Maddie Cox Therapy

HIPAA Privacy Policy Statement

HIPAA Policy

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

At Maddie Cox Therapy, we are committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of your Protected Health Information (PHI). PHI includes information about your physical or mental health condition, the provision of healthcare to you, or payment for your healthcare that identifies you or could reasonably be used to identify you.

Our Legal Duties

We are required by law to:

  • Maintain the privacy and security of your PHI.
  • Provide you with this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices regarding your health information.
  • Notify you promptly following a breach of your unsecured PHI.
  • Abide by the terms of the Notice currently in effect.

How We May Use and Disclose Your Health Information

The following categories describe different ways we may use and disclose your PHI without your explicit written authorization:

  • For Treatment: We may use your PHI to provide, coordinate, or manage your healthcare treatment and related services. For example, a clinician at our practice may disclose your information to another therapist, physician, or specialist who is involved in your care.
  • For Payment: We may use and disclose your PHI so that the services you receive can be billed and payment collected from you, an insurance company, or another third party. For example, we may need to give your health plan information about a session you received so they will pay us or reimburse you.
  • For Healthcare Operations: We may use and disclose your PHI for our standard internal operations, which are necessary to run our practice and ensure all patients receive quality care. Examples include quality assessment and improvement activities, compliance auditing, and training programs.
  • As Required by Law: We will disclose your PHI when required to do so by federal, state, or local law.
  • To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety: We may use and disclose your PHI when necessary to prevent a serious and imminent threat to your health and safety, or the health and safety of the public or another person.
  • Public Health and Safety Risks: We may disclose your PHI for public health activities, such as preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability; reporting abuse, neglect, or domestic violence; and reporting adverse reactions to medications.
  • Lawsuits and Disputes: If you are involved in a lawsuit or dispute, we may disclose your PHI in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a lawful subpoena or discovery request, but only after efforts have been made to tell you about the request or to obtain an order protecting the information requested.
  • Law Enforcement: We may release PHI if asked to do so by a law enforcement official as part of law enforcement activities, or to report a crime committed on our premises.

Uses and Disclosures That Require Your Written Authorization

For any purposes not covered above, we will only use or disclose your PHI with your explicit written authorization. You may revoke this authorization at any time in writing, except to the extent that we have already taken action relying on it.

In some situations, a signed authorization form is explicitly required for uses and disclosures of your PHI, including:

  • Most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes.
  • Marketing purposes, including disclosures that constitute the sale of your PHI.

Your Rights Regarding Your Health Information

You have the following rights regarding the PHI we maintain about you:

  • Right to Inspect and Copy: You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of your health and billing records. You must submit your request in writing. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for copying, mailing, or electronic transmission.
  • Right to Request Amendments: If you feel that health information we have about you is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend it. Your request must be made in writing and provide a reason supporting the amendment. We may deny your request if we believe the information is accurate.
  • Right to an Accounting of Disclosures: You have the right to request a list (accounting) of certain disclosures we have made of your PHI for purposes other than treatment, payment, or healthcare operations.
  • Right to Request Restrictions: You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the PHI we use or disclose for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations. We are not required to agree to your request, except if you request that we not disclose PHI to a health plan for payment or healthcare operations purposes, and the PHI pertains solely to a healthcare item or service for which you have paid us entirely out-of-pocket.
  • Right to Request Confidential Communications: You have the right to request that we communicate with you about medical matters in a certain way or at a certain location (for example, only calling you at work or sending mail to a specific address).
  • Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice: You have the right to receive a paper copy of this Notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive this Notice electronically.

Changes to This Notice

We reserve the right to change this Notice at any time. The new Notice will apply to all PHI we already have about you, as well as any information we receive in the future. We will post a copy of the current Notice on our website at therapytest.site with the effective date clearly displayed.

Complaints and Contact Information

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, or if you have questions about this Notice, you may file a complaint with our practice or with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

To file a complaint or exercise any of your rights listed above, please contact our Privacy Officer:

Maddie Cox Therapy Privacy Officer [Insert Contact Person/Officer Name]

[Insert Practice Address]

[Insert Phone Number]

[Insert Contact Email Address]

Note: You will not be penalized, retaliated against, or discriminated against for filing a complaint.