Notice of Privacy Practices

The Sanctuary & Co. provides outpatient psychiatric care. In the course of caring for you, we create and receive information about your health, the treatment you receive, and payment for that care. We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of that information and to give you this notice explaining our legal duties and privacy practices.

Our practice is based in South Carolina, and we follow South Carolina law as well as federal law. Where either one protects your information more strictly, we follow the stricter requirement.

• We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
• We will notify you promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.
• We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and provide you with a copy of it.
• We will not use or share your information for any purpose other than those described here unless you tell us in writing that we may. If you give us permission to share your information, you may change your mind at any time by telling us in writing.

The categories below describe the ways we may use and share your information. Not every use or disclosure within a category will occur, but all of the ways we are permitted to use and disclose information fall within one of them.

Treatment. We may share your information with other providers involved in your care, such as your primary care physician, a specialist, or a hospital, so that they can treat you.

Payment. We may share your information with your health plan to obtain payment for the care we provide, with a billing service that helps us submit claims, or with a person who helps pay for your care.

Health care operations. We may use your information to review and improve the quality of the care we provide, to train staff and clinicians in training, to evaluate our providers, and to coordinate care within our team.

Others involved in your care. If you do not object, we may share information directly relevant to a person's involvement with a family member, friend, or other person you identify as involved in your care or in payment for it.

Appointment reminders and treatment options. We may contact you to remind you of an appointment, to tell you about treatment options or alternatives, or to tell you about health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you. You may tell us at any time if you would prefer to be contacted differently or not at all.

The Sanctuary emails and our newsletter. If you subscribe through the signup on our website, we use the email address you provide to send occasional practice updates and new journal essays. That list is kept separate from your health record, and subscribing is optional: we do not add patients to it automatically, subscribing is not a condition of your care, and these emails never include clinical information about you. You can leave the list at any time using the unsubscribe link in any Sanctuary email, or by contacting the office using the information in Section 7. For how we handle that information, see our Privacy Policy.

Situations permitted or required by law. We may use or share your information without your authorization in the following circumstances:

• When federal, state, or local law requires it
• For public health and safety activities, including reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence as required by law
• For health oversight activities such as audits, licensure reviews, and inspections
• In response to a court order, subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process
• To law enforcement in the limited circumstances permitted by law
• To prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to your health or safety or the health or safety of another person
• To a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director
• For organ and tissue donation
• For research approved by a review board with privacy protections in place
• For specialized government functions, such as military and veterans' activities, national security, and protective services
• For workers' compensation programs

We will not use or share psychotherapy notes, use your information for marketing, or sell your information without your written authorization. Records relating to substance use disorder treatment carry additional protections under federal law, and we follow those requirements.

Other than the uses and disclosures described in this notice, we will not use or share your information without your written authorization. This includes sharing psychotherapy notes, using your information for marketing, and any sale of your information.

If you authorize us to use or share your information, you may revoke that authorization at any time in writing. We cannot take back any sharing we have already done with your permission.

You have the following rights regarding the health information we maintain about you:

• Get a copy of your record. You may ask to see or obtain a copy of the health information we maintain about you, in paper or electronic form. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee and will tell you the cost before we fill your request.
• Ask us to correct your record. If you believe information in your record is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to amend it. We will respond in writing, and if we decline your request, we will explain why.
• Request confidential communications. You may ask us to contact you in a particular way, such as at a specific phone number or email address, and we will accommodate reasonable requests.
• Ask us to limit what we use or share. You may ask us not to use or share certain information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree, though we will always agree not to share information with your health plan for a service you paid for in full yourself.
• Get a list of who we have shared information with. You may ask for a list of the times we have shared your information, up to six years back, other than for treatment, payment, our operations, and the disclosures you authorized.
• Get a copy of this notice. You may ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically.
• Choose someone to act for you. If you have given someone medical power of attorney, or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your information. We will confirm that the person has this authority before acting.

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us by contacting our Privacy Officer using the information below, or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights at hhs.gov/ocr/hipaa/complaints.

We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint, and your care will not be affected.

Requests to see, copy, or amend your record should be made in writing. Please call the office and we will provide the appropriate form. Questions or concerns about this notice may be directed to:

We may change this notice at any time, and the changes will apply to all of the information we maintain about you. When we make a material change, we will post the revised notice on this page with a new effective date and make it available at our office.