Notice of Privacy Practices
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION.
PLEASE REVIEW THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY.
Your health record contains personal information about you and your health. This information about you that may identify you and that relates to your past, present, or future physical or mental health and related health care services is referred to as Protected Health Information (“PHI”). This Notice of Privacy Practices describes how PCCC may use and disclose your PHI in accordance with applicable law. It also describes your rights regarding how you may gain access to and control your PHI.
PCCC is required by law to maintain the privacy of PHI and to provide you with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to PHI. PCCC is required to abide by the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices. PCCC reserves the right to change the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices at any time. Any new Notice of Privacy Practices will be effective for all PHI that PCCC maintains at that time. PCCC will provide you with a copy of the revised Notice of Privacy Practices by posting a copy on my website and providing you with a paper copy upon request.
HOW PCCC MAY USE AND DISCLOSE HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU
For Treatment . Your PHI may be used and disclosed by those who are involved in your care for the purpose of providing, coordinating, or managing your health care treatment and related services. We will obtain your written permission before coordinating care with others.
For Payment. We may use and disclose PHI so that we can receive payment for the treatment services provided to you. This will only be done with your authorization. If it becomes necessary to use collection processes due to lack of payment for services, we will only disclose the minimum amount of PHI necessary for purposes of collection.
Required by Law. Under the law, PCCC must disclose your PHI to you upon your request.
Without Authorization. Following is a list of the categories of uses and disclosures permitted without an authorization. Applicable law and ethical standards permit us to disclose information about you without your authorization only in a limited number of situations.
- Child Abuse or Neglect. We may disclose your PHI to a state or local agency that is authorized by law to receive reports of child abuse or neglect.
- Judicial and Administrative Proceedings. We may disclose your PHI pursuant to a subpoena, court order, administrative order, or similar process.
- Deceased Patients. We may disclose PHI regarding deceased patients as mandated by state law or to a family member or friend that was involved in your care or payment for care prior to death based on your prior consent. A release of information regarding deceased patients may be limited to an executor or administrator of a deceased person’s estate or the person identified as next-of-kin.
- Medical Emergencies. We may use or disclose your PHI in a medical emergency situation to medical personnel only in order to prevent serious harm.
- Family Involvement in Care. We may disclose information to close family members or friends directly involved in your treatment based on your consent or as necessary to prevent serious harm.
- Health Oversight. If required, we may disclose PHI to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law, such as audits, investigations, and inspections.
- Law Enforcement. We may disclose PHI to a law enforcement official as required by law, in compliance with a subpoena, court order, administrative order, or similar document, for the purpose of identifying a suspect, material witness, or missing person, in connection with the victim of a crime, in connection with a deceased person, in connection with the reporting of a crime in an emergency, or in connection with a crime on the premises.
- Specialized Government Functions. We may review requests from U.S. military command authorities if you have served as a member of the armed forces, authorized officials for national security and intelligence reasons and to the Department of State for medical suitability determinations. We may disclose your PHI based on your written consent, mandatory disclosure laws, or the need to prevent serious harm.
- Public Health. If required, we may use or disclose your PHI for mandatory public health activities to a public health authority authorized by law to collect or receive such information for the purpose of preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability.
- Public Safety. We may disclose your PHI if necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public. If information is disclosed to prevent or lessen a serious threat, it will be disclosed to a person or persons reasonably able to prevent or lessen the threat, including the target of the threat.
- PHI may only be disclosed after a special approval process or with your written authorization.
- Verbal Permission. We may also use or disclose your information to family members that are directly involved in your treatment with your verbal permission.
With Authorization . Uses and disclosures not specifically permitted by applicable law will be made only with your written authorization, which may be revoked at any time, except to the extent that we have already made a use or disclosure based upon your authorization. The following uses and disclosures will be made only with your written authorization: (i) most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes which are separated from the rest of your medical record; (ii) most uses and disclosures of PHI for marketing purposes, including subsidized treatment communications; (iii) disclosures that constitute a sale of PHI; and (iv) other uses and disclosures not described in this Notice of Privacy Practices.
YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR PHI
You have the following rights regarding PHI that we maintain about you. To exercise any of these rights, please submit your request to Debbie Disney, LCSW-C, LLC DBA Positive Changes Counseling Center 8415 Bellona Lane suite 203 Towson, MD 21204.
Right of Access to Inspect and Copy. You have the right, which may be restricted only in exceptional circumstances, to inspect and copy PHI that is maintained in a “designated record set”. A designated record set contains mental health/medical and billing records and any other records that are used to make decisions about your care. Your right to inspect and copy PHI will be restricted only in those situations where there is compelling evidence that access would cause serious harm to you or if the information is contained in separately maintained psychotherapy notes. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for copies. If your records are maintained electronically, you may also request an electronic copy of your PHI. You may also request that a copy of your PHI be provided to another person.
Right to Amend. If you feel that the PHI I have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the information although we are not required to agree to the amendment. If we deny your request for amendment, you have the right to file a statement of disagreement with us. We may prepare a rebuttal to your statement and will thus provide you with a copy.
Right to an Accounting of Disclosures. You have the right to request an accounting of the disclosures that we make of your PHI. We may charge you a reasonable fee if you request more than one accounting in any 12-month period.
Right to Request Restrictions. You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the use or disclosure of your PHI for treatment, payment, or health care operations. We are not required to agree to your request unless the request is to restrict disclosure of PHI to a health plan for purposes of carrying out payment or health care operations, and the PHI pertains to a health care item or service that you paid for out of pocket.
Right to Request Confidential Communication. You have the right to request that we communicate with you about health matters in a certain way or at a certain location. We will accommodate reasonable requests. We may require information regarding how payment will be handled, specification of an alternative address, or other method of contact as a condition for accommodating your request. You are not obligated to give me an explanation of why you are making the request.
Breach Notification. If there is a breach of unsecured PHI concerning you, we may be required to notify you of this breach, including what happened and what you can do to protect yourself.
Right to a Copy of this Notice. You have the right to a copy of this notice.
Right to File a Complaint. If you believe we have violated your privacy rights, you have the right to file a complaint with us at the address, phone number, or email on this notice. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
Date effective: 5/2018
The law protects the relationship between a client and a psychotherapist, and information cannot be disclosed without written permission.
Exceptions include:
- Suspected child abuse or dependent adult or elder abuse, for which I am required by law to report this to the appropriate authorities immediately.
- If a client is threatening serious bodily harm to another person/s, I must notify the police and inform the intended victim.
- If a client intends to harm himself or herself, I will make every effort to enlist their cooperation in ensuring their safety. If they do not cooperate, I will take further measures without their permission that are provided to me by law in order to ensure their safety.
