Privacy

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

APRIL 14, 2010

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION.

PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPA) requires all individually identifiable heath information (protected information) used or disclosed to the Child Protection Center, Inc. in any form, be kept confidential.  This federal law gives you the patient/client, significant new rights to understand and control how your health information is used.  HIPPA provides penalties for covered entities that misuse personal health information.  The Child Protection Center, Inc has prepared this explanation of how we are required to maintain the privacy of your records.

You have certain rights in regard to your information that you may exercise by presenting a written request to our Compliance Officer at the address below.

Patient/Clients Rights

You have the right:

• To be contacted in ways that you approve.
• To request an amendment to your protected information.
• To receive an accounting of disclosures of protected health information outside treatment, payment or health care operations.
• To obtain a paper copy of this Notice.
• To request information.
• To File a Formal, written compliant with us at the address below, or with the Department of Health And Human Services, Office of Civil Rights, in the event you think your privacy rights have been violated.  We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Without written authorization, we may utilize your records for the purpose of treatment, payment, and health care operations.

Treatment means providing, coordinating or managing services by one or more providers. Examples of this would include clinical supervision of your therapist’s work (SATP and KKP) or coordinating services with your case manager (SVP), or your domestic violence coordinator (SVP).  Payment means obtaining reimbursement for services, billing, or utilization review.  Examples of this would include billing your insurance company or billing a funder for your services.

Health Care Operations includes the business aspects of running our agency, such as conducting quality assessment and improvement activities, auditing functions, cost-management analysis, and customer service.  An example would be monitoring by a funding source.

We may required by federal, state or local law to disclose information in response to a court order, administrative order, discovery request, subpoena, or other lawful process. Further, we are required to request an order protecting the information that has been requested.  We will inform you of such requests.  We will report child abuse.  When necessary, may disclose information to reduce or prevent a serious threat to your health and safety or the heath and safety of another individual or the public.  Under these circumstances, we will only make disclosures to a person or organization able to help prevent the threat.  If you are a member of the U.S. or foreign military forces (including veterans) and if required by the appropriate authorities, we may be required to disclose your information.  We may be required to disclose information to federal officials conducting investigations, for example in order to protect the President, other officials, or foreign heads of state.

All other uses and disclosures will made only with your permission.  You may remove your permission at any time.

Restrictions on Access

Information complied in anticipation of, or for the use in legal proceedings, will not be made available to the patient/client or the patient’s/client’s legal representative(s) unless required by law or court order (SVP and CPT non-caregiver).

Information that, by law, may not be disclosed to the patient/client will not be made available to the patient/client or the patient’s/client’s representative(s)(CPT non-caregiver).

All records and reports of the Child Protection Team are confidential and exempt and shall not be disclosed, except upon request, to the state attorney, law enforcement, the Department of Health, and necessary professionals, in furtherance of the treatment or additional evaluative needs by the child, or by order, or to the heath plan payors, limited to that information used for reimbursement purposes.

Psychotherapy notes will not be made available to the patient’s/client’s legal representative(s) unless approved by the Program Director (SATP and KKP); however, for clinical reasons including confidentiality and privacy, it is the policy of the Child Protection Center, INC not to give such approval.

The Child Protection Center, Inc. is required to follow the privacy practices posted, but also reserves the right to change them.  You may request a written copy of the Notice to Privacy Practices at any time.

For more information about our Privacy Practices, please contact:
Vice President of Client Services
Child Protection Center, Inc.
720 South Orange Avenue
Sarasota, Florida 34236

For more information about HIPPA or to file a complaint, please contact:
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office of Civil Rights
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
(800) 696-6775 (toll-free)