Privacy Policy

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

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

I. OUR PLEDGE REGARDING HEALTH INFORMATION: We understand that health information about you and your health care is personal. We are committed to protecting health information about you. We create a record of the care and services you receive from me. We need this record to provide you with quality care and to comply with certain legal requirements. This notice applies to all of the records of your care generated by this mental health care practice. This notice will tell you about the ways in which I may use and disclose health information about you. We also describe your rights to the health information we keep about you, and describe certain obligations we have regarding the use and disclosure of your health information. As clinicians, we are required by law to:

  • Make sure that protected health information (“PHI”) that identifies you is kept private within the organization, except when required by law to disclose.

  • Give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to health information.

  • Follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect.

  • We can change the terms of this Notice, and such changes will apply to all information I have about you. The new Notice will be available upon request, in our office, and on our website.

II. HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU: The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose health information. For each category of uses or disclosures we will explain what we mean and try to give some examples. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. However, all of the ways we are permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of the categories.

For Treatment Payment, or Health Care Operations: Federal privacy rules (regulations) 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, payment or health care operations. We may also disclose your protected health information for the treatment activities of any health care provider. This too can be done without your written authorization. For example, if a clinician were to consult with another licensed health care provider about your condition, we would be permitted to use and disclose your person health information, which is otherwise confidential, in order to assist the clinician in diagnosis and treatment of your mental health condition.

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 in order 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.

Lawsuits and Disputes: If you are involved in a lawsuit, we may disclose health information in response to a court or administrative order. We may also disclose health information about your child in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process by someone else involved in the dispute, but only if efforts have been made to tell you about the request or to obtain an order protecting the information requested.

III. CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES REQUIRE YOUR AUTHORIZATION:

  1. Psychotherapy Notes. For therapeutic services, we do keep “psychotherapy notes” as that term is defined in 45 CFR § 164.501, and any use or disclosure of such notes requires your Authorization unless the use or disclosure is: a. For our use in treating you. b. For our use in training or supervising mental health practitioners to help them improve their skills in group, joint, family, or individual counseling or therapy. c. For our use in defending ourselves in legal proceedings instituted by you or someone you’ve elected. d. For use by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to investigate our compliance with HIPAA. e. Required by law and the use or disclosure is limited to the requirements of such law. f. Required by law for certain health oversight activities pertaining to the originator of the psychotherapy notes. g. Required by a coroner who is performing duties authorized by law. h. Required to help avert a serious threat to the health and safety of others.

  2. Marketing Purposes. As a counselor or coach, we will not use or disclose your PHI for marketing purposes. While you may elect to give testimonials on your own accord, any identifying or confidential information will be changed to protect your anonymity.

  3. Sale of PHI. As a counselor or coach, we will not sell your PHI in the regular course of our business.

IV. CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES DO NOT REQUIRE YOUR AUTHORIZATION. Subject to certain limitations in the law, we can use and disclose your PHI without your Authorization for the following reasons:

  1. When disclosure is required by state or federal law, and the use or disclosure complies with and is limited to the relevant requirements of such law.

  2. For public health activities, including reporting suspected child, elder, or dependent adult abuse, or preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety. Whenever we must report or disclose confidential information for said purposes, we are never responsible for any actions taken by any authority or law enforcement at that time.

  3. For health oversight activities, including audits and investigations.

  4. For judicial and administrative proceedings, including responding to a court or administrative order, although my preference is to obtain an Authorization from you before doing so.

  5. For law enforcement purposes, including reporting crimes occurring on my premises.

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

  7. For research purposes, including studying and comparing the mental health of patients who received one form of therapy versus those who received another form of therapy for the same condition.

  8. 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.

  9. For workers’ compensation purposes. Although my preference is to obtain an Authorization from you, I may provide your PHI in order to comply with workers’ compensation laws.

  10. Appointment reminders/confirmations and health related benefits or services. We may use and disclose your PHI to contact you to confirm your appointments or remind you that you have an appointment with our organization and your PHI may be disclosed to staff, including administrative staff and contractors or contracting agencies if your treatment has any association with them or such disclosure is at all correlated with the services you are receiving. We may also use and disclose your PHI to tell you about treatment alternatives, or other health care services or benefits that I offer.

V. CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES REQUIRE YOU TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO OBJECT.

  1. Disclosures to family, friends, or others. We may provide your PHI to a family member, friend, or other person that you indicate is involved in your care or the payment for your health care, unless you object in whole or in part at which time your current services or treatment plan may be subject to change according to the discretion of your clinician and/or the clinician’s supervisor. The opportunity to consent may be obtained retroactively in emergency situations.

