Notice of Privacy Practices

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN ACCESS THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW ALL INFORMATION CAREFULLY.

FEDERAL LAW PROTECTS THE CONFIDENTIALITY OF SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER PATIENT RECORDS.

I. OUR PLEDGE REGARDING HEALTH INFORMATION:

IMUA Health Group is committed to providing you with the highest quality care in an environment that protects your privacy and the confidentiality of your health information. We understand that health information about you and your health care is personal. We create a record of the care and services you receive from us. IMUA Health Group needs this record to provide you with quality care and to comply with certain legal requirements. This notice explains our privacy practices, as well as your rights, regarding your health information. This notice will tell you about the ways in which IMUA Health Group may use and disclose health information about you. It also describes your rights to the health information in your health care records and describes certain obligations we have regarding the use and disclosure of your health information. IMUA Health Group is required by law to:

  • Make sure that protected health information (“PHI”) that identifies you is kept private.
  • Give you this notice of my legal duties and privacy practices with respect to health information.
  • Follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect. If the terms of this Notice are revised, such changes will apply to all information IMUA Health Group has about you. The new Notice will be available upon request and on our website.

II. HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU:

The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose health information. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. However, all the ways we are permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of the categories.

    For Treatment, Payment, or Health Care Operations: Federal privacy rules (regulations) allow health care providers who have direct treatment relationship with the client to use or disclose the client’s personal health information without the client’s written authorization, to carry out the health care provider’s own treatment, payment, or health care operations. We may also disclose your protected health information for the treatment activities of any health care provider. If your health information includes substance use disorder treatment records protected under 42 C.F.R. Part 2, additional consent requirements may apply.

    Disclosures for treatment purposes are not limited to the minimum necessary standard because therapists and other health care providers need access to the full record and/or full and complete information to provide quality care. The word “treatment” includes, among other things, the coordination and management of health care providers with a third party, consultations between health care providers, and referrals of a patient for health care from one health care provider to another.

    Payment encompasses the various activities of health care providers to obtain payment or be reimbursed for their services and of a health plan to obtain premiums, to fulfill their coverage responsibilities and provide benefits under the plan, and to obtain or provide reimbursement for the provision of health care.

    In addition to the general definition, the Privacy Rule provides examples of common payment activities which include, but are not limited to:

    Determining eligibility or coverage under a plan and adjudicating claims; Risk adjustments; Billing and collection activities; Reviewing health care services for medical necessity, coverage, justification of charges, and the like; Utilization review activities; and Disclosures to consumer reporting agencies (limited to specified identifying information about the individual, his or her payment history, and identifying information about the covered entity).

    Lawsuits and Disputes: If you are involved in a lawsuit, we may disclose health information in response to a court or administrative order. We may also disclose health information about your child in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process by someone else involved in the dispute, but only if efforts have been made to tell you about the request or to obtain an order protecting the information requested.

    III. CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES REQUIRE YOUR AUTHORIZATION:

    1. Psychotherapy Notes. We do keep “psychotherapy notes” as that term is defined in 45 CFR § 164.501, and any use or disclosure of such notes requires your Authorization unless the use or disclosure is: a. For your provider’s use in treating you. b. For your provider’s use in training or supervising mental health practitioners to help them improve their skills in group, joint, family, or individual counseling or therapy. c. For your provider’s use as a defense in legal proceedings instituted by you. d. For use by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to investigate IMUA Health Group’s compliance with HIPAA. e. Required by law and the use or disclosure is limited to the requirements of such law. f. Required by law for certain health oversight activities pertaining to the originator of the psychotherapy notes. g. Required by a coroner who is performing duties authorized by law. h. Required to help avert a serious threat to the health and safety of others.
    2. Marketing Purposes. IMUA Health Group will not use or disclose your PHI for marketing purposes.
    3. Sale of PHI. IMUA Health Group will not sell your PHI in the regular course of business.

    IV. CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES DO NOT REQUIRE YOUR AUTHORIZATION. Subject to certain limitations in the law, IMUA Health Group can use and disclose your PHI without your Authorization for the following reasons:

    1. When disclosure is required by state or federal law, and the use or disclosure complies with and is limited to the relevant requirements of such law.
    2. For public health activities, including reporting suspected child, elder, or dependent adult abuse, or preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety.
    3. For health oversight activities, including audits and investigations.
    4. For judicial and administrative proceedings, including responding to a court or administrative order, although preference is to obtain an Authorization from you before doing so.
    5. For law enforcement purposes, including reporting crimes occurring on premises.
    6. To coroners or medical examiners when such individuals are performing duties authorized by law.
    7. For research purposes, including studying and comparing the mental health of patients who received one form of therapy versus those who received another form of therapy for the same condition.
    8. Specialized government functions, including, ensuring the proper execution of military missions; protecting the President of the United States; conducting intelligence or counter-intelligence operations; or, helping to ensure the safety of those working within or housed in correctional institutions.
    9. For workers’ compensation purposes. Although preference is to obtain an Authorization from you, IMUA Health Group may provide your PHI to comply with workers’ compensation laws.
    10. Appointment reminders and health related benefits or services. IMUA Health Group may use and disclose your PHI to contact you to remind you that you have an appointment. We may also use and disclose your PHI to tell you about treatment alternatives, or other health care services or benefits.

