail
• Receive a paper copy of our Notice of Privacy Practices on request
• Be notified if a breach affects your unsecured health information

To exercise any of these, call (917) 905-8140 or write to the address below. We may ask you to put the request in writing and to verify your identity. Certain categories carry extra protection under New York law, including HIV-related information under Article 27-F of the Public Health Law, and we handle those under those heightened rules.

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated you may complain to us and, separately, to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights at hhs.gov/ocr/complaints. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint, and your examination will not be affected by it.

Section 11How long we keep records

New York requires physicians to retain adult medical records for at least six years after the last visit, and records of a minor for at least six years and until one year after the minor turns 18, whichever is longer. We keep consent and opt-out records for text messaging as long as needed to show compliance. Website analytics data follows Google's standard retention schedule. We delete or de-identify information when we no longer have a legal or clinical reason to keep it.

Section 12How we protect your information

This site is served over HTTPS. Records are held in access-controlled systems, staff access is limited to what each role requires, and vendors are contractually bound to safeguard PHI. We maintain the administrative, physical, and technical safeguards required by HIPAA and the New York SHIELD Act. No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure and we cannot guarantee absolute security, so please do not send sensitive medical detail by unencrypted email.

Section 13Minors

We perform immigration medical examinations for children when a parent or legal guardian consents and is present. A child's record is protected exactly as an adult's is, and is generally accessible to the parent or guardian, subject to limits New York law places on certain categories of adolescent care. This website is not directed to children and collects no information from them.

Section 14Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as our services, our vendors, or the law change. The revised version is posted here with a new effective date. Material changes to how we handle PHI will also appear in our Notice of Privacy Practices.

Section 15Contact us

Questions about this policy, your records, or a privacy concern go to our Privacy Officer:

See also our Terms of Service, which cover appointments, fees, and how the immigration medical examination works.