Privacy Policy
Leslie J Wondra LLC
NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW PSYCHOLOGICAL AND MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION UNDER THE NEW HIPPA LAWS. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
HIPAA is a federal law that provides privacy protections and assures patient rights with regard to the use and disclosure of your Protected Health Information (PHI) used for the purpose of treatment, payment, and health care operations.
I am required by law to maintain the privacy of your health information. I am also required to give you this Notice about my privacy practices, legal obligations, and your rights concerning your health information ("Protected Health Information" or "PHI"). I will follow the privacy practices that are described in this Notice. If I amend this Notice, I will provide you with the amended Notice for your information and signature. We can discuss any questions that you may have about the procedures outlined in the HIPAA Notice.
I. Uses and Disclosures for Treatment, Payment, and Health Care Operations
I may use or disclose your protected health information (PHI), for treatment, payment, and health care operations purposes with your consent.
- 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. This includes consultation with other treatment team members. I may disclose PHI to any other consultant only with your authorization.
- For Payment. I may use and disclose PHI so that I can receive payment for the treatment services provided to you. This will only be done with your authorization. Examples of payment-related activities are: making a determination of eligibility or coverage for insurance benefits, processing claims with your insurance company, reviewing services provided to you to determine medical necessity, or undertaking utilization review activities. If it becomes necessary to use collection processes due to lack of payment for services, I will only disclose the minimum amount of PHI necessary for purposes of collection.
- For Health Care Operations. I may use or disclose, as needed, your PHI in order to support my business activities including, but not limited to, quality assessment activities, employee review activities, licensing, and conducting or arranging for other business activities. For example, I may share your PHI with third parties that perform various business activities (e.g., billing or typing services) provided I have a written contract with the business that requires it to safeguard the privacy of your PHI. For training or teaching purposes PHI will be disclosed only with your authorization.
- For EHR and electronic records information: I use the electronic health records system CounSol for all paperwork and record keeping. CounSol is a privacy compliant software that safeguards your information.
II. Uses and Disclosures Requiring Authorization
I may use or disclose PHI for purposes outside of treatment, payment, or health care operations when your appropriate authorization is obtained. An “authorization” is written permission above and beyond the general consent that permits only specific disclosures. In those instances when I am asked for information for purposes outside of treatment, payment or health care operations, I will obtain an authorization from you before releasing this information. You may revoke all such authorizations at any time, provided each revocation is in writing. You may not revoke an authorization to the extent that (1) I have relied on that authorization; or (2) if the authorization was obtained as a condition of obtaining insurance coverage, law provides the insurer the right to contest the claim under the policy.
III. Permissible Uses and Disclosures That May Be Made Without My Authorization, But For Which You Have An Opportunity to Object.
- Fundraising: I may use your PHI to contact you in an effort to offer you new services. I may also disclose PHI to any foundation with which I am connected so that the foundation may contact you in an effort to raise money for its operations. Any fundraising communications with you will include a description of how you may opt out of receiving any further fundraising communications.
- Family and Other Persons Involved in Your Care. I may use or disclose your PHI to notify, or assist in the notification of (including identifying or locating) your personal representative, or another person responsible for your care, location, general condition, or death. If you are present, then I will provide you with an opportunity to object prior to such uses or disclosures. In the event of your incapacity or emergency circumstances, I will disclose your PHI consistent with your prior expressed preference, and in your best interest as determined by my professional judgment. I will also use my professional judgment and my experience to make reasonable inferences of your best interest in allowing another person access to your PHI regarding your treatment with me.
- Disaster Relief Efforts. I may use or disclose your PHI to a public or private entity authorized by law or its charter to assist in disaster relief efforts for the purpose of coordinating notification of family members of your location, general condition, or death.
IV. Uses and Disclosures Requiring Your Written Authorization.
- Psychotherapy Notes. I will not disclose the records of our work that I keep separate from the medical record for my personal use, known as psychotherapy notes, except as permitted by law.
- Marketing Communications; Sale of PHI. I must obtain your written authorization prior to using or disclosing your PHI for marketing or the sale of your PHI, consistent with the related definitions and exceptions set forth in HIPAA.
- Other Uses and Disclosures. Uses and disclosures other than those described in this Notice will only be made with your written authorization. For example, you will need to sign an authorization form before I can send your PHI to your life insurance company or to your attorney. You may revoke any such authorization at any time by providing me with written notification of such revocation.
V. Uses and Disclosures with Neither Consent nor Authorization
As a social worker licensed in this state and as a member of the National Association of Social Workers, it is our practice to adhere to more stringent privacy requirements for disclosures without an authorization. The following language addresses these categories to the extent consistent with the NASW Code of Ethics and HIPAA. I may use or disclose PHI without your consent or authorization in the following circumstances:
- Serious Threat to Health or Safety – If I determine, or pursuant to the standards of my profession should determine, that you present a serious danger of violence to yourself or another, I may disclose information in order to provide protection against such danger for you or the intended victim.
