Our Privacy Policy
Twin Branch Wellness & Recovery, LLC and all associates are committed to providing you with quality behavioral healthcare services. An important part of that commitment is protecting your health information according to applicable law. This notice (“Notice of Privacy Practices”) describes your rights and our duties under Federal Law. Protected health information (“PHI”) is information about you, including demographic information, that may identify you and that relates to your past, present or future physical or mental health or condition; the provision of healthcare services; or the past, present, or future payment for the provision of healthcare services to you.
We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your PHI; provide you with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your PHI; and to notify you following a breach of unsecured PHI related to you. We are required to abide by the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices. This Notice of Privacy Practices will remain in effect until it is revised. We are required to modify this Notice of Privacy Practices when there are material changes to your rights, our duties, or other practices contained herein.
We reserve the right to change our privacy policy and practices and the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices, consistent with applicable law and our current business processes, at any time. Any new Notice of Privacy Practices will be effective for all PHI that we maintain at that time. Notification of revisions of this Notice of Privacy Practices will be provided as follows:
- Upon request;
- Electronically via our website or via other electronic means; and
- As posted in our place of business.
In addition to the above, we have a duty to respond to your requests (e.g. those corresponding to your rights) in a timely and appropriate manner. We support and value your right to privacy and are committed to maintaining reasonable and appropriate safeguards for your PHI.
The confidentiality of alcohol and drug abuse patient records maintained by us is protected by Federal law and regulations. Generally, we may not say to a person outside the treatment center that you are a patient of the treatment center, or disclose any information identifying you as an alcohol or drug abuser unless:
- You consent in writing (as discussed below in “Authorization to Use or Disclose PHI”);
- The disclosure is allowed by a court order (as discussed below in “Uses and Disclosures”); or
- The disclosure is made to medical personnel in a medical emergency or to qualified personnel for research, audit, or program evaluation (as discussed below in “Uses and Disclosures”).
Violation of the Federal law and regulations by the treatment center is a crime. Suspected violations may be reported to appropriate authorities in accordance with Federal regulations.
Federal law and regulations do not protect any information about a crime committed by you either at the treatment center or against any person who works for the treatment center or about any threat to commit such a crime (as discussed below in “Uses and Disclosures”).
Federal laws and regulations do not protect any information about suspected child abuse or neglect from being reported under State law to appropriate State or local authorities (as discussed below in “Uses and Disclosures”).
See 42 U.S.C. 290dd-3 and 42 U.S.C. 290ee-3 for Federal laws and 42 CFR part 2 for Federal regulations.
Uses and disclosures of your PHI may be permitted, required, or authorized. The following categories describe various ways that we use and disclose PHI.
We may use or disclose information between or among personnel having a need for the information in connection with their duties that arise out of the provision of diagnosis, treatment, or referral for treatment of alcohol or drug abuse, provided such communication is within the treatment center. For example, our staff, including doctors, nurses, and clinicians, will use your PHI to provide your treatment care. Your PHI may be used in connection with billing statements we send you and in connection with tracking charges and credits to your account. Your PHI will be used to check for eligibility for insurance coverage and prepare claims for your insurance company where appropriate. We may use and disclose your PHI in order to conduct our healthcare business and to perform functions associated with our business activities, including accreditation and licensing.
- Secretary of Health and Human Services We are required to disclose PHI to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services when the Secretary is investigating or determining our compliance with the HIPAA Privacy Rules.
- Business Associates We may disclose your PHI to Business Associates that are contracted by us to perform services on our behalf which may involve receipt, use or disclose of your PHI. All of our Business Associates must agree to: (i) Protect the privacy of your PHI; (ii) Use and disclose the information only for the purposes for which the Business Associate was engaged; (iii) Be bound by 42 CFR Part 2; and (iv) if necessary, resist in judicial proceedings any efforts to obtain access to patient records except as permitted by law.
- Crimes on Premises We may disclose to law enforcement officers information that is directly related to the commission of a crime on the premises or against our personnel or to a threat to commit such a crime.
- Reports of Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect We may disclose information required to report under state law incidents of suspected child abuse and neglect to the appropriate state or local authorities. However, we may not disclose the original patient records, including for civil or criminal proceedings which may arise out of the report of suspected child abuse and neglect, without consent.
- Court Order We may disclose information required by a court order, provided certain regulatory requirements are met.
- Emergency Situations We may disclose information to medical personnel for the purpose of treating you in an emergency.
- Audit and Evaluation Activities We may disclose your information to persons conducting certain audit and evaluation activities, provided the person agrees to certain restrictions on disclosure of information.
- Reporting of Death We may disclose your information related to cause of death to a public health authority that is authorized to receive such information.
Client Rights
The following are the rights that you have regarding PHI that we maintain about you. Information regarding how to exercise those rights is also provided. Protecting your PHI is an important part of the services we provide you. We want to ensure that you have access to your PHI when you need it and that you clearly understand your rights as described below.
- Right to Notice
- Right of Access to Inspect and Copy
- Right to Amend
- Right to Request a List of Disclosures
- Right to Request Restrictions
- Right to Confidential Communications
- Right to Notification of a Breach
- Right to Voice Concerns
We support your right to privacy of your Protected Health Information. You will not be retaliated against in any way if you choose to file a complaint with us or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
If you believe your rights have been violated and would like to submit a complaint directly to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, then you may submit a formal written complaint to the following address:
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Office for Civil Rights
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
877-696-6775
OCRMail@hhs.gov
www.hhs.gov
Email and Internet Privacy Policy
Twin Branch Wellness & Recovery, LLC (TBWR) is committed to privacy and has created this statement to specify how your information will and will not be used by our organization.
We will never sell, rent, or loan your email address to anyone. Upon your request, your e-mail address will be used to contact you. Users may opt-out of receiving future contact at any time and are given an opportunity to unsubscribe. If a user chooses to provide optional information, such as phone numbers, fax numbers, or email addresses, via the Contact link on our website, that user gives TBWR permission to contact them using those methods with regards to services that may be of interest.
TBWR may use Remarketing with Google Analytics to advertise online. Using cookies, this service links the activity of website visitors with the Adwords advertising network to connect the right people with a meaningful message. However, we do not combine this cookie information with any personally identifiable information that you provide to us.
It is important to know:
- Third-party vendors, including Google, may show our ads on sites across the Internet.
- Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on someone’s past visits to our website.
- Anyone may opt out of the Google Analytics cookie at any time by visiting http://www.google.com/privacy/ads/
We do not sell nor release, nor plan to sell nor release any user information to anyone nor any outside entity.