Notice of Privacy Practices.

Our commitment

What you say in therapy stays in therapy. That is not a slogan here, it is a legal obligation and a professional one, and the exceptions to it are narrow and worth understanding.

Oasis Mental Health, PLLC is required by law to maintain the privacy of your protected health information, to give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices, and to follow the terms of the notice currently in effect. Protected health information, or PHI, means information about you that could reasonably identify you and that relates to your mental or physical health, your care, or payment for that care.

How we may use and disclose your information without your authorization

For treatment

We may use your information to provide and coordinate your care. For example, if you ask us to consult with your psychiatrist about how a medication is affecting your symptoms, we may share relevant information with that provider in order to coordinate your treatment.

For payment

We may use and disclose your information to bill and collect payment for services. If you use insurance, this may include sharing your diagnosis, dates of service, and treatment type with your health plan.

For health care operations

We may use your information for the administrative work of running the practice: scheduling, quality review, and professional consultation. When Amber consults with other clinicians about a case, identifying details are removed wherever possible.

Uses and disclosures required or permitted by law

Texas and federal law require or permit disclosure without your authorization in specific circumstances. These are the exceptions to confidentiality, and we would rather you hear them from us plainly than discover them later:

• Suspected abuse or neglect of a child. Texas law requires any person who suspects that a child is being abused or neglected to report it. This obligation is not optional and applies to all Texans, clinicians included.
• Suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation of an elderly person or a person with a disability. Texas law likewise requires a report.
• Serious and imminent threat of harm. If you communicate a serious threat of physical harm against an identifiable person, or present a serious risk of harm to yourself, we may disclose information as needed to protect you or that person, including to law enforcement, medical personnel, or the person at risk.
• Court orders and legal proceedings. We may be required to disclose information in response to a valid court order. A subpoena alone is generally not sufficient in Texas for mental health records; we will assert your confidentiality and notify you where we are permitted to do so.
• Health oversight. Information may be disclosed to agencies overseeing the licensing and conduct of clinical social workers, such as the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council.
• Public health activities. Disclosures may be made to authorities responsible for preventing or controlling disease, injury, or disability.
• Workers' compensation. If your care relates to a workers' compensation claim, disclosure may be required under that program.
• Business associates. Vendors who support the practice, such as our electronic health record system, may handle your information. Each is bound by a written agreement requiring them to protect it to the same standard we do.

Psychotherapy notes

Psychotherapy notes are the private notes a therapist keeps about the content of a session, held separately from the rest of your record. They receive greater protection than other health information.

Uses that always require your written authorization

Other than the situations described above, we will not use or disclose your information without your written authorization. Specifically, your written authorization is always required for:

• Most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes
• Any use of your information for marketing purposes
• Any sale of your information, which we do not do and will not do
• Disclosure to family members, partners, employers, schools, or anyone else not otherwise permitted by law

You may revoke an authorization in writing at any time. Revoking it stops future disclosures but cannot undo a disclosure already made in reliance on it.

Your rights

To see and get a copy of your record

You may inspect and request a copy of your health record. We will respond within the timeframes Texas and federal law require. A reasonable, cost-based fee may apply to copies. In limited circumstances a request may be denied, and you may have that denial reviewed. Psychotherapy notes are treated separately from the rest of the record.

To request a correction

If you believe something in your record is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend it. If we deny the request, you may submit a written statement of disagreement, which becomes part of your record.

To request confidential communication

You may ask us to contact you in a particular way or at a particular location, such as calling a specific number, or not leaving voicemails. We will accommodate reasonable requests and will not ask you why.

To request restrictions

You may ask us to limit how your information is used or disclosed. We are not required to agree to every request. We are required to agree to one: if you pay for a service in full and out of pocket, you may direct us not to share information about that service with your health plan, and we must honor it.

To an accounting of disclosures

You may request a list of certain disclosures we have made of your information. This does not include disclosures for treatment, payment, or health care operations, or ones you authorized.

To a paper copy of this notice

You may request a paper copy at any time, even if you have agreed to receive it electronically.

To be notified of a breach

You will be notified if a breach occurs that compromises the privacy or security of your information.

A note for parents and teens

When Amber works with a child or adolescent, parents and legal guardians generally have the right to access their minor child's records under Texas law. Therapy with a young person also depends on that young person trusting the room.

We address this directly at the start of treatment: what will be shared with parents, what will be kept between therapist and client, and the circumstances, chiefly safety, in which that changes. Everyone involved knows the arrangement before the work begins.

Our duties

We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your information, to provide this notice, and to abide by its terms. We reserve the right to change this notice and to make the revised notice effective for information we already hold as well as information we receive in the future. If we make a material change, the revised notice will be posted on this page and made available in the office.

Questions and complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, please tell us. You may also file a complaint with the federal government. Either way:

To contact the practice

To contact the federal government

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. Complaints may be filed at hhs.gov/ocr/complaints or by calling 1-800-368-1019.

Texas law

Where Texas law provides greater protection for mental health information than federal law does, Texas law governs. Confidential communications between a client and a licensed clinical social worker are protected under Chapter 611 of the Texas Health and Safety Code.