Notice of Privacy Practices

You have the right to:

 

Get a copy of your health record.
You may ask to see or receive an electronic or paper copy of health information in your designated record set. We will generally provide a copy or summary within the time required by law. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee when permitted by law.

 

Ask us to correct your health record.
You may ask us to correct health information you believe is incorrect or incomplete. We may deny your request in certain circumstances, but we will explain the reason in writing as required by law.

 

Request confidential communications.
You may ask us to contact you in a particular way or at a particular location. We will accommodate reasonable requests.

 

Ask us to limit what we use or share.
You may ask us not to use or disclose certain health information for treatment, payment, or health-care operations. We are not always required to agree.

If you pay for a service completely out of pocket, you may ask us not to disclose information about that service to your health plan for payment or health-care operations unless disclosure is otherwise required by law.

 

Get a list of certain disclosures.
You may ask for an accounting of certain disclosures of your health information during the six years before your request. Certain disclosures, including many made for treatment, payment, or health-care operations, are not included.

 

Get a copy of this Notice.
You may request a paper copy of this Notice at any time, even if you previously received it electronically.

 

Choose someone to act for you.
If another person has legal authority to act as your personal representative, such as a legal guardian or someone holding appropriate health-care authority, that person may exercise applicable rights on your behalf after RRC verifies their authority.

 

File a complaint.
You may file a complaint with RRC or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights if you believe your privacy rights have been violated.

 

RRC will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint or exercising your privacy rights.

In certain situations, you may tell us whether and how you want information shared with family members, friends, or other people involved in your care or payment for your care.

 

If you are unable to tell us your preference, we may share information when permitted by law and when professional judgment indicates that doing so is in your best interest.

 

Written authorization is generally required for uses and disclosures involving:

• Most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes;

• Marketing when authorization is required by law; and

• The sale of PHI.

I

f you give RRC written authorization, you may generally revoke it later in writing. A revocation does not affect actions already taken in reliance on the authorization

Treatment
We may use your information to provide, coordinate, and manage your behavioral health care.
When permitted by applicable law, information may be shared with clinicians and other health professionals involved in your treatment, consultation, referral, or continuity of care.
 

Health-Care Operations
We may use information to operate RRC's health-care services, including quality improvement, clinical consultation and supervision, staff and contractor training, compliance activities, safety activities, record management, auditing, and other lawful health-care operations.
 

Payment
When applicable, we may use and disclose information to obtain payment from an insurance plan or another lawful payer.

RRC provides services through different funding arrangements, which may include grants, insurance, self-payment, and other approved funding sources.

 

When services are supported through a grant or another funded program, RRC may use information necessary to document services, administer the program, monitor quality, and meet lawful reporting requirements.

 

RRC will disclose individually identifiable health information only when permitted by applicable law. Whenever appropriate, grant, program, evaluation, and quality-improvement reporting will use aggregate or de-identified information.

RRC may use or disclose information when permitted or required by applicable law, including certain circumstances involving:

• Public health activities;

• Health oversight, audits, investigations, or inspections;

• Suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation;

• Prevention of a serious and imminent threat to health or safety;

• Workers' compensation;

• Certain law-enforcement or government activities;

• Judicial or administrative proceedings when legally authorized;

• Coroners, medical examiners, or funeral directors;

• Organ or tissue donation;

• Research when legally authorized; and

• Organizations that provide services to RRC as business associates and are required to appropriately protect PHI.

 

The existence of one of these circumstances does not automatically mean information will be released. RRC will first apply applicable federal and Pennsylvania confidentiality requirements.

Mental health treatment information may receive protections that are more restrictive than HIPAA.

 

RRC will comply with applicable Pennsylvania mental-health confidentiality laws and regulations. We will not release mental-health treatment information simply because another person or organization requests it.

 

When written consent, a court order, or another specific legal basis is required, RRC will obtain or verify that authority before releasing the information.

HIPAA provides special protection for psychotherapy notes.

 

Psychotherapy notes are notes recorded by a mental-health professional documenting or analyzing the contents of a private counseling conversation and maintained separately from the regular clinical record.

 

They are different from ordinary progress notes, diagnoses, treatment plans, medications, test results, dates of service, and other information maintained in the regular clinical record.

 

Except in limited circumstances permitted by law, RRC will obtain your written authorization before using or disclosing psychotherapy notes.

To the extent RRC creates, receives, or maintains substance-use-disorder patient records protected by 42 CFR Part 2, those records receive additional federal confidentiality protections.

 

RRC will not use or disclose protected Part 2 records in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative investigations or proceedings against you unless you provide written consent or the use or disclosure is authorized by applicable law, including any required court order or subpoena.

RRC may maintain health information in secure electronic health records and other approved systems.

 

Access is limited to authorized people who need information for treatment, payment, health-care operations, compliance, or another lawful purpose.

 

Email, text messages, client portals, electronic forms, and telehealth technologies may have different privacy and security risks. RRC uses reasonable safeguards and will explain available communication options when applicable.

RRC is required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.

 

We will notify you as required by law if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.

 

We must follow the privacy practices described in the Notice currently in effect.

 

We will not use or disclose your information for purposes not described in this Notice unless the use or disclosure is permitted by law or you authorize it in writing.

For questions about this Notice, to exercise a privacy right, or to make a privacy complaint, contact:

Privacy Officer
Resilience Resource Center
2337 Philmont Avenue, Suite 108
Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006
Phone: 267-369-1700
Email:info@resiliencerc.org

​

You may also file a complaint with:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office for Civil Rights

HHS provides instructions for filing a privacy complaint on its Office for Civil Rights website.

 

RRC will not retaliate against you for making a complaint.

RRC may change the terms of this Notice and its privacy practices. Changes may apply to information RRC already maintains as well as information received in the future.

 

The current Notice will be available:

• At RRC;

• Upon request; and

• On the RRC website.