Notice of Privacy Practices

This Notice applies to protected health information maintained by Liberated Mind TX Counseling PLLC, doing business as Acceptance Path Counseling, including clinical services provided through the Anvida platform. Minds Awakened LLC d/b/a Anvida provides contracted technology and administrative services and may act as a business associate when handling protected health information for the Clinical Practice.

Your rights

Get an electronic or paper copy of your record

You may inspect or obtain an electronic or paper copy of health and billing information in our designated record set, usually within 30 days after we receive your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee and may deny limited information when law permits. Psychotherapy notes maintained separately from the medical record may receive additional protection.

Ask us to correct your record

You may ask us to correct health information you believe is incorrect or incomplete. We may deny the request as permitted by law, but we will explain the denial in writing, generally within 60 days.

Request confidential communications

You may ask us to contact you in a particular way or at a different address. We will accommodate reasonable requests.

Ask us to limit what we use or disclose

You may request restrictions on use or disclosure for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations. We are generally not required to agree, but we will honor an agreed restriction. If you pay for an item or service entirely out of pocket, you may ask us not to disclose that information to a health plan for payment or healthcare operations, and we will honor the request unless disclosure is required by law.

Get a list of disclosures

You may request an accounting of certain disclosures made during the six years before your request. The first accounting in a 12-month period is free; a reasonable cost-based fee may apply to additional requests.

Choose someone to act for you

A legally authorized personal representative may exercise your rights. We will verify the person's authority before acting.

Get a copy of this notice

You may request a paper copy at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically.

Your choices

When appropriate, you may tell us whether to:

• Share information with family, close friends, or others involved in your care or payment.
• Share information in a disaster-relief situation.
• Contact you about fundraising, if fundraising is ever conducted. You may opt out of future fundraising contacts.

If you cannot express a preference, we may disclose limited information when we determine it is in your best interest or necessary to lessen a serious and imminent threat, as permitted by law.

How we may use and disclose your information

Treatment

We may use and share health information with professionals involved in your care. This may include your assigned clinician, covering professionals, consultants, and authorized care coordinators.

Payment

We may use and disclose information to bill you, process payment, determine benefits, obtain authorization, or seek payment from a health plan or another responsible party if insurance billing is introduced.

Healthcare operations

We may use and disclose information to operate the practice, improve quality, credential clinicians, conduct compliance and legal activities, investigate complaints, manage risk, provide customer service, and administer clinical services.

Business associates

We may disclose information to contracted organizations that help us provide healthcare or operate the practice, including Anvida and authorized hosting, storage, communications, transcription, artificial-intelligence, billing, security, and professional-service providers. Business associates must safeguard the information as required by their agreements and applicable law.

Other permitted or required uses

We may use or disclose information as permitted or required for public-health activities; reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence; health oversight; judicial and administrative proceedings; law enforcement; workers' compensation; organ and tissue donation; coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors; research under applicable legal safeguards; national-security activities; correctional institutions; and other purposes required by law.

We may disclose information to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to a person or the public when disclosure is permitted to someone reasonably able to help.

Mental-health and specially protected records

Mental-health records are protected by federal and Texas law. Psychotherapy notes, as specifically defined by HIPAA and maintained separately from the medical record, generally require written authorization for use or disclosure except for limited purposes permitted by law.

If the Clinical Practice receives records subject to additional protections, including qualifying substance-use-disorder records under 42 CFR Part 2, those records will be handled under the additional requirements that apply. This notice does not authorize use of specially protected records in legal proceedings when a separate consent or court order is required.

Our responsibilities

• We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of protected health information.
• We will notify affected individuals following a breach when notification is required.
• We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in the notice currently in effect.
• We will not use or disclose information other than as described here unless you authorize it in writing or another law permits or requires it.
• We will provide this notice no later than the first delivery of clinical service and make a good-faith effort to obtain acknowledgment of receipt.

We may change this notice and apply the revised notice to information already maintained and information received later. The current notice will be available on our website and upon request.