VI. YOU HAVE THE FOLLOWING RIGHTS WITH RESPECT TO YOUR PHI:

  1. The Right to Request Limits on Uses and Disclosures of Your PHI. You have the right to ask us not to use or disclose certain PHI for treatment, payment, or health care operations purposes. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if I believe it would affect your health care.

  2. The Right to Request Restrictions for Out-of-Pocket Expenses Paid for In Full. You have the right to request restrictions on disclosures of your PHI to health plans for payment or health care operations purposes if the PHI pertains solely to a health care item or a health care service that you have paid for out-of-pocket in full.

  3. The Right to Choose How I Send PHI to You. You have the right to ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address, and we will agree to all reasonable requests.

  4. The Right to See and Get Copies of Your PHI. For therapeutic services, other than “psychotherapy notes,” you have the right to get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other information that I have about you. We will provide you with a copy of your record, or a summary of it, if you agree to receive a summary, within 30 days of receiving your written request, and we may charge a reasonable, cost based fee for doing so which is presently set at our pro-rated hourly rate.

  5. The Right to Get a List of the Disclosures I Have Made.You have the right to request a list of instances in which I have disclosed your PHI for purposes other than treatment, payment, or health care operations, or for which you provided me with an Authorization. We will respond to your request for an accounting of disclosures within 60 days of receiving your request. The list we will give you will include disclosures made in the last six years unless you request a shorter time. We will provide the list to you at no charge, but if you make more than one request in the same year, we will charge you a reasonable cost based fee for each additional request, which is presently set at our pro-rated regular hourly rate.

  6. The Right to Correct or Update Your PHI. If you believe that there is a mistake in your PHI, or that a piece of important information is missing from your PHI, you have the right to request that I correct the existing information or add the missing information. We may say “no” to your request, but I will tell you why in writing within 60 days of receiving your request.

  7. The Right to Get a Paper or Electronic Copy of this Notice. You have the right get a paper copy of this Notice, and you have the right to get a copy of this notice by e-mail. And, even if you have agreed to receive this Notice via e-mail, you also have the right to request a paper copy of it.

  8. Your PHI (medical/counseling records) may not be kept or available after seven years.

AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDINGS

You agree to never audio or video record any sessions or any potential client to staff interactions without the expressed written permission from both your clinician and their supervisor. While various states have differing legal rules and limits on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party recordings, we as an organization hold a strict rule that this is never appropriate. Any non-compliance to this can at minimum mean immediate client termination and/or appropriate legal action taken to remedy the situation to the maximum extent of the law.

Collection of Online Information
Rock Your Family does not collect your personal information without your knowledge during any of your online encounters with our website. However, for certain encounters, experiences, programs, services, resources, questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, or postings some personal information may be required in order for you to make your submission, request, reservation, etc. The information you provide may be used to improve our website. Your provision of such information is your acknowledgement that you consent to our use of such information to better serve you and others coming to our website.

Comments and Questions
Direct all comments or questions regarding this privacy policy to our online contact form. We may provide links to external websites maintained by other individuals or organizations. If you access information that links you to another website, you are subject to the privacy policy of the website containing the information you have linked to.

Online Submissions
All comments, questions, remarks, concerns, suggestions or other information you submit through our site (other than information we promise to protect under our Privacy Policy), becomes and remains our property, even if a termination of this aggreement occurs.

This means that you can’t sue us for using ideas or other information you submit. If we use them items or things we don’t have to pay you or anyone else for them. We will have the exclusive ownership of all present and future rights to submissions of any kind. We can use them for any purpose we deem appropriate to our mission, without compensating you or anyone else.

Any submission you make acknowledges your awareness of this information and any other presented in this privacy policy. This means that you have full responsibility for any submission, including its legality, reliability, appropriateness, originality, and copyright.

Presented Information
Any information presented or accessible on this site is not intended to substitute for professional medical advice. Information provided is general and may be helpful to some but not others, depending upon their personal medical needs. Therefore, you should always consult with your personal physician prior to changing any of your health or dietary habits or prior to undertaking any idea or concept presented on our site or prior to following advice designed for general audiences only. Consulting with your physician is especially important if you are under eighteen, pregnant, nursing, or have health problems.

Limitation of Liability
ROCK YOUR FAMILY WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR INJURY THAT ACCOMPANY OR RESULT FROM YOUR USE OF ANY OF ITS SITES.

