Confidentiality and Limits
The law makes it our duty to keep patient information confidential. This means that, with some very limited exceptions, we cannot reveal information about you to anyone else or send out information about you without your permission.
If you ever want us to share information with someone else (for example, your physician), we ask that you sign a written Authorization form that meets certain legal requirements imposed by HIPAA. We will talk about this before you sign the consent. There are other situations that require only that you provide written, advance consent.
Exceptions to confidentiality
There are exceptions to confidentiality that you should know about. Please note that while most of these situations are rare, they are important for you to understand. Exceptions to confidentiality include, but are not limited to, the following:
If you threaten to harm someone else, we am required under the law to take steps to inform the intended victim and appropriate law enforcement agencies.
If you threaten to cause severe harm to yourself, we am permitted to reveal information to others if we believe it is necessary to prevent the threatened harm.
If you reveal or we have reasonable suspicion that any child, elderly person, or incompetent person is being abused or neglected, the law requires that we report this to the appropriate county agency.
If a court of law orders me to release information, we am required to provide that specific information to the court.
In order to provide you the best treatment, there will be times when we may seek consultation from another licensed mental health professional. In these consultations, we will make every effort to avoid revealing your identity. The consultant is also legally bound to keep the information confidential, although the exceptions to confidentiality apply to them as well.