Privacy Policy

Last modified: January 2025

Introduction

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL AND TREATMENT INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED, HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION, AND YOUR RIGHTS WITH REGARD TO YOUR MEDICAL INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY. QUESTIONS CAN BE DIRECTED TO THELOTUSPATHPSYCHIATRY@GMAIL.COM.

Your health information is personal, and we are committed to protecting it. If you have questions or concerns, please contact The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness, using the contact information provided at the end of this document.

We are providing you with this notice, as required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). As a healthcare provider, HIPAA requires The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness to respect and protect patient “protected health information” or “PHI” and requires us to be transparent with you regarding our practices concerning our collection, use and sharing of PHI obtained from or about you. HIPAA also requires us to make you aware of your privacy rights, including your ability to exercise your choice (i.e., “consent,” also referred to as an “authorization”) and provide your permission for us to collect, use, or share your PHI.

For purposes of this Notice, “The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness” and the pronouns “we,” “us” and “our” refer to The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness, LLC, its subsidiaries and affiliates under common ownership or operational control, and its contracted or employed care providers if applicable which operate as a HIPAA single affiliated covered entity (The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness SACE).

The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness uses and discloses health information about you for treatment, to obtain payment for treatment, for administrative purposes, to evaluate the quality of care that you receive, and for other purposes permitted by HIPAA and applicable law. The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness is required by law to maintain the privacy of your health information and provide you a notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to that information and to provide you with notice of a disclosure or breach of your unsecured protected health information. This Notice explains how The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness use and manage your health information, as well as what rights and choices you have related to that information. This Notice applies to all medical records about your care that are created, and/or maintained by The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness. Your health information is contained in an electronic medical record that is the physical property of The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness.

If you are a patient insured by the United States Department of Veteran Affairs, you may be entitled to additional rights and restrictions regarding the use and disclosure of your protected health information other than as set forth in this Notice. At all times, we will comply with the applicable requirements of the Department of Veteran Affairs regarding the use and disclosure of your protected health information.

Protections in HIPAA for psychotherapy notes

Psychotherapy notes mean notes recorded by a health care provider who is a mental health professional documenting or analyzing the contents of conversation during a private counseling session or a group, joint, or family counseling session and that are separated from the rest of the individual’s medical record. The legal definition of psychotherapy notes under HIPAA excludes medication prescription and monitoring, counseling session start and stop times, the modalities and frequencies of treatment furnished, results of clinical tests, and any summary of the following items: Diagnosis, functional status, the treatment plan, symptoms, prognosis, and progress to date. [1]

Psychotherapy notes may be treated differently from other mental health information both because they contain particularly sensitive information and because they are the personal notes of the psychiatrist or therapist that typically are not required or useful for treatment, payment, or health care operations purposes, other than by the mental health professional who created the notes. Therefore, with few exceptions, the Privacy Rule requires a covered entity to obtain a patient’s authorization prior to a disclosure of psychotherapy notes for any reason, including a disclosure for treatment purposes to a health care provider other than the originator of the notes. Unlike other PHI, a healthcare provider may deny a patient or their personal representative access to psychotherapy notes. [2]

Substance Use Disorder Medical Records

The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness may offer substance use disorder (SUD) treatment. These SUD treatment records cannot be used to investigate or prosecute the patient without written patient consent or a court order. Records obtained in an audit or evaluation of The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness cannot be used to investigate or prosecute patients, absent written consent of the patients or a court order that meets the additional privacy requirements. A separate and specific patient consent for the use and disclosure of SUD counseling notes is required and available by contacting as outlined at the bottom of this Notice.

The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness may use a single SUD records authorization for all future uses and disclosures for treatment, payment, and health care operations (TPO). HIPAA covered entities and business associates that receive records under this SUD records authorization may redisclose the records in accordance with the HIPAA regulations. SUD records are permitted to be disclosed without patient consent to public health authorities, provided that the records disclosed are de-identified according to the standards established in the HIPAA Privacy Rule. The privacy law governing SUD records, restricts the use of these records and testimony in civil, criminal, administrative, and legislative proceedings against patients, absent patient consent or a court order. Any disclosure or breach of unauthorized SUD records will be reported in accordance with this Notice and applicable law.

