Notice of Privacy Practices

This notice describes how clinical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information.  Please review it carefully and keep it for your records.

 

Uses & Disclosures:

The Lotus Heart uses and discloses information about you to carry out treatment and payment, and health care operations.  Both Federal and State laws govern how information is used and stored, what information is disclosed and who gets the information.  We will only disclose information about you that we are permitted to disclose by law and/or with your written authorization.  Any specific written authorization you provide may be revoked at any time by providing a statement of revocation in writing.

 

For treatment purposes, we obtain treatment information about you and record it in a client record.  We will not disclose information about you without your written authorization except in circumstance listed below.

 

To receive payment for services, we disclose information about you as needed to obtain payment for your services.  For example, information about you and your treatment may be disclosed to your health insurance provider to facilitate payment. We will not release psychotherapy notes to insurance provider without your separate written authorization prior to release.

 

Health care operations refers to conducting administrative, legal or other functions necessary to support treatment, and payment and may include sharing necessary information with your insurance, billing, accounting and legal service providers.

 

In some circumstances we may disclose health information about you without your authorization.

We are required by law to report suspected child abuse and neglect to the appropriate authorities.  We are also required by law to disclose your protected mental health information to the appropriate authorities if you are an imminent danger to yourself or to others.  We may disclose your protected mental health information in the course of any judicial or administrative proceeding as when required by a Judge’s Court Order.

 

We may make telephone calls or send letters to you to reschedule appointments, etc.  Please tell us if you wish to receive communications from us through another means or at another location.

 

All other uses and disclosures of protected health information about you will be make only with your written authorization.  We are required by law to maintain the privacy of protected health information and to provide you with notice of our legal duties and privacy with respect to protected health information.  We are required to abide by the terms of this notice, but we reserve the right to change the terms of this notice and to make the new notice provisions effective for all protected health information maintain.  If we change this notice, then a revised notice will be available to you by coming to our office. 

 

Your Rights:

You have the right to request that The Lotus Heart restrict how protected health information is used or disclosed. We are not required to agree to these restrictions.  If we agree to a restriction that you have requested, we will provide you with a written description of the restriction and the restriction will be binding to us.

 

You have the right to access to inspect and copy certain protected health information.

 

You have the right to request an amendment of your protected health information or a record about you that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete.  (We are not required to make such amendments).

 

You have the right to receive an accounting of certain disclosures of your protected health information.  You may file a complaint with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.  You will not be retaliated against for filing a complaint.