Confidentiality and Privacy

Confidentiality and Privacy are cornerstones of the therapeutic setting.  Therapist-client confidentiality assures that clients can be completely honest with their therapist and free from concerns that deeply personal information will be shared with anyone outside the therapeutic setting.  

Confidentiality

Session content and all relevant materials to the client’s treatment will be held confidential unless the client requests in writing to have all or portions of such content released to a specifically named person/persons.

The privilege of confidentiality exists during and after therapeutic services, but is subject to some limitations, such as threatening a substantial risk to yourself or others, reasonable suspicion of abuse of a child or elderly person, and pursuant to a legitimate supeona issued by a court of law.  In these situations, your therapist will break confidentiality only after careful consideration and will only share the minimum amount of information necessary, only to  authorized personnel.  Your therapist will inform you if confidentiality has been broken due to one of these exceptions. 

Occasionally your therapist may need to consult with other professionals in their areas of expertise in order to provide the best treatment for you. Information about you may be shared in this context without using your name or any identifiable information.

Parents and Minors:

While privacy in therapy is crucial to successful progress, parental involvement can also be essential. It is our policy not to provide treatment to a child under age 13 unless they agree that we can share whatever information we consider necessary with a parent. For children 14 and older, we request an agreement between the client and the parents allowing us to share general information about treatment progress and attendance, as well as a treatment summary upon completion of therapy. All other communication will require the child’s agreement unless we feel there is a safety concern (see also above section on Confidentiality for exceptions), in which case your clinician will make every effort to notify the child of their intention to disclose information ahead of time and make every effort to handle any objections that are raised.

Our full policy on confidentiality is available through our client portal.

HIPAA and privacy

Notice of Privacy Practices

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

Our commitment to your privacy:

Our practice is dedicated to maintaining the privacy of your personal health information as part of providing professional care. We are also required by law to keep your information private. These laws are complicated, but we must give you this important information. This is a shorter version of the full, legally required notice of privacy practices available upon request. Please talk to our privacy officer (see the end of this form) about any questions or problems.

How we use and disclose your protected health information with your consent:

We will use the information we collect about you mainly to provide you with treatment, to arrange payment for our services, and for some other business activities that are called, in the law, health care operations. After you have read this notice we will ask you to sign a consent form to let us use and share your information in these ways. If you do not consent and sign this form, we cannot treat you. If we want to use or send, share, or release your information for other purposes, we will discuss this with you and ask you to sign an authorization form to allow this.

Disclosing your health information without your consent:

There are some times when the laws require us to use or share your information. For example:

1. When there is a serious threat to your or another’s health and safety or to the public. We will only share information with persons who are able to help prevent or reduce the threat.

2. When we are required to do so by lawsuits and other legal or court proceedings.

3. If a law enforcement official requires us to do so.

4. For workers’ compensation and similar benefit programs.

Your rights regarding your health information:

1. You can ask us to communicate with you in a particular way or at a certain place that is more private for you. For example, you can ask us to call you at home, and not at work, to schedule or cancel an appointment. We will try our best to do as you ask.

2. You can ask us to limit what we tell people involved in your care or the payment for your care, such as family members and friends.

3. You have the right to look at the health information we have about you, such as your medical and billing records. You can get a copy of these records, but we may charge you for it. Contact our privacy officer to arrange how to see your records. See below.

4. If you believe that the information in your records is incorrect or missing something important, you can ask us to make additions to your records to correct the situation. You have to make this request in writing and send it to our privacy officer. You must also tell us the reasons you want to make the changes.

5. You have the right to a copy of this notice. If we change this notice, we will post the new version in our waiting area, and you can always get a copy of it from the privacy officer.

6. You have the right to file a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated. You can file a complaint with our privacy officer and with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. All complaints must be in writing. Filing a complaint will not change the health care we provide to you in any way. Also, you may have other rights that are granted to you by the laws of our state, and these may be the same as or different from the rights described  above. We will be happy to discuss these situations with you now or as they arise.

If you have any questions regarding this notice or our health information privacy policies, please contact our privacy officer, who is Lori Evenson and can be reached by phone at 605-777-0075 or by e-mail at lori@evensoncounseling.com.                                                  

The effective date of this notice is June 1, 2016. The full HIPAA Privacy Policy is available through our client portal.

teleHEALTH AND PRIVACY

Telehealth is a safe and secure way of connecting with your therapist. Just like in-person care, your telehealth appointments are protected by privacy and confidentiality policies.

Connecting securely online 

Telehealth connects you with therapy online with full video and audio. For virtual appointments, you may use a computer, tablet, or smartphone and your regular internet service or data plan. We suggest using a VPN (virtual private network) if you are using public wifi, data connection, or unsecured wifi connection.

Evenson Counseling uses a secure patient portal to video conference with clients. Our networks are protected by firewalls, encryption, and a VPN, so video sessions are secure.

Privacy during your appointment 

Your therapist will call you from their office, the same private setting as in-person therapy. You should also be in a private, safe location where you feel safe to openly talk with your therapist. Ideally, you should use a private room in your home. It is up to the client to find a place where you can talk freely with no distractions.

If you cannot find a private place for a video session, let your provider know. They can help you to reschedule or suggest a location for the visit.