SUD patient’s rights align with the rights provided under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, including the right to request restrictions of disclosures to a patient’s health plan for services the patient has paid for in full or disclosures made with prior consent for purposes of TPO, obtain an accounting of disclosures, including for TPO made through an electronic health record in the past 3 years, and elect not to receive fundraising communications. The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness and its clinicians are vested with discretion about providing patients with access to their SUD records.

Health Information Exchange

The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness may participate in a non-profit, non-governmental health information exchange (HIE). Participation does not cost patients anything and can help health care providers better coordinate a patient’s care and treatment by securely sharing health information. By opting in during your engagement signing the Patient Services Agreement, you have allowed your health information to be shared through the HIE, your provider is able to access it electronically in a secure and timely manner to ensure the most appropriate care and treatment. The types of health information on the exchange includes, but is not limited to, hospital records, medical history, clinic and doctor visit information, medications, allergies, and other information helpful for your treatment. Only providers involved in your care can access your health information and medical examiners, public health authorities, organ procurement organizations, and others may also access health information for certain approved purposes.

HIE does receive behavioral health information, including substance abuse treatment records. Federal law gives special confidentiality protection to substance abuse treatment records from some substance abuse treatment programs. HIE keeps protected substance abuse treatment records separate from the rest of your health information. HIE will only share these protected substance abuse treatment records it receives from these programs in two cases 1) medical personnel may access this information in a medical emergency, and 2) upon receiving sign a consent form giving your healthcare provider or others access to this information.

Updates to this Notice

The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness reserves the right to change its privacy practices, as reflected in this Notice, to revise this Notice, and to make the new provisions effective for all protected health information it maintains. A revised Notice will be available on our website or upon your request.

How The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness May Use or Disclose Your Health Information:

We may use or disclose your health information, in certain situations, without your consent or authorization. Below we describe examples of how we may use or disclose your health information as permitted under or required by federal law, including instances where we will obtain your authorization. Such uses or disclosures may be in oral, paper or electronic format.

For Treatment: The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness may use and disclose your health information to provide you with mental health treatment or services or to assist in the coordination, continuation or management of your care and any related services. This includes the coordination or management of your health care with a third party. For example, a health care provider, such as a licensed professional counselor, or other person providing health services to you, will record information in your record that is related to your treatment and may share that information with other providers. This information is necessary for other health care providers to determine what treatment you should receive.

For Payment: The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness may use and disclose your health information to others for purposes of obtaining payment for treatment and services that you receive. For example, a superbill may be sent to you to send to a third-party payer, such as an insurance company or health plan, for services provided to you. The information on the superbill may contain information that identifies you, your diagnosis, and treatment.

For Health Care Operations: The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness may use and disclose health information about you for operational purposes.

Communication: The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness may use and disclose your information to provide appointment reminders, leave a message on your answering machine, or leave a message with an individual who answers the phone at your residence. We may, from time to time, contact you to provide information about treatment alternatives and services that may be of interest to you. We may also provide you with informational materials including information about The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness. Material may come from a third party.

Required or Permitted by Law: The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness may use and disclose information about you as required or permitted by law. If a use or disclosure is required by law, the use or disclosure will be made in compliance with the law and will be limited to the relevant requirements of the law. If required by law, you will be notified of any such uses or disclosures. For example, The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness may use and/or disclose information for the following purposes:

Public Health: Your health information may be used or disclosed for public health activities such as: (1) assisting public health authorities or other legal authorities to prevent or control disease, injury, or disability; (2) reporting child abuse or neglect to a public health authority or other governmental authority that is authorized by law to receive such reports; and (3) notifying a person who may be at risk of contracting or spreading a disease, if such disclosure is authorized by law.

Individuals involved in your care: We may provide information about you to a family member, friend, or other person involved in your health care or in payment for your health care. If you are deceased, we may disclose medical information about you to a friend or family member who was involved in your medical care prior to your death, limited to information relevant to that person’s involvement, unless doing so would be inconsistent with your written wishes you previously provided to us. If we disclose information to a family member, relative or close personal friend, we will disclose only information that we believe is relevant to that person’s involvement with your health care or payment related to your health care.

