The office of Healing Journeys Therapy LLC (formerly Denise Booth MEd, NCC) is closed.

Notice of Privacy Policy

Healing Journeys Therapy LLC

35 E. Elizabeth Ave., Suite 31 Bethlehem, PA 18018

610-419-1612

Owner/Therapist: Denise Booth LPC, NCC

EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS NOTICE This notice went into effect on 4/12/22

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW HEALTH INFORMATION MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

MY PLEDGE REGARDING PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION:

I understand that health information about you and your health care is personal. I am committed to protecting health information about you. I create a record of the care and services you receive from me. I need this record to provide you with quality care and to comply with certain legal requirements. This notice applies to all of the records of your care generated by this mental health care practice. This notice will tell you about the ways in which I may use and disclose health information about you. I also describe your rights to the health information I keep about you, and describe certain obligations I have regarding the use and disclosure of your health information. I am required by law to:

Make sure that protected health information (“PHI”) that identifies you is kept private.
Give you this notice of my legal duties and privacy practices with respect to health information.
Follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect.
I can change the terms of this Notice, and such changes will apply to all information I have about you. The new Notice will be available upon request, in my office, and on my website: https://healingjourneystherapyllc.com

HOW I MAY USE AND DISCLOSE HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU:

Except in some special circumstances when we use your protected health information in this office or disclose it to others, we share only the minimum necessary PHI needed for those other people to do their jobs. Disclosures for treatment purposes are limited to the minimum necessary standard. The word “treatment” includes, among other things, the coordination and services provided in this office, management of health care providers with a third party, consultations between health care providers and referrals of a patient for health care from one health care provider to another.

The following categories describe different ways that I use and disclose protected health information. For each category of uses or disclosures I will explain what I mean and try to give some examples. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. However, all of the ways I am permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of the categories.

Our Uses and Disclosures

We may use and share your information as we:

Treat you
Run our organization
Bill for your services
Help with public health and safety issues
Do research
Comply with the law
Respond to organ and tissue donation requests
Work with a medical examiner or funeral director
Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government

requests

Respond to lawsuits and legal actions

How do we typically use or share your health information?

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.

Treat you

We use your health information to provide treatment to you and this might include individual, group, or family psychotherapy services. We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you, such as your personal/family physician. Example: A doctor treating you for an injury asks another doctor about your overall health condition.

If we want to share your PHI with any other professionals outside this office we will need your permission on a signed release of information form. For example, we may refer you to other professionals or consultants for services we cannot provide. When we do this, we need to tell them things about you and your conditions.

Run our organization

We can use and share your health information to run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary.

Example: We use health information about you to manage your treatment and services.

Bill for your services and for payment

We can use and share your PHI to bill and get payment from health plans, insurance companies, or other entities. Example: We give information about you to your health insurance plan so it will pay for your services. We may have to tell them about your diagnoses, when we met, what treatments you have received, your progress, and other similar things. Insurers may also look into a few of our patient records to evaluate completeness of our record keeping.

How else can we use or share your health information?

Appointment Reminders

We may use and disclose your PHI to reschedule or remind you of appointments, treatment or other care.

Business Associates

We hire businesses to do some jobs for us (such as billing and website hosting). In the law they are called our “business associates”. Examples include a billing service to coordinate billing with your insurance company, mail and print bills, or a website hosting company. These business associates need to receive some of your PHI to do their jobs properly. To protect your privacy, they have agreed in their contracts with us to safeguard your information just as we do.

Help with public health and safety issues

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.

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
Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety

Do research

We can use or share your information for health research.

Comply with the law

We will share information about you if state or federal laws require it, including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re complying with federal privacy law.

Respond to organ and tissue donation requests

We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.

Work with a medical examiner or funeral director

We can share PHI with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies. Address 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 a law enforcement official
With health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law
For special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential

protective services

Respond to lawsuits and legal actions

We can share protected health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena. If you are involved in a lawsuit, I may disclose health information in response to a court or administrative order. I may also disclose health information about your child in response to a subpoena, discovery 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.

III. CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES REQUIRE YOUR AUTHORIZATION:

Psychotherapy Notes. I do keep “psychotherapy notes” as that term is defined in 45 CFR § 164.501, and any use or disclosure of such notes requires your Authorization unless the use or disclosure is:
a. For my use in treating you.
b. For my use in training or supervising mental health practitioners to help them improve their skills in group, joint, family, or individual counseling or therapy.
c. For my use in defending myself in legal proceedings instituted by you.
d. For use by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to investigate my compliance with HIPAA.
e. Required by law and the use or disclosure is limited to the requirements of such law.
f. Required by law for certain health oversight activities pertaining to the originator of the psychotherapy notes.
g. Required by a coroner who is performing duties authorized by law.
h. Required to help avert a serious threat to the health and safety of others.
Marketing Purposes. As a psychotherapist, I will not use or disclose your PHI for marketing purposes.
Sale of PHI. As a psychotherapist, I will not sell your PHI in the regular course of my business.

CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES DO NOT REQUIRE YOUR AUTHORIZATION.

Subject to certain limitations in the law, I can use and disclose your PHI without your Authorization for the following reasons:

When disclosure is required by state or federal law, and the use or disclosure complies with and is limited to the relevant requirements of such law.
For public health activities, including reporting suspected child, elder, or dependent adult abuse, or preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety.
For health oversight activities, including audits and investigations.
For judicial and administrative proceedings, including responding to a court or administrative order, although my preference is to obtain an Authorization from you before doing so.
For law enforcement purposes, including reporting crimes occurring on my premises.
To coroners or medical examiners, when such individuals are performing duties authorized by law.
For research purposes, including studying and comparing the mental health of patients who received one form of therapy versus those who received another form of therapy for the same condition.
Specialized government functions, including, ensuring the proper execution of military missions; protecting the President of the United States; conducting intelligence or counter-intelligence operations; or, helping to ensure the safety of those working within or housed in correctional institutions.
For workers’ compensation purposes. Although my preference is to obtain an Authorization from you, I may provide your PHI in order to comply with workers’ compensation laws.
Appointment reminders and health related benefits or services. I may use and disclose your PHI to contact you to remind you that you have an appointment with me. I may also use and disclose your PHI to tell you about treatment alternatives, or other health care services or benefits that I offer.

CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES REQUIRE YOU TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO OBJECT.

Disclosures to family, friends, or others. I may provide your PHI to a family member, friend, or other person that you indicate is involved in your care or the payment for your health care, unless you object in whole or in part. The opportunity to consent may be obtained retroactively in emergency situations.

YOU HAVE THE FOLLOWING RIGHTS WITH RESPECT TO YOUR PHI:

The Right to Request Limits on Uses and Disclosures of Your PHI. You have the right to ask me not to use or disclose certain PHI for treatment, payment, or health care operations purposes. I am not required to agree to your request, and I may say “no” if I believe it would affect your health care.
The Right to Request Restrictions for Out-of-Pocket Expenses Paid for In Full. You have the right to request restrictions on disclosures of your PHI to health plans for payment or health care operations purposes if the PHI pertains solely to a health care item or a health care service that you have paid for out-of-pocket in full.
The Right to Choose How I Send PHI to You. You have the right to ask me to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address, and I will agree to all reasonable requests.
The Right to See and Get Copies of Your PHI. Other than “psychotherapy notes,” you have the right to get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other information that I have about you. I will provide you with a copy of your record, or a summary of it, if you agree to receive a summary, within 30 days of receiving your written request, and I may charge a reasonable, cost based fee for doing so.
The Right to Get a List of the Disclosures I Have Made. You have the right to request a list of instances in which I have disclosed your PHI for purposes other than treatment, payment, or health care operations, or for which you provided me with an Authorization. I will respond to your request for an accounting of disclosures within 60 days of receiving your request. The list I will give you will include disclosures made in the last six years unless you request a shorter time. I will provide the list to you at no charge, but if you make more than one request in the same year, I will charge you a reasonable cost based fee for each additional request.
The Right to Correct or Update Your PHI. If you believe that there is a mistake in your PHI, or that a piece of important information is missing from your PHI, you have the right to request that I correct the existing information or add the missing information. I may say “no” to your request, but I will tell you why in writing within 60 days of receiving your request.
The Right to Get a Paper or Electronic Copy of this Notice. You have the right get a paper copy of this Notice, and you have the right to get a copy of this notice by e-mail. And, even if you have agreed to receive this Notice via e-mail, you also have the right to request a paper copy of it.
The right to file a complaint if you feel your rights are violated
• You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting us using the information at the top if this document
• You can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/.
• We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
OUR RESPONSIBILITIES
1. We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
2. We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.
3. We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it.
4. We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind.
Acknowledgement of Receipt of Privacy Notice

Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), you have certain rights regarding the use and disclosure of your protected health information.