Confidentiality & Privacy Policy
Confidentiality
The following confidentiality policies are posted in compliance with federal & state regulations. The law protects the relationship between a client and a therapist, and information cannot be disclosed without written permission.
Exceptions Include:
- Suspected abuse of a child, dependent adult, or elder:
The therapist is required by law to report suspected abuse of a child, dependent adult, or elder to the appropriate authorities immediately.
- Threat of serious bodily harm to another person(s):
If a client is threatening serious bodily harm to another person(s), including potential communication of a life-threatening disease, the therapist must notify the police and inform the intended victim.
- Threat of self-harm:
If a client intends to harm him- or herself, the therapist will make every effort to enlist their cooperation in ensuring their safety. If the client does not cooperate, the therapist will take further measures without their permission that are provided to the therapist by law in order to ensure the client's safety.
- If a court of law issues a legitimate subpoena for information stated on the subpoena.
- If a client is 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.
Privacy Policy & Practices
We understand that health information about you and your health care is personal. We are committed to protecting health information about you. This notice will tell you about the ways in which we may use and disclose health information about you. We also describe your rights to the health information that is kept about you and describe certain obligations we have regarding the use and disclosure of your health information. We are required by law to:
• Make sure that protected health information (“PHI”) that identifies you is kept private.
• Give you this notice of my legal duties and privacy practices with respect to health information.
• Follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect.
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How we may use and disclose health information about you without authorization:
Treatment: We may use or disclose your PHI to give you medical treatment or services, and to manage
and coordinate your care.
Payment: We may use and disclose your PHI so that we can bill for the treatment and services provided to
you. We use this in order to collect payment from you, a health plan or program, or third-party payment. This use and disclosure may include certain activities that your health insurance plan may undertake before it approves payment to Field of Hope Counseling LLC. This may include determining eligibility for services, reviewing health care coverage, and reviewing services/diagnosis provided to you.
Health Care Operations: We may use and disclose PHI for our health care operations. For example, we may use your PHI to internally review the quality of treatment and services you receive to evaluate performance of our team.
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How we may use and disclose health information requiring authorization:
We may use or disclose PHI for purposes outside of treatment, payment, and health care operations when your authorization is obtained. Authorization requires both verbal and written permission. In these instances, we will discuss the release of your information and obtain your signature in agreement prior to disclosure.