HIPAA permits The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness to disclose to other health providers any PHI contained in the medical record about an individual for treatment, case management, and coordination of care and, with few exceptions, treats mental health information the same as other health information. HIPAA generally does not limit these disclosures except that The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness must obtain individuals’ authorization to disclose separately maintained psychotherapy session notes for such purposes. The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness will abide by all applicable state law or professional practice standards that place additional limitations on disclosures of PHI related to mental health.

Patient’s Family: Where a patient is present and has the capacity to make health care decisions, The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness health care providers may communicate with a patient’s family members, friends, or other persons the patient has involved in his or her health care or payment for care, so long as the patient does not object.[3] Your treating provider may ask the patient’s permission to share relevant information with family members or others, may tell the patient he or she plans to discuss the information and give them an opportunity to agree or object, or may infer from the circumstances, using professional judgment, that the patient does not object. A common example of the latter would be situations in which a family member or friend is invited by the patient and present in the treatment room with the patient and the provider when a disclosure is made.

Health and Safety: Duty to Warn. We may, consistent with applicable law and standards of ethical conduct, use or disclose health information about you if we believe that the use or disclosure is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious threat to the health or safety of a person or the public; provided that, if a disclosure is made, it must be to a person(s) reasonably able to prevent or lessen the threat and is permissible by law.

HIPAA permits The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness to notify a patient’s family members of a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of the patient or others if those family members are in a position to lessen or avert the threat. To the extent that a provider determines that there is a serious and imminent threat of a patient physically harming self or others, HIPAA would permit the provider to warn the appropriate person(s) of the threat, consistent with his or her professional ethical obligations and State law requirements.[4] Even where danger is not imminent, HIPAA permits a covered provider to communicate with a patient’s family members, or others involved in the patient’s care, to be on watch or ensure compliance with medication regimens, as long as the patient has been provided an opportunity to agree or object to the disclosure and no objection has been made.[5]

We may also use or disclose your health information if we believe that the use or disclosure is necessary for law enforcement authorities to identify or apprehend an individual who: (i) admits to participation in a violent crime that we reasonably believe caused serious physical harm to the victim, (ii) appears to have escaped from a correctional institution or lawful custody, or (iii) to the extent State law require providers to make certain disclosures.[6]

Notification and Disaster Relief: We may use or disclose your health information to notify or assist in notifying your family, a personal representative, or another person responsible for your care, of your location, condition, or death. We may disclose your health information to disaster relief authorities so that your family can be notified of your location and condition.

Decedents: Health information may be disclosed to funeral directors, medical examiners or coroners to enable them to carry out their lawful duties. Once you have been dead for 50 years (or such other period as may be specified by law), we may use and disclose your health information without regard to the restrictions set forth in this Notice.

Government Functions: We may disclose your health information for specialized government functions, such as military and veteran’s activities, national security and intelligence activities, and protection of public officials.

Workers’ Compensation: Your health information may be used or disclosed in order to comply with laws and regulations related to Workers’ Compensation.

Business Associates: We may contract with one or more third parties, our business associates, in the course of our business operations. We may disclose your health information to our business associates so that they can perform the job we have asked them to do. We require that our business associates sign a business associate agreement and agree to safeguard the privacy and security of your health information.

Social Services: The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness may disclose a patient’s PHI for treatment purposes without having to obtain the patient’s authorization when treatment includes the coordination or management of health care by a health care provider with a third party. Health care means care, services, or supplies related to the health of an individual in which the disclosing provider believe that disclosures to certain social service entities are a necessary component of, or may help further, the individual’s health or mental health care may disclose the minimum necessary PHI to such entities without the individual’s authorization. For example, The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness may disclose PHI about a patient needing mental health care supportive housing to a service agency that arranges such services for individuals.

The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness may also disclose PHI to such entities pursuant to a signed authorization. Thus, The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness could in one authorization identify a broad range of social services entities that may receive the PHI if the individual agrees. For example, an authorization could indicate that PHI will be disclosed to “social services providers” for purposes of “supportive housing, public benefits, counseling, and job readiness.”