- 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.
- Adult and Domestic Abuse – If I have reasonable cause to believe that a disabled adult or elder person has had a physical injury or injuries inflicted upon such disabled adult or elder person, other than by accidental means, or has been neglected or exploited, I must report that belief to the appropriate authority.
- Judicial or Administrative Proceedings – If you are involved in a court proceeding and a request is made about the professional services I provided you or the records thereof, such information is privileged under state law, and I will not release information without your written consent or a court order. The privilege does not apply when you are being evaluated for a third party or where the evaluation is court ordered. You will be informed in advance if this is the case.
- Deceased Patients. I 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. PHI of persons that have been deceased for more than fifty (50) years is not protected under HIPAA
- Medical Emergencies. I may use or disclose your PHI in a medical emergency situation to medical personnel only in order to prevent serious harm. I will try to provide you a copy of this notice as soon as reasonably practicable after the resolution of the emergency.
- Health Oversight. If required, I may disclose PHI to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law, such as audits, investigations, and inspections. Oversight agencies seeking this information include government agencies and organizations that provide financial assistance to the program (such as third-party payors based on your prior consent) and peer review organizations performing utilization and quality control.
- Law Enforcement. I may disclose PHI to a law enforcement official as required by law, in compliance with a subpoena (with your written consent), 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. I 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, and disclose your PHI based on your written consent, mandatory disclosure laws and 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, or if directed by a public health authority, to a government agency that is collaborating with that public health authority.
- Public Safety. I 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. Research. PHI may only be disclosed after a special approval process or with your authorization.
- Verbal Permission. I may also use or disclose your information to family members that are directly involved in your treatment with your verbal permission.
VI. Patient’s Rights and Psychologist’s and Counselor’s Duties
- Right to Request Restrictions- You have the right to request a restriction on your PHI that I use or disclose for treatment, payment or health care operations. You must request any such restriction in writing addressed to Leslie J Wondra LLC and [Contact Information]. I am not required to agree to any such restriction you may request, except if your request is to restrict disclosing your PHI to a health plan for the purpose of carrying out payment or health care operations, the disclosure is not otherwise required by law, and the PHI pertains solely to a health care item or service which has been paid in full by you or another person or entity on your behalf.
- Right to Receive Confidential Communications by Alternative Means and at Alternative Locations You have the right to request that I communicate with you about health matters in a certain way or at a certain location. I will accommodate reasonable requests. I may require information regarding how payment will be handled or specification of an alternative address or other method of contact as a condition for accommodating your request. I will not ask you for an explanation of why you are making the request. (For example, you may not want a family member to know that you are seeing me. On your request, I will send your bills to another address.)
- Right 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. I 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 we 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 I deny your request for amendment, you have the right to file a statement of disagreement with me. I may prepare a rebuttal to your statement and will provide you with a copy. Please contact the Privacy Officer if you have any questions.
- Right to Accounting of Disclosures. Upon written request, You have the right to request an accounting of certain of the disclosures that I make of your PHI. I may charge you a reasonable fee if you request more than one accounting in any 12-month period..
- Right to Obtain Notice. You have the right to obtain a paper copy of this Notice by submitting a request to Leslie J Wondra LLC at any time.
- Right to Receive Notification of a Breach. If there is a breach of unsecured PHI concerning you, I may be required to notify you of this breach, including what happened and what you can do to protect yourself.
VII. Complaints
If you believe I have violated your privacy rights, you have the right to file a complaint in writing with Privacy Officer Agency for Health Care Administration and/or Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services at the addresses below. I will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
Privacy Officer Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Agency for Health Care Administration 200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
2727 Mahan Drive, Mail Stop 4 Washington, D.C. 20201
Tallahassee, Florida 32308 (800) 368-1019
(850) 412-3960
VIII. Client Consent for Services and the HIPAA Notice Signature Page
I have read, understand, and agree to abide by the terms and conditions set forth in the Consent for Services, and do hereby consent to participation in the treatment as described in the consent agreement. I also understand that my participation is entirely voluntary, and that I may withdraw my consent and terminate treatment at any time.
IX. EFFECTIVE DATE AND CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE
Effective Date. This Notice is effective on March 25, 2021
Changes to this Notice. I may change the terms of this Notice at any time. If I change this Notice, I may make the new notice terms effective for all PHI that I maintain, including any information created or received prior to issuing the new notice. If I change this Notice, I will post the revised notice in the waiting area of my office and on my website at lesliewondratherapy.com. You may also obtain any revised notice by asking me directly.