PRIVACY PRACTICES

HOW I MAY USE AND DISCLOSE HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU:

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES, CONFIDENTIALITY, AND LIMITS TO CONFIDENTIALITY

The session content, Protected Health Information (PHI), and all material and information pertaining to the client’s treatment will be held confidential within limits, unless mandated and permitted by law.

Legally acceptable or mandated exceptions exist to confidentiality. Certain uses and disclosures do not require your authorization. Subject to certain limitations in the law, I can use and disclose your PHI without your Authorization for the following reasons. For each category of uses or disclosures I will explain what I mean and try to give some examples. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. However, all the ways I am permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of the categories.

1. For the use by employees or agents of the practice for operational, supervision, or training purposes relevant to the practice. Federal privacy rules allow health care providers who have direct treatment relationship with the patient/client to use or disclose the patient/client’s personal health information without the patient’s written authorization, to carry out the health care provider’s own treatment of a client, payment, or health care operations.

2. For treatment consultations with other mental health professionals when I deem these necessary. Disclosures for treatment purposes are not limited to the minimum necessary standard. Because therapists and other health care providers need access to the full record and/or full and complete information to provide quality care. The word “treatment” includes, among other things, the coordination and management of health care providers with a third party, consultations between health care providers and referrals of a patient for health care from one health care provider to another.

3. For appointment reminders and related health related benefits or services. The practice may use and disclose your PHI to contact you to remind that you that you have an appointment with me.

4. If you threaten or attempt to commit suicide or otherwise conduct yourself in a way there is a substantial risk of incurring serious bodily harm to yourself.

5. If you threaten otherwise conduct yourself in a way there is a substantial risk of incurring serious bodily harm or death to another person.

6. In the case of AIDS/HIV and other communicable disease infection and possible communication.

7. If I have a reasonable cause to believe that you or other named victim is the perpetrator, observer of, or actual victim of physical, emotional or sexual abuse or neglect of children under the age of 18 years.

8. If I have cause to believe that an elderly person or a disabled person is the victim of physical, emotional or sexual abuse or neglect or exploitation.

9. If you are in therapy or being treated by order of a court of law, or if information is obtained for the purpose of rendering an expert’s report to an attorney.

10. A court order or court-ordered warrant, or a subpoena or summons issued by a judicial officer.

11. A grand jury subpoena.

12. An administrative request, including an administrative subpoena or summons, a civil or an authorized investigative demand, or similar process authorized under law, provided that: (a) The information sought is relevant and material to a legitimate law enforcement inquiry; (b) The request is specific and limited in scope to the extent reasonably practicable in light of the purpose for which the information is sought; and (c) De-identified information could not reasonably be used.

13. For law enforcement purposes, including reporting crimes committed against me or occurring on the practice’s premises.

14. As needed when interacting with building security and law enforcement to secure my safety or the safety of my clients.

15. To coroners or medical examiners, when such individuals are performing duties authorized by law.

16. For specialized government functions, including, ensuring the proper execution of military missions; protecting the President of the United States; conducting intelligence or counter-intelligence operations; or, helping to ensure the safety of those working within or housed in correctional institutions.

17. For compliance with workers’ compensation laws relevant to you.

18. For the purposes of responding to a licensing board or other state or federal regulatory authority regarding a complaint investigation.

19. For the use by regulatory authorities in connection with their compliance or investigatory responsibilities.

20. To the extent required and allowed by law if a negligence suit is brought by you against me.

21. For legal actions to collect fees for services provided to you.

Additional Privacy Policies, Notifications, and Potential Limits to Confidentiality

In the case of marriage or family counseling, I will keep confidential (within limits cited below) anything you disclose to me without your partner’s or family member’s knowledge. However, I encourage open communication between partners and family members. I reserve the right to terminate our counseling relationship if I judge the secret to be detrimental to the therapeutic progress. The following clause regarding emergency contacts takes primacy should you list a participant in therapy as your emergency contact.

By engaging in therapy under my care, you authorize me to contact appropriate medical or law enforcement personnel, the emergency contact you specified or any person in a position to prevent harm in the event you are having a medical emergency, or if I consider you to present an imminent risk of physical harm to yourself or another person or an immediate risk of emotional harm to yourself. Imminent physical risk to another person could include knowingly putting another person at risk of contracting a communicable disease.

If you are a minor, your parents may be legally entitled to information about your therapy. I will discuss with you and your parents what information is appropriate for them to receive and which issues are more appropriately kept confidential.

For clients engaged in couples therapy initiated with Scott Weinert LPC LCDC on or after June 1, 2024, both participants in couples counseling consent for me to maintain one file for their therapy and for each participant to have conditional access that file and its information and contents. The conditions are as follows.

1. Both participants in couples counseling will have ongoing access to legally required treatment plans, notifications, and billing documents as made available to them through the normal course of couples therapy. Among other information, the documents will substantiate the presence of the other participant in couples therapy, the diagnosis, indicate couples therapy, the dates therapy was provided to the couple, and the fees paid.

2. On request, both participants will have access to unaltered progress notes and chart notes related to couple therapy or other activities for the couple that occurred when both members were present.

3. Any information provided to me in confidence either verbally or in written form shall be excluded from the above joint access policy.

In situations in which in my judgement it is not clear what constitutes the privacy of a participant, I reserve the authority to use my discretion, and may choose to deny or redact records that I deem contain the other participant’s individual Protected Health Information or information provided to me in confidence.

Should either participant in couples counseling request a copy of therapy or billing records both participants authorize me to immediately notify the other participant of the request and to make an equivalent set of copies available to the other participant with no further notice to or authorization from the participant who initiated the request.  Each participant will be charged the requisite fee for their copies.

It is possible, especially in the case of referrals, that you may see someone you know in the waiting room or in the building in which I have an office. I will take reasonable precautions to prevent this. Please let me know if you are aware of the potential for this to occur.

It is a possibility in some circumstances other people in the office suite may overhear some of our conversation.

I cannot ensure the confidentiality of email and standard text messages. Please do not use these methods of communication. I will provide a secure, confidential client messaging system through the portal, and prefer we use that to communicate. I strive to return messages in a timely manner. However, I cannot guarantee immediate response. If I believe the nature of the conversation warrants, I will request a phone call, video call, or in person meeting.

EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS NOTICE

This notice went into effect on June 1, 2024