Bright Skies Therapy & Consulting

Notice of Privacy Practices

September 2022

 

This notice describes how personal health information about your child may be used and disclosed, and how you can get access to this information.

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Our Pledge Regarding Personal Information

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We understand that information about your child and his/her health care and well-being are personal. At Bright Skies Therapy & Consulting, we are committed to protecting the confidentiality of the financial and health information regarding your child, or your child’s “personal information.” We create a record of the care and services your child receives from us. We need this record to provide your child with quality, individualized care, and to comply with specific legal requirements.

 

This Notice of Privacy Practices applies to all of the records of your child’s care generated by Bright Skies Therapy & Consulting, regardless of the team member. This notice will tell you about the ways in which we may use and disclose personal information about your child. We also describe your rights to the personal information we keep about your child, and describe certain obligations we have regarding the use and disclosure of that personal information.

 

Our Lawful Requirements

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Bright Skies Therapy & Consulting is required by law to:

• Make sure that personal information that identifies your child is kept private

• Give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to personal information about your child

• Follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect

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How We May Use And Disclose Personal Information About Your Child

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For Treatment

We use personal information about your child to provide him/her with individualized treatment/services. We may disclose personal information about your child to doctors, nurses, other practitioners/therapists, health students, teachers, or other personnel who are involved in well-being/care of your child. They may be a Bright Skies Therapy & Consulting team member, or a professional at another health care or educational agency, where your child receives services.

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For Payment

We may use and disclose personal information about your child so that the treatment/services he/she receives from us may be billed to and payment collected from you, an insurance company, or a third party. For example, we may need to provide health information about your child’s therapy session so your health plan will pay us or reimburse you for the visit (when applicable). We may also need to share health information about a treatment your child is going to receive to obtain prior approval or to determine whether your plan will cover the treatment, where/when applicable.

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For Healthcare Operations

We may use and disclose personal information about your child for operations of their services with Bright Skies Therapy & Consulting. These uses and disclosures are necessary in operating Bright Skies Therapy & Consulting and in making sure that all of our client/children/families receive quality care. For example, we may use personal information to review our treatment approaches, services, and processes. We may also use personal information for team member evaluations/review. We may also combine personal information about many clients to decide what additional services we should offer, what services are not needed, whether certain new treatments are effective, and to see where we can make improvements.

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As Required by Law

We will disclose personal information about your child when required to do so by federal, state, or local law.

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To Avert Serious Threat to Health or Safety

We may use and disclose personal information about your child when necessary to prevent a serious threat to your child’s health and safety or the health and safety of the public or another person. Any disclosure, however, would only be to someone able to help prevent the threat.

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Public Health Risks

We may disclose personal information about your child for public health activities. These activities generally include the following:

• to prevent or control disease, injury of disability

• to report child abuse or neglect

• to report reactions to medications or problems with products

• to notify people of recalls of products they may be using

• to notify a person who may have been exposed to a disease or may be at risk for contracting or spreading a disease or condition

 

Health Oversight Activities

We may disclose personal information to a health oversight agency for activities authorized by law. These oversight activities include, for example, audits, investigations, inspections, and licensure. These activities are necessary for the government to monitor the health care system, government programs, and compliance with civil rights laws.

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Lawsuits and Disputes

If you are involved in a lawsuit or a dispute, we may disclose personal information about your child in response to a court or administrative order. We may also disclose personal information about your child in response to a subpoena, discover request, or other lawful process by someone else involved in the dispute, but only if efforts have been made to tell you about the request or to obtain an order protecting the information requested.

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Law Enforcement

We may release personal information if asked to do so by a law enforcement official in response to a court order, subpoena, warrant, summons or similar process to identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person about a death we believe may be the result of criminal conduct about criminal conduct at our facility.

 

Your Rights Regarding Personal Information We Maintain About Your Child

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Right to Inspect and Copy

You have the right to inspect and copy personal information that may be used to make decisions about your child’s care. Usually, this includes health and billing records.

