Privacy & Policy

Confidentiality & Privacy Policy

The law protects the relationship between a client and a psychotherapist, and information cannot be disclosed without written permission.

Exceptions include:

  • Suspected child abuse or dependant adult or elder abuse, for which I am required by law to report this to the appropriate authorities immediately.
  • If a client is threatening serious bodily harm to another person/s, I must notify the police and inform the intended victim.
  • If a client intends to harm himself or herself, I will make every effort to enlist their cooperation in ensuring their safety. If they do not cooperate, I will take further measures without their permission that are provided to me by law in order to ensure their safety.
Privacy Policy

Your health, safety and privacy are the main concerns of our group. HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) requires us to disclose our privacy policy to our clients so that you are fully informed.

Your Rights and Our Obligations under HIPAA
In our public waiting room, we will make every effort to protect your privacy by only using your first names when we greet you. We also have white noise machines and music playing so no one will hear our private conversations within the treatment rooms. No sign in sheets are used and we also caution you to end your conversation with your therapist before he/she opens their door. Please read the following additional information:

  1. Each therapist at Integrative Psychotherapy at the Crossing will serve as his/her own Privacy Officer. Therefore, if you have requests for information or a complaint regarding your privacy rights, you should discuss your requests or concerns with your therapist, who will maintain all records regarding privacy issue within his/er practice.
  2. The members in the LLC have all been trained in our privacy policy and all incoming associates will be informed of our group policies regarding compliance with HIPAA and Indiana State Law.
  3. Patient records will be kept in locked cabinets and not be left out where anyone else can see them except your therapist. All computer records, e-mails and faxes will be password protected, encrypted, or protected in such as way as to insure optimum confidentiality. No sign in sheets will be used in the waiting room and discretion will be used when discussing private matters in all public areas of our office.
  4. You have the right to request a copy of your PHI (protected health information), to ask if we have disclosed your PHI to anyone (Accounting of Disclosures), to put restrictions on further disclosure (except those disclosures permitted or required by law), to ask us to use alternate communication methods to reach you (e-mail and cell phone may not be as protected as telephone conversations), and request that your health information be amended. These requests must be made in writing (to your therapist), and we will respond to you within 60 days.
  5. You have the right to not be penalized in anyway for any of the requests mentioned above or for deciding not to sign a release of information form. In other words, we will respect your lawful right to request PHI information or your right to refuse to release this information to anyone else.
  6. PHI should not be re-disclosed without another authorization.
  7. You must sign a Release Of Information form before we release any information to an attorney or to any school official. A court order may supercede this right in some cases. A therapist may invoke your privilege of confidentiality in court if subpoenaed by a lawyer, but may be ordered by a judge to disclose that information anyway. (You will be charged for our time if we must appear in court or at a deposition due to our relationship with you).
  8. If you will be making a claim to your insurance company to cover your therapy expenses, your therapist will need to disclose information to them regarding your issues and treatment.
  9. We must cooperate with any government request to review our records in order to validate our compliance with HIPAA. We also reserve the right to amend or modify our privacy policies and procedures, as permitted by law.
  10. If you have a complaint about our privacy practices, you may file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights: [email protected]
or: The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S. W., Room 509F
HHH Building
Washington, D.D. 20201
 

If you have any questions regarding our privacy policy, please discuss these questions with your therapist.

Schedule Appointment

Start your new path in life and be the change today!

Click Here

Helpful Forms

Click here to view and print forms for your appointment.

Click Here
No image settings found. Please configure it