THESE INCLUDE (BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO) DAMAGES OR INJURY CAUSED BY ANY:

USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) THE SITES
USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) ANY SITE TO WHICH YOU HYPERLINK FROM OUR SITES
FAILURE OF OUR SITES TO PERFORM IN THE MANNER YOU EXPECTED OR DESIRED
ERROR ON OUR SITES
OMISSION ON OUR SITES
INTERRUPTION OF AVAILABILITY OF OUR SITES
DEFECT ON OUR SITES
DELAY IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION OF OUR SITES
COMPUTER VIRUS OR LINE FAILURE
PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING:

DAMAGES INTENDED TO COMPENSATE SOMEONE DIRECTLY FOR A LOSS OR INJURY
DAMAGES REASONABLY EXPECTED TO RESULT FROM A LOSS OR INJURY (KNOWN IN LEGAL TERMS AS “CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES.”)
OTHER MISCELLANEOUS DAMAGES AND EXPENSES RESULTING DIRECTLY FROM A LOSS OR INJURY (KNOWN IN LEGAL TERMS AS “INCIDENTIAL DAMAGES.”)
WE ARE NOT LIABLE EVEN IF WE’VE BEEN NEGLIGENT OR IF OUR AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITIY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR BOTH.

EXCEPTION: CERTAIN STATE LAWS MAY NOT ALLOW US TO LIMIT OR EXCLUDE LIABILITY FOR THESE “INCIDENTAL” OR “CONSEQUENTIAL” DAMAGES. IF YOU LIVE IN ONE OF THOSE STATES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION OBVIOUSLY WOULD NOT APPLY WHICH WOULD MEAN THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE THE RIGHT TO RECOVER THESE TYPES OF DAMAGES.

HOWEVER, IN ANY EVENT, OUR LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL LOSSES, DAMAGES, INJURIES, AND CLAIMS OF ANY AND EVERY KIND (WHETHER THE DAMAGES ARE CLAIMED UNDER THE TERMS OF A CONTRACT, OR CLAIMED TO BE CAUSED BY NEGLIGLENCE OR OTHER WRONGFUL CONDUCT, OR THEY’RE CLAIMED UNDER ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY) WILL NOT BE GREATER THAN THE AMOUNT YOU PAID TO ACCESS OUR SITES.

Links to Other Sites
We sometimes provide referrals to and links to other World Wide Web sites from our sites. Such a link should not be seen as an endorsement, approval or agreement with any information or resources offered at sites you can access through our sites. If in doubt, always check the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) address provided in your WWW browser to see if you are still in a Rock Your Family-operated site or have moved to another site. Rock Your Family is not responsible for the content or practices of third party sites that may be linked to our sites. When Rock Your Family provides links or references to other Web sites, no inference or assumption should be made and no representation should be inferred that Rock Your Family is connected with, operates or controls these Web sites. Any approved link must not represent in any way, either explicitly or by implication, that you have received the endorsement, sponsorship or support of any Rock Your Family site or endorsement, sponsorship or support of the Rock Your Family organization, including its respective employees, agents or directors.

Changes
Rock Your Family reserves the right to make changes to this privacy policy at any time and suggests that you review this policy for updates and/or changes.

Termination of this Agreement
This agreement is effective until terminated by either party. You may terminate this agreement at any time, by destroying all materials obtained from all Rock Your Family Web sites, along with all related documentation and all copies and installations. Rock Your Family may terminate this agreement at any time and without notice to you, if, in its sole judgment, you breach any term or condition of this agreement. Upon termination, you must destroy all materials. In addition, by providing material on our Web sites, we do not in any way promise that the materials will remain available to you. Also, Rock Your Family is entitled to terminate all or any part of any of its Web sites without notice to you.

Jursidiction and Other Points to Consider
Unless otherwise specified, the online materials on our site(s) are presented to provide information about the resources of Rock Your Family. Rock Your Family was organized under the laws of Colorado, in the United States of America. If you use our sites from locations outside of the United States, you are responsible for compliance with any applicable local laws. These Terms of Use, and the agreement they create, shall be governed by and interpreted according to the laws of the State of Colorado (without applying the state’s conflict-of-law principles.) If any provision of this agreement is unlawful, void or unenforceable, it will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. Rock Your Family may modify these Terms of Use, and the agreement they create, at any time, simply by updating this posting and without notice to you. This is the ENTIRE agreement regarding all the matters that have been discussed.