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HIPAA Policy

       NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES UNDER HEALTH INSURANCE PORTABILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT (HIPAA)

This notice describes how medical information about your or your child may be used and disclosed, as well as how you can gain access to this information.  Please review it carefully.

Coastal Learning and Behavioral Services, Inc. is dedicated to ensuring the privacy of your protected health information (PHI).  We are required by law to maintain the confidentiality of any health information collected or created in the process of conducting our business.  Once you become a client of Coastal Learning and Behavioral Services, Inc., we create a record of any services provided to you or your child; these records remain the property of Coastal Learning and Behavioral Services, Inc.  You do, however, have certain rights regarding the use and disclosure of these records.  Unless the law authorizes us or compels us to do so, we will not share your protected health information without your written permission.

YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION

  • ​You have the right to request a paper copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices at any time even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically.
  • You have a right to request confidential communication regarding your health information.  For example, you may request that you be contacted in a specific way, or that health information be sent to a different address.
  • You have the right to ask us to limit how we use and disclose information about you; you may ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations; we may refuse your request if it would affect your care.  If you pay for a service out-of-pocket in full, you can ask us not to share that information for the purpose of payment or our operations with your health insurer.  We will honor your request unless the law requires that we share your information.
  • You have the right to review or request a copy of any protected health information contained in your medical record.  We will provide you with a copy or a summary of your medical record within 30 days of your request.  We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.
  • You have the right to request an amendment to your protected health information record that you feel is incomplete or incorrect.  We reserve the right to refuse your request, but will provide an explanation as to why within 60 days.
  • You have the right to request an accounting of disclosures of protected health information made by us to individuals or entities other than you for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why.  We will include all disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, health care operations, and certain other disclosures (i.e., those you asked us to make).  We’ll provide one accounting per year for free, but will charge a reasonable cost-based fee if you ask for another one within a 12 month period.
  • You have the right to choose someone to act for you.  If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information.  We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before taking any action.
  • You have the right to file a complaint using one or both of the avenues below if you feel that your rights have been violated.  We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
    • Sending a letter to Coastal Learning and Behavioral Services, Inc. c/o Privacy Officer at 600 Portola Drive #10, San Francisco, CA 94127 or by emailing management@coastallearningservices.com
    • Filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, Washington, DC 20201, calling (877) 696-6775, or by visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/


OUR USES AND DISCLOSURES OF PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION

  • Treatment: We may use and disclose protected health information during the provision of health care services received while under the care of Coastal Learning and Behavioral Services, Inc.  In addition, we may share your health information with other health care professionals who are involved in your care for the purposes of consultation or coordination of care.
  • Health Care Operations Related to Our Business: We may use and disclose protected health information as necessary to run our practice, including  administering treatment, providing case management, conducting quality assurance assessments, billing, communicating with you, business planning, and conducting administrative activities.
  • Payment for Services: We may use and disclose your protected health information for the purpose of collecting payment from health insurers for services we provide you.  We may also use and disclose your protected health information to obtain information about benefits and eligibility.


OTHER USES AND DISCLOSURES OF PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION
We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research.  We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes.  For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html

  • Public Health and Safety Issues: We can share health information about you for certain situations, such as preventing disease, helping with product recalls, reporting adverse reactions to medications, reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, and preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health and safety.
  • Research: We can use or share your information for health research when an institutional review board has reviewed and approved the research proposal and has established protocols to ensure the privacy of your health information.
  • Compliance with the Law: We will share information about you if state and federal laws require it, including requests made by the Department of Health and Human Services to evaluate our compliance with federal privacy laws.
  • Organ and Tissue Donation Requests: If you are an organ donor, we can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.
  • Medical Examiner or Funeral Director: We can share information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies.
  • Workers’ Compensation, Law Enforcement, and Other Government Requests: We can use or share health information about you for workers’ compensation claims, for law enforcement purposes or with law enforcement officials, with health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law, or for special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services.
  • Lawsuits and Legal Actions: We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena. 


YOUR CHOICES RELATED TO THE USE AND DISCLOSURE OF YOUR PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION
In some instances, you have the right to choose how we share information about you, and written permission is required before we may share your protected health information.

  • You have the right to choose whether we disclose your health information to your family, close friends, or others involved in your care.
  • You have the right to choose whether we share your health information in a disaster relief situation.
  • You have the right to choose whether your information is included in a hospital directory.
  • You have the right, in most circumstances, to choose whether we share psychotherapy notes related to your care.
  • You have the right to choose if we may use your health information for marketing purposes


OUR RESPONSIBILITIES

  • We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
  • We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information
  • We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and provide you with a copy of it.
  • We will not use or share your information other than as described in this notice unless we have your written permission to do so.
  • Except as noted above, you have the right to revoke this authorization in writing at any time.


CHANGES TO THE TERMS OF THIS NOTICE
Coastal Learning and Behavioral Services, Inc. reserves the right to make changes to our privacy practices.  Subsequent changes will apply to all health information contained in your medical record.  The revised notice will be made available to you upon request and may be found on our website.