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Privacy Policy

Effective Date: April 17, 2025

This document provides information regarding psychological assessment services provided by Frontera Medical, P.A., a Florida professional corporation, Frontera Health New Mexico, LLC, a New Mexico LLC, and Adventure Child Therapy, LLC, a Colorado LLC (collectively, “Frontera Providers”). 

Introduction

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.

Frontera is committed to protecting the privacy of patient health information (including psychological and medical information). Applicable Federal and State laws require us to maintain the privacy of our patients’ health information. This Notice explains our privacy practices, our legal duties, and your rights concerning your health information. In this Notice, your personal or protected health information (PHI) is referred to as “health information” and includes information regarding your health care and treatment with identifiable factors such as your name, age, address, income or other financial information. 

What We Mean by Your Psychological and Medical Information

Each time you visit us or any doctor’s office, hospital, clinic, or other health care provider, information is collected about you and your physical and mental health. It may be information about your past, present, or future health or conditions, or the tests and treatment you got from us or from others, or about payment for health care. The information we collect from you is called “PHI,” which stands for “protected health information.” This information goes into your medical or health care records. 

Your PHI is likely to include these kinds of information: 

  • Your child’s history: developmental history, school and work experiences, family history
  • Reasons for the assessment and/or treatment: difficulties, complaints, symptoms, or needs
  • Diagnoses: medical terms for your child’s difficulties or symptoms 
  • Treatment plan: list of the treatments and other services that we think will best help you and your child
  • Progress notes: each time you and/or your child attend a visit, we record a summary of our session
  • Records we get from others who treated your child or evaluated your child 
  • Psychological test scores, school records, and other reports 
  • Information about medications your child took or is taking
  • Billing and insurance information 

There may also be other kinds of information that go into your health care records here. 

We use PHI for many purposes. For example, we may use it: 

  • To diagnose your child.
  • To plan care and treatment. 
  • To decide how well treatments are working. 
  • When we talk with other health care professionals who are also treating your child. 
  • To show that you actually received services from us, which we billed to you. 
  • For teaching and training other health care professionals. 
  • For medical or psychological research. 
  • For public health officials trying to improve health care in this area of the country. 
  • To improve our products and services. 

When you understand what is in your record and what it is used for, you can make better decisions about who, when, and why others should have this information. Although your health care records in our office are our physical property, the information belongs to you. You can read your records, and if you want a copy we can make one for you (but we may charge you for the costs of copying and mailing, if you want it mailed to you). In some very rare situations, you cannot see all of what is in your records. If you find anything in your records that you think is incorrect or believe that something important is missing, you can ask us to amend (add information to) your records, although in some rare situations we don’t have to agree to do that. 

Privacy and the Laws About Privacy; Our Responsibilities

We are required by law, under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996  (HIPAA), to maintain the privacy and security of your PHI and to give you this notice about our legal duties and our privacy practices. We will let you know 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.  We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind. 

In the future, we may change how we use and share your information, and so we may change this Notice. If we change this Notice, they will apply to all the PHI we keep. If we do change it, we will provide you with an updated copy and it will be available on our website.

How Your Protected Health Information Can Be Used and Shared

Except in some special circumstances, when we use your PHI or disclose it to others, we share only the minimum necessary PHI needed for those other people to do their jobs. The law gives you rights to know about your PHI, to know how it is used, and to have a say in how it is shared. So we will tell you more about what we do with your information. 

Mainly, we will use and disclose your PHI for routine purposes to provide for your care, and we will explain more about these below. For certain other uses, we must tell you about them and ask you to sign a written authorization form.

1. Uses and disclosures

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.

a. The basic uses and disclosure: For treatment, payment, and health care operations. Next we will tell you more about how your information will be used for treatment, payment, and health care operations. 

For treatment. We use your medical information to provide you with psychological treatments or services. These might include individual, family, or group therapy; psychological, educational, or vocational testing; treatment planning; or measuring the benefits of our services. 

We may share your PHI with others who provide treatment to you. For example, if you are being treated by a team, we can share some of your PHI with the team members, so that the services you receive will work best together. The other professionals treating you will also enter their findings, the actions they took, and their plans into your medical record, and so we all can decide what treatments work best for you and make up a treatment plan. We may refer you to other professionals or consultants for services we cannot provide. When we do this, we need to tell them things about you and your conditions. We will get back their findings and opinions, and those will go into your records here. If you receive treatment in the future from other professionals, we can also share your PHI with them. These are some examples so that you can see how we use and disclose your PHI for treatment. 

For payment. We may use your information to bill you or others, so we can be paid for the treatments we provide to you. If you choose to submit claims to your insurance company, we may have to tell them about your diagnoses, what treatments you have received, and the changes we expect in your conditions. We may need to tell them about when we met, your progress, and other similar things. 

For health care operations. Using or disclosing your PHI for health care operations goes beyond our care and your payment. For example, we may use your PHI to see where we can make improvements in the care and services we provide. 

b. Other uses and disclosures in health care 

Appointment reminders. We may use and disclose your PHI to reschedule or remind you of appointments for treatment or other care. If you want us to call or write to you only at your home or your work, or you prefer some other way to reach you, we usually can arrange that. Just tell us. 

Treatment alternatives. We may use and disclose your PHI to tell you about or recommend possible treatments or alternatives that may be of help to you. 

Other benefits and services. We may use and disclose your PHI to tell you about health-related benefits or services that may be of interest to you. 

We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes.

Research. We may disclose information to researchers when an institutional review board that has reviewed the research proposal and established protocols to ensure the privacy of your health information has approved the research.

