This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed, and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully.
Light the Way Counseling, PLLC has been and will always be totally committed to maintaining client confidentiality. Chelsea Bogda and Caitlin Reisel are our Privacy Officers and can be reached at (630) 326-9951 or admin@lightthewaycounselingpllc.com. We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information, and we will follow the duties and privacy practices described here. We will only release healthcare information about you in accordance with federal and state laws and the ethics of the counseling profession.
How we use and disclose your health information
Providing treatment, collecting payment, and running the practice are necessary activities for quality care. State and federal laws allow us to use and disclose your health information for these purposes.
- Treatment. To provide, manage, or coordinate your care or related services. This can include consultants, other professionals treating you, and potential referral sources.
- Payment. To verify insurance coverage and benefits with your carrier, process claims, and handle billing and collections. We may bill the person in your family who pays for your insurance.
- Healthcare operations. To review our treatment procedures and business activity, and for certification, compliance, and licensing.
Disclosures that do not require your consent
There are some situations where we may be required to use and disclose information without your consent. These include, but are not limited to:
- Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.
- Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety.
- Sharing information with law enforcement if a crime is committed on our premises or against our staff, or where required by law, such as a subpoena or court order.
- Other uses or restrictions of your information based on state or federal law, as described in the confidentiality and emergency section of your informed consent.
Your rights
To request how we contact you
Our normal practice is to contact you at the home address and daytime phone number you gave us when you scheduled, about matters such as appointment reminders, and we may leave voicemail messages. You have the right to ask us to communicate with you a different way. If you have given someone medical power of attorney, or someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information.
To inspect and copy your medical and billing records
You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of the information in your records. Contact the Privacy Officer to request access. Under limited circumstances we may deny a request. If you ask for a copy, we may charge a reasonable fee for copying, mailing, and supplies.
To add to or amend your records
If you believe information in your record is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us to add to or amend it. We will decide within 60 days, or in some cases 90. Under certain circumstances we may deny the request, and you then have the right to file a statement of disagreement, which is added to your record along with our response. Requests go to the Privacy Officer in writing, with an explanation of the reason.
To an accounting of disclosures
You may request an accounting of disclosures we have made, excluding those for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations, those shared with you or your family, those you specifically consented to, and those we were required to release. Submit your request in writing to the Privacy Officer for a period no longer than six years and after January 1, 2023. We will tell you the cost of preparing the list.
To request restrictions
You have the right to ask for restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your health information. The request must be in writing to our Privacy Officer, and we are not required to agree to it. Where you have paid for services out of pocket and in full, you have the right to restrict disclosure of that information. You may revoke an authorization in writing at any time, although a revocation does not apply to anything we already did in reliance on it.
To complain
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, please contact us and discuss your concerns. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you may file a written complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, or call 877-696-6775. You will not be retaliated against for filing a complaint.
To receive a copy of this notice and any changes
You have the right to receive a copy of this document and of any future policy changes that follow from changes in state and federal law. Ask the Privacy Officer for one.
Clinical records, psychotherapy notes, and other disclosures require a separate signed release of information. You have a right to be notified of a breach of any unsecured personal health information.
Information you send through this website
What the appointment form does
The appointment request form collects your name, contact details, and a short note about what you are looking for. It writes an email addressed to our admin inbox and opens it in your own email program for you to send. We use what you send only to respond to you and arrange an appointment.
Keep it to scheduling
Email and text are not confidential and are not HIPAA compliant. Like our clients, please use them only for scheduling and general questions, and keep clinical detail out of them. Anything clinical belongs in session or on the phone. Sending the form does not by itself begin a counseling relationship and does not guarantee an appointment.
When we reply
We return messages as quickly as we can, Monday through Friday. Routine messages left over the weekend may not be returned until Monday. We cannot guarantee 24-hour crisis coverage.
In an emergency
If you need immediate attention and we have not been able to answer your call or message, or you cannot wait, contact emergency services: call 911 or go to your nearest hospital emergency room. You can also call or text 988 for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Your counselor will follow up with standard counseling and support afterward.
Social media
Our clinicians do not respond to contact through social networking sites, including friend or follow requests. This protects your confidentiality and the counseling relationship.
Links to other sites
Where we link to a directory, a resource, or a client portal, that site has its own privacy practices and we are not responsible for them.
Ready when you are.
Reaching out is often the hardest part. The contact form or an email to our admin address are the quickest ways to get scheduled. We return messages Monday through Friday, and a message left over the weekend may wait until Monday. You are welcome to call as well, though booking by phone tends to take longer.