Privacy Policy for Life Choices Counseling

©2012 Life Choices Counseling
900 Hwy 34 East Suite B103
Detroit Lakes, MN 56501

At Life Choices Counseling we recognize that the privacy of your personal information is an ethical and legal responsibility to which we have always been completely committed.

Generally, client records are only for the use of Life Choices Counseling to provide professional services and there is no reason for disclosure unless preceded by a client’s explicitly authorized release.

Regulations established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services based on the 1996 The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 Public Law 104-191 (HIPAA) address the handling of health information such as individually identifiable information of a healthcare provider that relates to physical or mental health or condition and healthcare services provided.

Health Care Providers:
Every health care provider, regardless of size, who electronically transmits health information in connection with certain transactions, is a covered entity. These transactions include claims, benefit eligibility inquiries, referral authorization requests, or other transactions for which HHS has established standards under the HIPAA Transactions Rule. Using electronic technology, such as email, does not mean a health care provider is a covered entity; the transmission must be in connection with a standard transaction. The Privacy Rule covers a health care provider whether it electronically transmits these transactions directly or uses a billing service or other third party to do so on its behalf. Health care providers include all “providers of services” (e.g., institutional providers such as hospitals) and “providers of medical or health services” (e.g., non-institutional providers such as physicians, dentists and other practitioners) as defined by Medicare, and any other person or organization that furnishes, bills, or is paid for health care.

What information is protected?
The Privacy Rule protects all “individually identifiable health information” held or transmitted by a covered entity or its business associate, in any form or media, whether electronic, paper, or oral. The Privacy Rule calls this information “protected health information (PHI).” “Individually identifiable health information” is information, including demographic data, that relates to the individual’s past, present or future physical or mental health or condition, the provision of health care to the individual, or the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to the individual, and that identifies the individual or for which there is a reasonable basis to believe it can be used to identify the individual. Individually identifiable health information includes many common identifiers (e.g., name, address, birth date, Social Security Number).
Additional information on your privacy protection may be found by going to the U.S. Health and Human Service web site.