Business associates. We may hire other businesses to do some jobs for us. In the law, they are called our “business associates.” Examples include a copy service to make copies of your health records, and a billing service to figure out, print, and mail our bills. These business associates need to receive some of your PHI to do their jobs properly. To protect your privacy, they have agreed in their contract with us to safeguard your information. 

When required by law and to respond to lawsuits and legal allegations. There are some federal, state, or local laws that require us to disclose PHI, such as to report suspected abuse, neglect or domestic violence. For example, we may disclose PHI in the following instances:

  • We have reasonable cause to believe a child under 18 may be abused or neglected. We are required to report this to the appropriate authorities and may be asked to provide additional information.
  • We have reason to believe that an adult over 60 living in a domestic setting has been abused or neglected in the past 12 months. We are required to report this to the appropriate agency.

You or your child has made a specific threat of violence against another person, or your clinician believes you or your child pose a clear, imminent risk of serious harm to others. We may be required to notify potential victims, contact law enforcement, or seek hospitalization.

Your clinician believes that you or your child are at imminent risk of serious harm to yourself, either physically or mentally. In such cases, we may contact emergency services or people who can help protect you.

Also, if you are involved in a lawsuit or legal proceeding, and we receive a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process, we may have to release some of your PHI. 

We also have to disclose some information to the government agencies that check on us to see that we are obeying the privacy laws. 

For law enforcement purposes. We may release medical information if asked to do so by a law enforcement official to investigate a crime or criminal. 

For public health activities. We may disclose some of your PHI to agencies that investigate diseases or injuries, to help with product recalls, or to report adverse reactions to medications. 

Relating to decedents. We may disclose PHI to coroners, medical examiners, or funeral directors, and to organizations relating to organ, eye, or tissue donations or transplants. 

For specific government functions. We may disclose PHI of military personnel and veterans to government benefit programs relating to eligibility and enrollment. We may disclose your PHI to workers’ compensation and disability programs, to correctional facilities if you are an inmate, to health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law, or to government agencies for military, national security, and presidential protective services reasons. 

To prevent a serious threat to health or safety. If we come to believe that there is a serious threat to your health or safety, or that of another person or the public, we can disclose some of your PHI.

Information that we disclose under this section may be subject to potential redisclosure by the recipient and no longer protected by this section.

2. Uses and disclosures that require your authorization 

If we want to use your information for any purpose besides those described above, we need your permission on an authorization form. We don’t expect to need this very often. If you do allow us to use or disclose your PHI, you can cancel that permission in writing at any time. We would then stop using or disclosing your information for that purpose. Of course, we cannot take back any information we have already disclosed or used with your permission.

3. Uses and disclosures where you have an opportunity to object

We can share some information about you with your family, friends or others involved in your care. We will ask you which persons you want us to tell, and what information you want us to tell them, about your condition or treatment. You can tell us what you want, and we will honor your wishes as long as it is not against the law. You also have the choice to tell us to share information in a disaster relief situation. 

If it is an emergency, and so we cannot ask if you disagree, we can share information if we believe that it is in your best interest. If we do share information, in an emergency, we will tell you as soon as we can. If you don’t approve we will stop, as long as it is not against the law.

In the following instances, we never share your information unless you give us written permission: 1) marketing purposes, 2) sale of your information, and 3) most sharing of psychotherapy notes. In the case of fundraising, we may contact you for fundraising efforts, but you can tell us not to contact you again.

Your Rights Concerning Your Health Information

  1. You can ask us to communicate with you about your health and related issues in a particular way or at a certain place that is more private for you. For example, you can ask us to call you at home, and not at work, to schedule or cancel an appointment. We will try our best to do as you ask. 
  2. You have the right to ask us to not use or share certain information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We don’t have to agree to your request, but if we do agree, we will honor it except when it is against the law, or in an emergency. If you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full, you can also ask us not to share that information for the purpose of payment or our operations with your health insurer. We will say “yes” unless a law requires us to share that information.
  3. You have the right to look at the health information we have about you, such as your medical and billing records. You can get an electronic or paper copy of these records or a summary of the information, which we will usually provide within 30 days of your request, but we may charge you a reasonable, cost-based fee. Ask us how to do this.
  4. If you believe that the information in your records is incorrect or missing something important, you can ask us to make amendments to your records to correct the situation. You have to make this request in writing and send it to our privacy officer at the email listed at the end of this Notice. You must also tell us the reasons you want to make the changes. We may say “no” to your request, but we’ll tell you why in writing within 60 days.
  5. You have the right to ask for a paper copy of this Notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the Notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly 
  6. You have the right to file a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated. You can file a complaint with our privacy officer at the email listed at the end of this Notice, and with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/. All complaints must be in writing. Filing a complaint will not change the health care we provide to you, and we will not retaliate against you in any way. 
  7. You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times we’ve shared your health information for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why. We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). We’ll provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.
  8. You have the right to 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 health information. We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action.

You may have other rights that are granted to you by the laws of our state, and these may be the same as or different from the rights described above. We will be happy to discuss these situations with you now or as they arise. 

Special Categories of Information

In many circumstances, we are required to provide more restrictive treatment to the following types of information: psychotherapy notes, behavioral health information, genetic testing information, information on persons with developmental disabilities, information concerning HIV/AIDS testing, and alcohol and drug use treatment.

SMS Terms of Service

At times Frontera Care may communicate with caregivers by SMS text message.  By opting into SMS from a web form or other medium, you are agreeing to receive SMS messages from Frontera Care. This includes SMS messages for conversations (external). Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Message HELP for help. Reply STOP to any message to opt out. No SMS data will be shared with third parties or affiliates.

If you have any questions, please contact: 

Chief Quality Office & Privacy Officer
1517 Blake Street Denver, CO 80202
caregivers@frontera.health