Ascend Therapy, LLC is required by law to maintain the privacy of your health information and to provide you with notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to health information.

 

- Protected health information (PHI) includes your demographic information such as: name, address, telephone number, and family; past, present, or future information about your physical or mental health or condition; and information about the services provided to you, including payment information, if any of that information may be used to identify you.

 

- Your PHI may is generally maintained electronically, though historically it may have been on paper. There may be times where we utilize paper in conjunction with electronic records. We hold any paper medical records in a secure area within our office, and our electronic health record system is monitored and updated to address security risks in compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule.

 

- Ascend Therapy, LLC may need to share, with your expressed consent, your information with your other healthcare providers, labs, imaging centers, or specialists we are referring you to. There is a separate consent check box for this at the end of your initial intake paperwork. You do not have to consent to this, but it may limit our ability to provide the most thorough care if you do not consent.

 

- You may request in writing that we share your PHI with certain members of your family, care providers, or other trusted individuals. You will need to give us written consent before we can give them information. You can change your preferences at any time.

 

-Newsletters and Other Communications. We may use your personal information in order to communicate to you via newsletters (including electronic newsletters – subject to applicable anti-spam laws), mailings, text messages (SMS), or other means regarding treatment options, health related information, disease management programs, wellness programs, or other community-based initiatives or activities in which our practice is participating. ​

 

 

DISCLOSURES OF PHI REQUIRED BY LAW:

In some circumstances, we may be legally bound to disclose your PHI without your consent or authorization. State and federal privacy law permit or require such use or disclosure regardless of your consent or authorization in certain situations, including, but not limited to:

- Emergencies: If you are incapacitated and require emergency treatment, we will use and disclose your PHI to ensure you receive the necessary services. we will attempt to obtain your consent as soon as practical following your treatment.

 

- Serious Threats to Health or Safety: We may disclose your PHI to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public.

 

- Public Health/Regulatory Activities: We may disclose your PHI to comply with state child or adult abuse or neglect law. We are mandatory reporters and are obligated to report suspicion of abuse and neglect to the appropriate regulatory agency.

 

-Judicial and Administrative Proceedings: We will only disclose your PHI in the course of any judicial or administrative proceeding in response to a court order expressly directing disclosure, or in accordance with specific statutory obligation compelling us to do so.

 

-Marketing: In most circumstances, we are required by law to receive your written authorization before we use or disclose your health information for marketing purposes. However, we may provide you with promotional gifts of nominal value and market services or products to you in face-to-face communications. Under no circumstances will we sell our patient lists or your health information to a third party without your written authorization. 

 

-Right to Receive Notice of a Breach. Ascend Therapy, LLC is required to notify you by first class mail or by e-mail (if you have indicated a preference to receive information by e-mail), of any breaches of Unsecured Protected Health Information as soon as possible, but in any event, no later than 60 days following the discovery of the breach. “Unsecured Protected Health Information” is information that is not secured through the use of a technology or methodology identified by the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to render the Protected Health Information unusable, unreadable, and undecipherable to unauthorized users. The notice is required to include the following information:

 

• a brief description of the breach, including the date of the breach and the date of its discovery, if known;

• a description of the type of Unsecured Protected Health Information involved in the breach;

• steps you should take to protect yourself from potential harm resulting from the breach;

• a brief description of actions we are taking to investigate the breach, mitigate losses, and protect against further 

 breaches;

• contact information, including a toll-free telephone number, e-mail address, website or postal address to permit 

 you to ask questions or obtain additional information. In the event the breach involves 10 or more patients 

 whose contact information is out of date we will post a notice of the breach on the homepage of our website or  

 in a major print or broadcast media. If the breach involves more than 500 patients in the state or jurisdiction, we 

 will send notices to prominent media outlets. If the breach involves more than 500 patients, we are required to 

 immediately notify the Secretary. We also are required to submit an annual report to the Secretary of a breach 

 that involved less than 500 patients during the year and will maintain a written log of breaches involving less 

 than 500 patients.

 

-Complaints: If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with Ascend Therapy, LLC or with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Ave, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201. To file a complaint with us, contact our privacy officer at:

 

Tiffany Stoots

108 S Walnut St, Suite 213

Muncie, IN 47305

765-393-9939

 

All complaints must be submitted in writing and should be submitted within 180 days of when you knew or should have known that the alleged violation occurred. See the Office for Civil Rights website, www.hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/ for more information. You will not be penalized for filing a complaint.

 

YOUR RIGHT TO YOUR INFORMATION:

You have the right to obtain a copy of your PHI upon your written request. We will respond to your request as soon as possible, but no later than 30 days from the date of your request. We have the right to charge a reasonable fee for providing copies of your PHI.