Abuse: The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness may disclose protected health information about an individual whom we reasonably believe to be a victim of abuse, neglect, or domestic violence to a government authority, including a social service or protective services agency, authorized by law to receive such reports.[7]

Emergency: A health care provider, when a patient is not present or is unable to agree or object to a disclosure due to incapacity or emergency circumstances, to determine whether disclosing a patient’s information to the patient’s family, friends, or other persons involved in the patient’s care or payment for care, is in the best interests of the patient.[8] Where a provider determines that such a disclosure is in the patient’s best interests, the provider would be permitted to disclose only the PHI that is directly relevant to the person’s involvement in the patient’s care or payment for care.

Authorizations for Other Uses and Disclosures:

While we may use or disclose your health information without your written authorization as explained above, there are other instances where we will obtain your written authorization. Except as otherwise provided in this Notice, we will not use or disclose your health information without your prior written authorization. You may revoke an authorization at any time, except to the extent The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness has already relied on the authorization and taken action.

Examples of uses and disclosures that require your authorization are:

Psychotherapy Notes

If Psychotherapy Notes are created for your treatment, we must obtain your prior written authorization before using or disclosing them, except (1) if the creator of those notes needs to use or disclose them for treatment, (2) for use or disclosure in our own supervised training programs in mental health, or (3) for use or disclosure in connection with our defense of a proceeding brought by you. “Psychotherapy Notes” means notes recorded (in any medium) by a health care provider who is a mental health professional documenting or analyzing the contents of conversation during a private counseling session or a group, joint, or family counseling session and that are separated from the rest of the individual’s medical record. “Psychotherapy Notes” excludes medication prescription and monitoring, counseling session start and stop times, the modalities and frequencies of treatment furnished, results of clinical tests, and any summary of the following items: diagnosis, functional status, the treatment plan, symptoms, prognosis, and progress to date. Note that if, in the sole discretion of your healthcare provider, providing you with copies of your Psychotherapy Notes could be harmful or detrimental, we have the right to deny your request for such records.[9]

Marketing

As outlined in our Privacy Policy, we may contact you with newsletters, educational materials, marketing, or promotional materials and other information that may be helpful to you. By agreeing to our Privacy Policy, you authorize us to contact you for marketing purposes.

No Sale of Your Health Information

We will never sell your identifiable health information to any third parties.

Uses and Disclosures of Your Highly Confidential Information

Some federal and/or state laws require special privacy protections for certain highly confidential health information, relating to: (1) psychotherapy services; (2) mental health and developmental disabilities services; (3) substance use disorder diagnosis, treatment and referral; (4) HIV/AIDS testing, diagnosis or treatment; (5) venereal disease(s); (6) genetic testing; (7) child abuse and neglect; (8) domestic abuse of an adult with a disability; and/or (9) sexual assault. Unless a use or disclosure is permitted or required by law, we will obtain your written consent or authorization prior to using or disclosing your highly confidential health information to third parties.

Your Health Information Rights:

When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your privacy rights and our responsibilities to help you. Unless otherwise specified, you may exercise the rights listed below by contacting us at thelotuspathpsychiatry@gmail.com to obtain the proper forms or make requests.

You have the right to:

Request a restriction: You may request that we limit the way we use or share your personal information. Please make your request to us in writing. We will consider your request but are not required to agree to it.

Request restriction to a health plan/to not submit claims: You may request that certain health care services or items that you pay for fully out of pocket at the time of service not be shared with your health plan. Please let your provider know before, or at the time of service or we may not be able to fulfill your request.

View, Inspect and obtain a copy of your health and billing records: All requests to inspect or copy your health information or to access your medical records or obtain a copy of HIE information must be in writing. You can direct us to transmit the copy directly to another person or entity using the same form. At this time, we are not able to prepare summaries, attestations, certifications, notarized or witnessed copies. Please note that The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness will only respond to requests for records from you or your personal representative. If your PHI is stored electronically, you may request a copy in an electronic format offered by The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness. You may also make a specific written request to transmit the electronic copy to a designated third party. We will respond to your request, usually within 15 days. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee. You may see your record or get more information about it through your patient portal through The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness. In certain circumstances, we may deny your request for inspection or copying, but if we do, we will notify you in writing of the reason(s) for the denial and explain your right to have the denial reviewed.

