During the process of providing services to you, City Park Counseling, PLLC/Karen Conklin-Johnson, MA, LPC, will obtain, record and use mental health and medical information about you that is protected health information. Ordinarily that information is confidential and will not be used or disclosed, except as described below.

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Your Rights

 

You have the right to:

• Get a copy of your paper or electronic medical record

• Correct your paper or electronic medical record

• Request confidential communication

• Ask us to limit the information we share

• Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared your information

• Get a copy of this privacy notice

• Choose someone to act for you

• File a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated

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Your Choices

You have some choices in the way that we use and share information as we: Provide mental health care

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

• Work with a medical examiner or funeral director

• Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests

• Respond to lawsuits and legal actions

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Your Rights

 

When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.

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Get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record

• You can ask to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information we have about you. Ask us how to do this.

• We will provide a copy or a summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.

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Ask us to correct your medical record

• You can ask us to correct health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete.

 

Ask us how to do this.

• We may say “no” to your request, but we’ll tell you why in writing within 60 days.

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Request confidential communications

• You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address.

• We will say “yes” to all reasonable requests.

Ask us to limit what we use or share

• You can ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your care.

• If you pay for a service or health care item 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 say “yes” unless a law requires us to share that information.

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Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared information

• You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times we’ve shared your health information for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why.

• We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). We’ll provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.

Get a copy of this privacy notice

• You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly.

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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 we take any action.

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 end of this notice.

• 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

  • visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/

• We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

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Your Choices

 

For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share.

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• Except for certain minors, incompetent clients, or involuntary clients, protected health information cannot be provided to family members without your consent. In situations where family members are present during a discussion with you, and it can be reasonably inferred from the circumstances that you do not object, information may be disclosed in the course of that discussion. However, if you object, protected health information will not be disclosed.

• In life-threatening emergencies, we will disclose information necessary to avoid serious harm or death.

• We may not use or disclose protected health information in any other way without a signed authorization or release of information. When you sign an authorization or a release of information, it may later be revoked, provided that the revocation is in writing. The revocation will apply, except to the extent we have already taken action in reliance thereon.

In these cases, we never share your information unless you give us written permission:

• Marketing purposes

• Sale of your information

• Most sharing of psychotherapy notes

• Other uses and disclosures not described in the Notice of Privacy Practices

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Our Uses and Disclosures

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 can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you.

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Run our organization

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

 

Bill for your services

• We can use and share your health information to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities.

 

How else can we use or share your 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

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Help with public health and safety issues

• We can share health information about you for certain situations such as:

  • ​Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or intimate partner violence

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

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Do research

• We can use or share your information for health research.

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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.

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Work with a medical examiner or funeral director

• We can share health information 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 health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.

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Our Responsibilities

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• 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 give you a copy of it.

• 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.

For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/noticepp.html

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Changes to the Terms of this Notice

We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request, in our office, and on our web site.

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Other Instructions for Notice

Effective Date of this Notice: November 9, 2020
If you desire additional information about your privacy rights, please contact Karen Conklin-Johnson.
Contact Officer: Karen Conklin-Johnson, MA, LPC
Address: 1556 Williams St, Unit #202, Denver, CO 80218
Telephone: (303) 909-9488