Notice of Privacy

MASSACHUSETTS NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

Policies and Practices to Protect the Privacy of Your Health Information

HIPAA and Massachusetts Notice of Privacy Practices

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

YOU WILL BE ASKED TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED OUR NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES ON THE DATE OF OUR FIRST SESSION.

  1. Who We Are

This Notice of Privacy Practices (“Notice”) describes the privacy practices of Calarese Psychology, LLC and Vanessa Calabrese (“We”, “Us”).     

  1. Our Privacy Obligations

We are required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) and applicable Massachusetts law to maintain the privacy of your individually identifiable health information (“Protected Health Information”, “PHI”).   PHI constitutes information created or noted by us that can be used to identify you.  It contains data about your past, present, or future health or mental conditions, the health care services we provide, or the payment for such health care.  We will let you know promptly if a breach (as defined by HIPAA) occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your PHI.   

We are also required to provide you with this Notice about our privacy practices.  This Notice must explain when, why, and how we use and/or disclose your PHI.  “Use” means when we share, apply, utilize, examine, or analyze your PHI within the practice.  “Disclosure” means when we release, transfer, give, or otherwise reveal your PHI to a third party outside of our practice.   We may not use or disclose more of your PHI than is necessary to accomplish the purpose for which the use or disclosure is made, except in some limited circumstances.  However, we are always legally required to follow the privacy practices described in this Notice.    

  1. III. How We Will Use and Disclose Your PHI

We will use and disclose your PHI for many different reasons.  Some of the uses or disclosures require your prior written authorization, but others do not.   Different categories of our uses and disclosures, along with some examples, are discussed below.  

  1. Uses and Disclosures by Us for Your Treatment, To Obtain Payment and Our Operations Do Not Require Your Prior Written Consent and/or Authorization

We may use and disclose your PHI without your consent and/or authorization for the following reasons: 

  1. Treatment.  We can use your PHI in our practice to provide you with mental health treatment, including discussing or sharing your PHI with any trainees and interns.  We also may disclose your PHI to physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, and other licensed health care providers who provide you with health care services or are otherwise involved in your care.  Example:  If a psychiatrist or primary care physician is treating you, we may disclose your PHI to the individual in order to coordinate your care.
  1. Health care operations.  We also may use and/or disclose your PHI to facilitate the operation of our practice.  Examples:  We might use your PHI to evaluate the quality of health care services that you receive and the performance of the health care professionals who provided these services.  We may also provide your PHI to our attorneys, accountants, consultants, and others to make sure that we comply with applicable laws. 
  1. To obtain payment for treatment.  We also may use and/or disclose your PHI to bill and collect payment for the treatment and services we provided.  Examples:  We may send your PHI to your insurance company or health plan in order to get payment for the health care services that we provided.   We could also provide your PHI to business associates, such as billing companies, claims processing companies, or others, that process health care claims for us.  
  1. Certain Other Uses and Disclosures Also Do Not Require Your Consent and/or Authorization  

We also may use and/or disclose your PHI without your consent or authorization for the following reasons: 

  1. Required by law:  We may disclose your PHI to the extent required by federal or state law and the use/disclosure complies with and is limited to the relevant legal requirements.  This includes but is not limited to disclosure to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Massachusetts Board of Registration or Psychologists, and any other disclosures required by law.    
  2. Public Health Activities:  We may disclose your PHI for public health activities, such as information for the purposes of preventing or controlling disease, helping with product recalls, reporting adverse reactions to medications, and other similar public health activities. 
  3. Victims of Abuse, Neglect or Domestic Violence:  We may disclose PHI about an individual whom we reasonably believe to be a victim of abuse, neglect or domestic violence, including but not limited to law enforcement or a social service or protective services agency authorized by law to receive reports of such abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.  If we have reasonable cause to believe that a child, elderly person or disabled person is the victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence, we are required to report this abuse to the appropriate government agency or law enforcement, unless you are the disabled person who is competent and invokes a privilege of confidentiality while disclosing the abuse, neglect or violence.       
  4. Health Oversight Activities:  We may disclose your PHI to a state or federal health oversight agency for oversight activities authorized by law, including audits; civil, administrative, or criminal investigations; inspections; licensure or disciplinary actions; and other similar activities necessary for government oversight of the health care system, government benefit systems, government regulatory systems, and civil rights compliance.  
  5. Judicial and Administrative Proceedings:  We may disclose your PHI in the course of any judicial or administrative activity in response to a court order or in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process to the extent permitted by professional ethics and applicable state and federal confidentiality laws.  
  6. Law Enforcement Purposes:  We may disclose your PHI to a law enforcement official in limited circumstances to the extent permitted by professional ethics and applicable federal and state laws.   
  7. Research Purposes:  We may use or disclose your PHI for research.  We currently have no ongoing research and do not plan to conduct any research in the future.  If we conduct any future research that involves your PHI, we will obtain your authorization or take sufficient anonymizing steps under the law to protect your identity.  
  8. To Avert a Serious Threat to Health or Safety:  We may use and/or disclose your PHI if we in good faith reasonably believe, consistent with applicable laws and the standards of ethical conduct, that it (i) is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person (including yourself) or the public; and (ii) is to a person or persons (including the appropriate law enforcement agency, your family, or other individuals) reasonably able to prevent or lessen the threat, including the target of the threat. 
  9. Specialized Government Functions:  In certain circumstances and only to the extent required by applicable federal and state laws, we may use and/or disclose your PHI for specialized government functions, which include but are not limited to (i) PHI of Armed Forces personnel to the extent needed to fulfill a military mission; (ii) for the conduct of lawful national security and intelligence activities; (iii) for the provision of protective services for the President and others; or (iv) for correctional institutions and other law enforcement custodial circumstances.  
  10. Disclosure for Workers’ Compensation:  We may disclose PHI, as authorized by and to the extent necessary, to comply with laws relating to workers’ compensation or other similar programs that provide benefits for work-related injuries or illness without regard to fault.  
  11. Certain Uses and/or Disclosures Require You to Have the Opportunity to Object