Request a correction to your health information: You may request that your health record or HIE information be amended if you believe that the health information about you is incomplete or inaccurate. Requests to amend your health information must be in writing. We may deny your request and if we do, we will notify you in writing of the reason for the denial and your right to submit a statement disagreeing with the denial.

Request confidential communications: You have the right to ask The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness to communicate with you using alternative means or at a different mailing address. Such requests must be in writing. We will accommodate reasonable requests and will notify you if we are unable to agree to your request. We may condition our agreement on information as to how payment will be handled and specification of an alternate address or other method of contact.

Receive an accounting of disclosures of your health information: You have the right to obtain a list of instances in which The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness has disclosed your health information except in certain instances and a list of people who have viewed your information through HIE. These instances include, but are not limited to, disclosures for treatment, payment and health care operations; disclosures made to you; disclosures incident to a use or disclosure permitted or required by the Federal HIPAA Privacy Rule; disclosures authorized by you; and disclosures occurring more than six years prior to the date of your request. Your request must be in writing. The first disclosure list in any 12-month period is free; if you request additional lists in any year we may charge you a fee.

Obtain a paper copy of this Notice: You may obtain a paper copy of this Notice by contacting us with instructions as provided below. For existing clients of The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness, the Notice is also available in your Intake Q Patient Portal.

Opt-Out of Health Information Exchange: The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness care providers may now or in the future participate in health information exchange. When you enroll, you agree to opt into the health information exchange. You can opt out at any time and decline to have your health information shared through health information exchange. By making this choice, your health information will not be accessible to providers who use our health information exchange tools in providing holistic care to you. To opt out contact us as provided below.

To ask questions or comment about this privacy policy and our privacy practices, or if you would like us to update information, we have about you or your preferences, please reach out to us using the following methods of contact:

Calling us at 201-275-1277
Written electronic communication can be directed to The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness Privacy Officer, at thelotuspathpsychiatry@gmail.com

Complaints

You may complain to The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness and to the Department of Health and Human Services if you believe your privacy rights have been violated. You will not be retaliated against for filing a complaint. If you have any questions, complaints, need forms, or wish to make a request as outlined herein this Notice, please contact us as provided below.

In Case of Emergency

If you are experiencing a life-threatening emergency, please call 911. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, please call 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Additional Information

Additional Information on Mental Health Record Privacy Rules

https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/hipaa-privacy-rule-and-sharing-info-related-to-mental-health.pdf

Additional Information on Sensitive Health Information Privacy Rules

Below is a list of the states which have more restrictive laws, meaning even more privacy protections than provided in the federal HIPAA Law. Please note that the table below does not provide an exhaustive list and this chart may be updated from time to time. Even if it is not indicated, if there are differing levels of privacy protections between a state and a federal law, The Lotus Path Psychiatry & Wellness will comply with the applicable stricter law(s) with regard to protecting your protected health information.

Unless we obtain your specific authorization, we may disclose the following types of protected health information only in limited circumstances and to specific recipients:

Applicable States***

(a) HIV/AIDS diagnosis or treatment

GA, FL, MA, MO, NH, NY, TX, OH, PA, WA

(b) Alcohol/Drug Abuse

CA, GA, FL, MA, MO, NH, NY, OH, PA, TX, VA

MA, TX, WA

(d) Reproductive Health information such as pregnancy or use of birth control

CA, FL, NY, WA

(e) Genetic

FL, GA, MA, MO, NH, NY, TX

(f) Mental Health

CA, FL, GA, IN, MA, MO, NH, NY, OH, PA, TX, VA, WA

Citations

45 CFR § 164.501, 45 CFR 164.508(a)(2) et seq
45 CFR. § 164.524(a)(1)
45 CFR 164.510(b)
45 CFR 164.512(j)
45 CFR 164.510(b)(2)
45 CFR § 164.512(a).
45 CFR § 164.512(c)
45 CFR § 164.510(b)(3)
45 CFR. § 164.524(a)(1)