This notice describes how health information regarding yourself may be disclosed and used and how you can gain access to this information.
Please review it meticulously.
How is your Patient Privacy Protected?
As the healthcare providers providing online therapy services through E-therapy (the “Healthcare Providers”, “us”, “we”, “our”), we understand that information about you and your health is extremely personal. For that reason, we strive to maintain the confidentiality of your health information. We constantly seek to secure that information through administrative, physical and technical means, and otherwise abide by applicable national guidelines.
How do we use and disclose health information?
Your health information is disclosed and used by us for the normal business activities that the law sees as falling in the categories of treatment, health care and lastly payment operations. You will find examples of those activities below, although not every disclosure or use falling within each category is listed:
Treatment – The health information you provide us is kept on record. This record may include your medications, your response to medications or other therapies, diagnoses, and information gathered about your health through the online services.
Payment – We document the services and supplies you receive when we are providing care to you in order for you, your insurance company or another third party to pay us. We may tell your health plan about upcoming services that require prior approval by your health plan.
Health Care Operations – The purpose of health information is to improve the services we provide, for business management, to train staff, quality improvement, and for customer service. As an example: we may use your health information to review our services, and then evaluate the performance of our staff in caring for you.
Your health information may also be used to:
- Comply with national laws that require disclosure.
- Help with public health activities such as the tracking of diseases
- Inform the proper authorities to protect victims of abuse or neglect.
- Comply with national health oversight activities such as fraud investigations.
- Answer to law enforcement officials or to judicial orders, court summons or other process.
- Inform medical examiners, coroners and funeral directors of information necessary for them to fulfil their duties.
- Conduct research following internal review protocols in order to ensure the balancing of research and privacy needs.
- Avert a serious threat to health or safety.
- Help specialized government functions such as national intelligence, security, and protective services
- Inform workers’ compensation carriers or your employer if you are injured at your place of work.
- Suggest treatment alternatives.
- Share health-related products and services with you.
- Communicate within our organisation for payment, treatment, or health care operations.
- Communicate with other health plans, providers, or their related entities for their payment or treatment activities, or health care operations activities relating to quality licensing or assessment.
We may also use or disclose your personal or health information for the following operational purposes. For example, we may:
Send appointment reminders
You may tell us that you do not want us to use or disclose your information for this reason.
All other uses and disclosures, not previously described, may be done only with your written authorization. For example, we require your authorization before we disclose your psychotherapy notes. We will also need to obtain your authorization before we would sell your information, or before we disclose or use your health information for marketing purposes. You may revoke your authorization at any time; however, this will not affect prior disclosures or uses.
What are the responsibilities of the Healthcare Provider?
By law we are required to:
- Maintain the privacy of your health information at all times.
- Provide this notice of our privacy practices and duties.
- Abide by all the terms of the notice currently in effect.
- Notify you if there has been a breach that compromises your health information.
We reserve the right to adjust any of our privacy practices, and make the new practices effective for all the information that we maintain. Revised notices will be posted on the E-therapy website.
What are your Legal Rights?
The law entitles you to:
- Inspect and copy specific portions of your health information. In most cases this will not include psychotherapy notes and we may rebuff your request under limited circumstances. (Fees may apply to this request). If we keep records electronically, you may request that we provide them to you in an electronic format.
- Request amendment of your health information if you feel the health information is incomplete or incorrect. (However, under certain circumstances we may deny your request.)
- Be the recipient of an accounting of certain disclosures of your health information made for the prior six (6) years, although this excludes disclosures for payment, treatment, and health care operations. (Fees may apply to this request).
- Request that we restrict how we disclose or use your health information. (However, we are not required to concur with your requests, unless you request that we regulate information supplied to a payor, the disclosure would be for the payor’s payment or health care operations, and that you have paid for the health care services completely out of pocket).
- Request that we communicate with you at a specific address or telephone number.
Obtain a hard copy of this notice even if you receive it via an electronic medium (email for example).
It may be required that you make some of these requests in writing.
What if I have a Complaint?
If you believe that your privacy has been in any way violated, you may choose to file a complaint with us or with the Health Secretary
To file a complaint with us or receive more information contact:
Email:
support@e-therapy.uk
To file a complaint with the Health Secretary:
Department of Health, Richmond House, 79 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2NS
Tel: 020 7210 4850
Email:
mb-sofs@dh.gsi.gov.uk
Who Will Follow This Notice?
This Notice describes the healthcare practices of:
- Any health care professional authorized by us to access and/or enter information into your healthcare record,
- All departments and units through which E-therapy’s online services are provided; and
All affiliates and volunteers.
- Your personal care providers may have various policies or Notices regarding their use and disclosure of your health information created in their offices.