We may provide your PHI to a family member, friend, or any other individual who you indicate is involved in your care or is responsible for the payment for your health care, unless you object in whole or in part.  If you are not present or are incapacitated, we may disclose your PHI with family or friends that we are reasonably sure that you asked to be involved in your care and/or payment and only so long as we determine, based on our professional judgment, that it is in your best interests.      

  1. Other Uses and Disclosures Require Your Prior Written Authorization  

In any other situation not described in Sections III.A., III.B, or III.C, we will request your written authorization before using and/or or disclosing any of your PHI.   This includes but is not limited to using and/or disclosing your PHI for fundraising, a sale, or for marketing purposes.  We will never user your PHI for the purposes of fundraising, marketing purposes or in a private or commercial sale of your PHI without your prior written authorization and/or consent.  

Furthermore, even if you have signed an authorization that permits us to disclose your PHI, you may later revoke that authorization in writing to stop any future use or disclosure of your PHI by us.  You may not revoke an authorization to the extent that (1) We have relied on that authorization; or (2) if the authorization was obtained as a condition of obtaining insurance coverage, and the law provides the insurer the right to contest the claim under the policy.  

  1. IV. Your Rights Regarding Your PHI

When it comes to your PHI, you have certain rights under HIPAA. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.

  1. Right to Inspect and Copy: 

You have the right to inspect or obtain a copy (or both) of your patient record. A reasonable fee may be charged for copying or, if necessary, redacting the record.  We will provide a copy or a summary of your PHI, usually within 30 days of your request.  We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee. Access to your records may be limited or denied under certain circumstances, but in most cases, you have a right to request a review of that decision.  On your written request, we will discuss with you the details of the request and denial process.

  1. Right  To Amend:

You have the right to request in writing an amendment of your health information for as long as PHI records are maintained.  The request must identify which information is incorrect and include an explanation of why you think it should be amended.  If the request is denied, a written explanation stating why will be provided to you within no later than sixty (60) days.  You may also make a statement disagreeing with the denial, which will be added to the information of the original request.  If your original request is approved, we will make a reasonable effort to include the amended information in future disclosures. Amending a record does not mean that any portion of your health information will be deleted.  

  1. Right to Receive confidential communications by Alternative means and/or locations:  

You have the right to request and receive confidential communications of your PHI by alternative means and at alternative locations. (For example, you may not want a family member to know that you are seeing us. Upon your request, we will send your bills to the address you request.) We may not be able to accept your request, but if we do, we will uphold the request unless it is an emergency.  If we are unable to accommodate your request, we will discuss with you our reasons for denying you request.  

  1. Right to Request Restrictions:

You have the right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your PHI for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your care or it adversely impacts our ability to run our operations or receive payment for our services.  

If you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full, you can ask us not to share that information with your health insurer.  We will accommodate your reasonable requests unless the law and/or r any applicable insurance contract requires us to disclose that information.

  1. Right to an Accounting: 

You generally have the right to receive an accounting of our disclosures of your PHI in the past six (6) years., except for the disclosures that you requested or those disclosures that are necessary for your treatment, payment, or our operations.  The accounting will include the date, name of person or entity, description of the information disclosed, the reason for disclosure, and any other information required by law.  If more than one (1) accounting is requested by you in any twelve (12) month period, a reasonable fee may be charged.  

  1. Right to a Paper Copy: 

You have the right to receive a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly.

  1. Right to Have Someone Act for You: 

If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your PHI.  We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action.

  1. Right to File a Complaint: 

You have the right to complain to us if you feel we have violated your privacy rights.  The person to contact is Dr. Vanesse Calabrese and the address and procedure to follow is discussed in Section V below.  You also have the right to  file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office if you feel that we have violated your privacy rights.  The address and the procedure to follow is also discussed in Section V below.  

  1. Questions and Complaints

If you have questions about this Notice, disagree with a decision we make about access to your records or have other concerns about your privacy rights, you may contact the following by email, phone call, or a written complaint:  

Dr. Vanessa Calabrese

95 Washington St., Suite 104-249

Canton, MA 02023

vanessa.calabrese@calabresepsychology.com

We hope that we can resolve issues that may arise and are committed to considering your feedback very carefully and respectfully.  However, if you choose to make a more formal complaint, you can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/

We will not retaliate against your for exercising your rights to file a complaint. 

  1. Effective Date, Restrictions and Changes to Privacy Policy

This Notice will go into effect on March 7, 2024.  We reserve the right to change the terms of this Notice as permitted by applicable law, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you.  The new notice will be available upon request, in our office, and on our website:  .