Notice of privacy practices

Single consent. Federal law lets you give one written consent for all future uses and disclosures of your Part 2 records for treatment, payment and health care operations, until you revoke it in writing. You are not required to give a single consent. You may limit your consent to specific recipients and purposes, and we will not condition your treatment on a broader consent than is necessary.

Redisclosure. If we disclose your Part 2 records with your consent to a HIPAA covered entity or business associate, that recipient may in some cases further use and disclose them as HIPAA permits, without asking you again. Once information reaches someone who is not covered by HIPAA or Part 2, it may no longer be protected by these rules.

Violations. A violation of the federal law governing SUD records is a crime. You can report a suspected violation to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (see “How to file a complaint”) or to the United States Attorney for the district where it happened.

Child abuse and neglect. Part 2 does not protect information about suspected child abuse or neglect from being reported under state law to the proper authorities.

• Medical emergencies. To medical personnel, to the extent needed to treat a condition that poses an immediate threat to your health and requires immediate medical care.
• Court orders. Under a court order that meets the requirements of 42 C.F.R. Part 2. A subpoena alone is not enough to compel disclosure of Part 2 records.
• Research, audit and program evaluation. To qualified personnel who may not identify you directly or indirectly in any report.
• Suspected child abuse or neglect. To the proper state or local authorities, as California mandatory reporting law requires.
• Crimes on our premises or against our staff. To law enforcement, limited to the circumstances of the incident, your name and address, and your last known whereabouts.
• Cause of death. To authorized personnel, coroners and medical examiners under applicable state law.
• Serious threat to health or safety. To prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to you or another person, consistent with the law and standards of ethical conduct.
• Public health and health oversight. To public health authorities and oversight agencies for activities authorized by law, such as adverse event reporting and licensing and certification oversight.
• As required by law. Where a law requires the disclosure and we may not lawfully assert a Part 2 protection.
• Other limited cases. Workers' compensation, military and national security, correctional institutions and organ donation, only as HIPAA allows and only where Part 2 also permits it.
• De-identified information and limited data sets, under HIPAA and Part 2 standards.

• Using or disclosing psychotherapy notes, except in the narrow cases HIPAA permits;
• Using or disclosing your information for marketing, including any communication for which a third party pays us;
• Selling your protected health information;
• Using your information or image in any testimonial, photograph, video, review or advertisement, including on our website or social media;
• Sharing your information with family members, employers, courts, probation officers, referral sources or anyone else not covered above.

You may revoke an authorization or consent at any time, in writing, except to the extent we have already acted on it. Revoking does not undo disclosures made while it was in effect. To revoke, contact our Privacy Officer.

• Use or disclose your Part 2 records to start or support any criminal charge or investigation against you;
• Use or disclose your Part 2 records as evidence against you in any civil, criminal, administrative or legislative proceeding by a federal, state or local authority;
• Use or disclose your health information for marketing, or sell it, without authorization.

Redisclosure warning. Information we disclose to a person or organization that is not a HIPAA covered entity, business associate or Part 2 program may be redisclosed by that recipient and may no longer be protected by federal privacy law.

• Inspect and get a copy. You may inspect and receive a copy of your health and billing records, including an electronic copy of what we keep electronically, and you may ask us to send a copy to someone you name. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee. In limited cases we may deny a request, and some denials can be reviewed.
• Request an amendment. If you believe something in your record is wrong or incomplete, you may ask us to correct it. If we say no, we will explain why in writing, and you may submit a statement of disagreement to be kept in your record.
• Get an accounting of disclosures. You may ask for a list of certain disclosures of your health information, including Part 2 records, generally covering the six years before your request. The first list in any 12 months is free.
• Request restrictions. You may ask us to limit how we use or share your information for treatment, payment or operations, or with family or others involved in your care. We do not have to agree to every request, but we must agree to withhold information from your health plan if you pay for that service in full out of pocket and the disclosure is not otherwise required by law.
• Choose how we contact you. You may ask us to communicate in a specific way or at a specific place, such as only by mobile phone or at a particular address. We will accommodate reasonable requests and will not ask why.
• Opt out of fundraising. If we ever contact you for fundraising, you may choose not to receive more of those messages, and your choice will not affect your treatment.
• Get a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically.
• Be told of a breach. We will notify you if a breach may have compromised the privacy or security of your unsecured health information.
• Revoke your consent at any time, as described above.
• Ask questions about this notice and discuss any part of it with our Privacy Officer.

Changes to this notice. We may change this notice and apply the revised notice to information we already have as well as information we receive in the future. The current notice is always posted at this page with its effective date, displayed in our homes and available on paper on request.

• We must let you inspect your records within 5 business days of a written request, and provide copies within 15 days.
• Information about HIV/AIDS testing and status, genetic testing, mental health treatment, and reproductive and gender-affirming care is subject to added limits on disclosure.
• California law limits sharing medical information with out-of-state parties or law enforcement for investigations of lawfully provided reproductive or gender-affirming care.
• If you are a minor who lawfully consented to your own care, we will not share that information with a parent or guardian without your authorization, except as the law permits or requires.