    V. CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES REQUIRE YOU TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO OBJECT.

    1. Disclosures to family, friends, or others. IMUA Health Group may provide your PHI to a family member, friend, or other person that you indicate is involved in your care or the payment for your health care, unless you object in whole or in part. The opportunity to consent may be obtained retroactively in emergency situations.

    VI. YOU HAVE THE FOLLOWING RIGHTS WITH RESPECT TO YOUR PHI:

    1. The Right to Request Limits on Uses and Disclosures of Your PHI. You have the right to ask IMUA Health Group not to use or disclose certain PHI for treatment, payment, or health care operations purposes.
    2. The Right to Request Restrictions for Out-of-Pocket Expenses Paid for In Full. You have the right to request restrictions on disclosures of your PHI to health plans for payment or health care operations purposes if the PHI pertains solely to a health care item or a health care service that you have paid for out-of-pocket in full.
    3. The Right to Choose How PHI is Sent to You. You have the right to ask IMUA Health Group to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address.
    4. The Right to See and Get Copies of Your PHI. Other than “psychotherapy notes,” you have the right to get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other information contained in your health record. IMUA Health Group will provide you with a copy of your record, or a summary of it, if you agree to receive a summary, within 30 days of receiving your written request. IMUA Health Group will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for doing so.
    5. The Right to Get a List of the Disclosures IMUA Health Group Has Made. You have the right to request a list of instances in which IMUA Health Group has disclosed your PHI for purposes other than treatment, payment, or health care operations, or for which you provided your provider with an Authorization. IMUA Health Group will respond to your request for an accounting of disclosures within 60 days of receiving your request. The list provided can include disclosures made within the last six (6) years.
    6. The Right to Correct or Update Your PHI. If you believe that there is a mistake in your PHI, or that a piece of important information is missing from your PHI, you have the right to request that IMUA Health Group correct the existing information or add the missing information. IMUA Health Group may deny your request but will provide written notification regarding reasons for denial within 60 days of receiving your request.
    7. The Right to Get a Paper or Electronic Copy of this Notice. You have the right get a paper copy of this Notice, and you have the right to get a copy of this notice by e-mail. Even if you have agreed to receive this Notice via e-mail, you also have the right to request a paper copy of it.
    8. The Right to Receive the Names of Business Associates, Upon Your Request. The law requires that IMUA Health Group obtain formal business associate agreements or contracts with certain companies who may come into contact with confidential patient information, such as companies who provide health insurance coverage, billing and claims processing, practice management software, legal consultation, IT support, and encrypted e-mail. The contracts indicate the company’s agreement to maintain confidentiality of your information as required by law or allowed in the contract.

    VII. ADDITIONAL PROTECTIONS FOR SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER RECORDS (42 CFR PART 2)

    When both HIPAA and 42 C.F.R. Part 2 apply, IMUA Health Group follows the law that provides the greatest level of privacy protection.

    Federal law provides additional privacy protections for records of patients who receive substance use disorder (SUD) diagnosis, treatment, or referral for treatment from a federally assisted program. These protections are found in 42 U.S.C. § 290dd-2 and 42 C.F.R. Part 2.

    When substance use disorder records are used or disclosed as permitted by law, we limit the information shared to the minimum necessary to accomplish the intended purpose, consistent with federal privacy requirements.

    If your treatment at IMUA Health Group includes services related to substance use disorder, the following additional protections apply:

    1. Written Consent Requirements

    Written consent is required for most disclosures of substance use disorder treatment records outside of IMUA Health Group, unless otherwise permitted by federal law.

    You may provide a single written consent for all future uses and disclosures for treatment, payment, and health care operations.

    You may revoke your consent at any time, except to the extent that we have already acted in reliance on it.

    If you are mandated to treatment through the criminal legal system and you sign a consent authorizing disclosures to the court or related entities, your ability to revoke consent may be limited.

    1. Redisclosure

    If your substance use disorder records are disclosed pursuant to your written consent to a HIPAA covered entity or business associate for treatment, payment, or health care operations, that entity may further use or disclose the records as permitted under HIPAA.

    1. Court Orders and Legal Proceedings

    Substance use disorder records may not be used or disclosed in any civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceeding against you unless:

    • You provide specific written consent; or
    • A court issues an order that complies with 42 U.S.C. § 290dd-2 and 42 C.F.R. Part 2.

    A subpoena alone is not sufficient to require disclosure of substance use disorder records.

    1. Anti-Discrimination Protections

    Substance use disorder records may not be used to:

    • Investigate or prosecute you
    • Deny you employment
    • Deny you housing
    • Deny you access to courts
    • Deny you access to government benefits
    1. Fundraising

    We may use limited contact information to communicate with you about fundraising activities. You have the right to opt out of receiving such communications at any time.

    1. Breach Notification

    If there is a breach of your unsecured substance use disorder records, we will notify you as required by federal law.

    VIII. COMPLAINTS

    If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you have the right to file a complaint with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and IMUA Health Group. You may do so by contacting the HHS Office for Civil Rights or accessing

    https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/index.html

    A patient is not required to report an alleged violation either to the Secretary or part 2 program but may report to either or both.

    • To file a complaint with IMUA Health Group, you may contact the Clinical Director by phone at (808) 953-4682.
    • IMUA Health Group will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

    FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT:

    EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS NOTICE

    This notice went into effect on 02/11/2026