Notice of Privacy Practices

For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions.

In these cases, you have both the right and the choice to tell us to:

• Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in your care
• Share information in a disaster relief situation

If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety. For substance use disorder records protected by 42 CFR Part 2, we share for this purpose only with your written consent or as Part 2 specifically allows.

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

How We Typically Use or Share Your Health Information

Treat you. We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you. Example: your therapist and our Medical Director talk about your care.

Run our organization. We can use and share your health information to run our program, 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. We can use and share your health information to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities. Example: we give information about you to your health insurance plan so it will pay for your services.

Substance use disorder records have stricter rules for these uses. See “Substance Use Disorder Records” below.

How Else We Can 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 https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/index.html.

Help with public health and safety issues. We can share health information about you for certain situations, listed below. For substance use disorder records protected by 42 CFR Part 2, we share for this purpose only with your written consent or as Part 2 specifically allows. Examples include:

• Preventing disease
• 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, as the law allows.

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.

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. For substance use disorder records protected by 42 CFR Part 2, we share for these purposes only with your written consent or as Part 2 specifically allows. Otherwise, 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, as the law allows. Substance use disorder records have additional protections in legal proceedings, described below.

Counsel review: Counsel to confirm wording and whether Sol is a Part 2 program. Publish gate: this section, and the Part 2 sentences elsewhere in this notice, do not go live until counsel confirms.

Some of the health information we keep about substance use disorder diagnosis, treatment, or referral is protected by an additional federal law, 42 U.S.C. § 290dd-2 and its regulations at 42 CFR Part 2 (“Part 2”). Where Part 2 is stricter than the rules above, we follow Part 2.

• Your written consent. We generally need your written consent to use or share Part 2 records, including for treatment, payment, and health care operations. You can give a single consent for all future treatment, payment, and health care operations uses. You can take back (revoke) your consent in writing at any time, except for actions already taken in reliance on it. If we keep separate notes of substance use disorder counseling sessions, we will not use or share those notes without a separate written consent from you that covers only them, except in the limited cases Part 2 allows.
• Legal proceedings. Part 2 records, and testimony that describes their content, generally may not be used or shared in any civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceeding against you unless you consent in writing or a court issues an order after notice and an opportunity to be heard, as Part 2 requires.
• Sharing after disclosure. Once shared, some recipients may share the information again as HIPAA allows, but Part 2 records can still never be used against you in a legal proceeding without your consent or a qualifying court order.
• Fundraising. If we ever contact you about fundraising, you can tell us not to contact you again.
• Complaints. You can report a suspected Part 2 violation to our Privacy Officer or to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as described above.

California law, including the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, gives extra protection to certain health information, such as mental health and substance use treatment records and HIV test results. When California law is stricter than federal law, we follow California law. Counsel review: Counsel to confirm any California-specific statements required.

• 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 https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/index.html.

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, at our office, and on our website.