Professional Records and Confidentiality
The laws of California and the standards of our profession require that we keep treatment records. The information in your medical record is utilized to plan your treatment and keep a record of the significant issues addressed in treatment. It may also be required by your insurance company or health plan so that the treatment you receive from us can be paid for by the insurance company or health plan. For example, we may need to provide information about a service you received, or we may be required to provide information prior to treatment so that your plan will cover the treatment. In these cases, only information required for payment is provided to the insurance company or health plan.
In general, the law protects the privacy of all communications between a patient and a psychologist, and we can only release information about our work to others with your written permission.
Exceptions to your Confidentiality
There are some situations where your therapist is permitted or required to disclose information without either your consent or authorization, and in general, we will provide information from your record when required to do so by local, state, or federal law:
There are also some situations in which your therapist is legally obligated to take action to protect others from harm, even if we have to reveal some information about a patient’s treatment:
There are some situations where your therapist is permitted or required to disclose information without either your consent or authorization, and in general, we will provide information from your record when required to do so by local, state, or federal law:
- If your insurance coverage pays for any of the costs of your therapy, you are giving your consent for information such as your diagnosis and appointment dates to be shared with your insurance company. We will provide your insurance company with the minimal amount of information required.
- If you are involved in a court proceeding and a request is made for information about the professional services that we have provided you and/or the records thereof, such information is protected by psychologist-client privilege. We cannot provide any information without both of your (or your legally-appointed representative’s) written authorization, a court order, or compulsory process (a subpoena) or discovery request from another party to the court proceeding where that party has given you proper notice (when required) has stated valid legal grounds for obtaining PHI, and we do not have grounds for objecting under state law (or you have instructed us not to object). If you are involved in or contemplating litigation, you should consult with your attorney to determine whether a court would be likely to order us to disclose information.
- If an agency of the government requires the information for supervision of health activities, we may have to provide it.
- If you file a complaint or lawsuit against your therapist, your therapist may disclose relevant information regarding your treatment in order to defend herself.
- If you file a worker’s compensation claim, we must, upon appropriate request, disclose information relevant to the claimant's condition to the worker’s compensation insurer.
There are also some situations in which your therapist is legally obligated to take action to protect others from harm, even if we have to reveal some information about a patient’s treatment:
- If your therapist believes that you pose a serious risk to someone, he or she is required to take protective actions. These actions may include notifying the potential victim, contacting the police, or seeking hospitalization for yourself.
- If you threaten to harm yourself, your therapist may be obligated to seek hospitalization for you or to contact your family members or others who can help provide protection.
- If you reveal information related to the abuse or neglect of a child, dependent adult, or elderly person, your therapist is required by law to report this to the appropriate authorities. This includes instances when material has been accessed, streamed, or downloaded where a child is engaged in an obscene sexual act.
If a situation occurs that requires that we share information without your written permission, we will make every effort to fully discuss it with you before taking any action. In order to release any information to another party, we will ask that you sign an Authorization to Release Information. You may revoke your Authorization at any time.