To inspect and copy personal information that may be used to make decisions about your child, you must submit your request in writing to Quiana Long, Lead Practitioner. If you request a copy of the information, we may charge a fee for the costs of copying, mailing or other supplies and services associated with your request.

We may deny your request to inspect and copy in certain very limited circumstances. If you are denied access to personal health information, you may request that the denial be reviewed. Another licensed health care professional chosen by Bright Skies Therapy & Consulting will review your request and the denial. The person conducting the review will not be the person who denied your request. We will comply with the outcome of the review.

 

Right to Amend

If you feel that personal information we have about your child is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend the information. You have the right to request an amendment for as long as we keep the information. Your request must be made in writing, submitted to Quiana Long, Lead Therapist, and must be contained on one page of paper legibly handwritten or typed in at least 10- point font size. In addition, you must provide a reason that supports your request for an amendment.

We may deny your request for an amendment if it is not in writing or does not include a reason to support the request. In addition, we may deny your request if you ask us to amend information that was not created by us is not part of the health information kept by or for Bright Skies Therapy & Consulting is not part of the information which you would be permitted to inspect and copy is accurate and complete.

Any amendment we make to your child’s health information will be disclosed to those with whom we disclose information as previously specified.

 

Right to an Accounting of Disclosures

You have the right to request a list accounting for any disclosures of your personal information we have made, except for uses and disclosures for treatment, payment and health care operations, as previously described.

To request this list of disclosures, you must submit your request in writing to Quiana Long, Lead Practitioner. Your request must state a time period which may not be longer than six years and may not include dates before September 5, 2020. The first list you request within a 12-month period will be free. For additional lists, we may charge you for the costs of providing the request at that time before any costs are incurred. We will mail you a list of disclosures in paper form within 30 days of your request, or notify you if we are unable to supply the list within that time period and by what date we can supply the list, but this date will not exceed a total of 60 days from the date you made the request.

 

Right to Request Restrictions

You have the right to request a restriction or limitation on the personal information we use or disclose about your child for treatment, payment, or health care operations. You also have the right to request a limit on the personal information we disclose about your child to someone who is involved in your child’s care or the payment for your child’s care, such as a family member or friend.

We are not required to agree to your request for restrictions if it is not feasible for us to ensure our compliance or believe it will negatively impact the care we may provide your child. If we do agree, we will comply with your request. To request a restriction, you must make your request in writing to Quiana Long, Lead Practitioner. In your request, you must tell us what information you want to limit and to whom you want the limits to apply.

 

Right to Request Confidential Communications

You have the right to request that we communicate with you about health matters in a certain way or at a certain location. For example, you can ask that we only contact you at work or by mail. To request confidential communications, you must make your request in writing to Quiana Long, Lead Practitioner/Therapist, specifying how or where you wish to be contacted. We will not ask you the reason for your request. We will accommodate all reasonable requests.

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Other Uses of Personal Information

Other uses and disclosures of personal information not covered by this notice or the laws that apply to us will be made only with your written permission. If you provide us permission to use or disclose personal information about your child, you may revoke that permission, in writing, at any time. If you revoke your permission, we will no longer use or disclose personal information about your child for the reasons covered by your written authorization. You understand that we are unable to take back any disclosures we have already made with your permission, and that we are required to retain our records of the care that we provided to your child.

 

Changes to This Notice

Should any of our privacy practices change, we reserve the right to change the terms of this Notice. The revised Notice would apply to all the personal information about you that we maintain. If we make changes to our privacy practices, we will provide you with a copy of the revised Notice. We will also post the revised Notice on our web site.

 

Electronic Notice

If you receive this Notice on our web site or by e-mail, you are also entitled to receive this Notice in paper form. To obtain a paper copy of this Notice, contact us at info@brightskiestherapy.com.

 

Filing A Complaint

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, or if you disagree with a decision we made about a request, you may file a written complaint with us or the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). You will not be penalized if you file a complaint about our privacy practices with us or with DHHS.

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Contact Information

You may exercise any of your rights described in the Notice, or ask any questions about this notice, by contacting Quiana Long, Lead Practitioner at info@brightskiestherapy.com.

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