STATE AND FEDERAL LAWS PROTECT YOUR CONFIDENTIALITY

Our clinic is governed by Wisconsin and U.S. statutes to provide the utmost confidentiality to our patients. State and federal statutes governing privacy of patient information include, but may not be limited to: Sec. 51.30, Wisconsin Statutes, HFS 92, Wisconsin Administrative Code, 42 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 2, Confidentiality of Alcohol & Drug Abuse Patient Records and 45 Code of Federal Regulations, pts 160 & 164, Health Insurance Portability/Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)

We follow all regulations covered by these statutes and by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) originally established in 1996. Together, these laws protect the security and privacy of health data. When you become a client at our clinic, you are assured of privacy and confidentiality within the scope of these statutes and are provided with information describing your rights as a patient. For additional information, ask to read our HIPAA document, maintained at the clinic or downloaded from this site.

LIMITS OF CONFIDENTIALITY

Under a few special circumstances, your right to confidential privilege has limitations. If a therapist determines through discussions with you that you plan to seriously harm another person or yourself (e.g. planning homicide or suicide) the therapist is required to break confidentiality in order to warn the potential victim and to secure the assistance of others (police, etc) to prevent serious harm to yourself or to others. Similarly, reports of significant physical, emotional, or sexual abuse to minors must be reported to authorities by the therapist (Mandatory Reporting laws, governed by Wisconsin statutes, must be followed).

CONFIDENTIALITY AND CLIENTS WHO ARE MINORS

Special laws apply in Wisconsin to the confidentiality extended to clients under the age of 14 and to clients between the ages of 14 and 17 that give certain rights to parents and guardians. If you are a child or are the parent of a child receiving services at our clinic, these regulations will be discussed in full with you.

CAUTION REGARDING E-MAIL

Many patients make initial inquiries to our clinic by email, and some patients email their therapists. This is a convenience in our electronic age, but there are decided risks in the use of email. We remind all patients and all guests to our website that an email is the electronic equivalent of a postcard --- it is possible that others can read or intercept this type of unencrypted material. Therefore, please follow these rules and understand that our therapists are required to follow them as well:

1. For standard email to us, do not reveal information that you consider to be confidential or embarrassing if seen by others. We take all precautions to have "confidential" email for our therapists (only the therapist has access to his/her email), but it is impossible to assure confidentiality in the sense that unencrypted electronic communications can be phished, intercepted, or in other ways broached.

2. If you and your therapist agree to electronic communications in the course of your therapy, you will be required to use an encrypted form of communication that may be an additional expense to you. Our therapists are provided with an encryption technique for protecting email materials that meets HIPAA guidelines. Discuss this option with your therapist and direct him/her to discuss the matter with the IT person at MHS if the clinician doesn't know how to provide this for you. We are currently using WINZIP 11 with 256-bit AES encryption of Word files as our mode of security for file exchange. For more information . visit the WinZip site.

PROTECTING YOUR PRIVACY

By law, we are required to keep notes on your treatment. We use a highly encrypted computer system that meets HIPAA regulations to keep track of your appointments, your billing information, and your clinical issues. We never share information of any kind regarding your records, without your express, written permission, except in the case of Mandatory Reporting. You may be asked to give written authorization for communication of your records to other professionals such as your primary care provider or a former therapist. You have the right to refuse and/or to limit the type of information released regarding your care.

NO THIRD-PARTY SHARING, NO COOKIES

We never reveal our customer base to anybody and this site does not utilize cookies nor review who is visiting us. If you have any questions whatsoever about privacy policies, do not hesitate to ask us or to discuss concerns with your therapist.

CONCERNED ABOUT A BREACH IN YOUR CONFIDENTIALITY?

Contact your therapist immediately or call us and ask to speak to the current officer of our company in charge of confidentiality issues.