HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices
This notice went into effect on June 6, 2026.
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW HEALTH INFORMATION MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
I. OUR PLEDGE REGARDING HEALTH INFORMATION:
We understand that health information about you and your health care is personal. We are committed to protecting health information about you. We create a record of the care and services you receive from us. We need this record to provide you with quality care and to comply with federal and state legal requirements. This notice applies to all of the records of your care generated by this mental health care practice. This notice will tell you about the ways in which we may use and disclose health information about you. We also describe your rights to the health information we keep about you, and describe certain obligations we have regarding the use and disclosure of your health information. We are required by federal and state law to:
Make sure that protected health information (“PHI”) that identifies you is kept private.
Give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to health information.
Follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect.
We are also required by law to provide you with adequate notice of your rights and our legal duties if we create or maintain records protected by 42 C.F.R. Part 2.
We can change the terms of this Notice at any time, and such changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new Notice will be available upon request, in our office, and on our website.
II. HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU:
The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose health information. For each category of uses or disclosures we will explain what we mean and try to give some examples. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. However, all of the ways we are permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of the categories.
For Treatment, Payment, or Health Care Operations: Federal and state regulations allow health care providers who have direct treatment relationship with the patient/client to use or disclose the patient/client’s personal health information without the patient’s written authorization, to carry out the health care provider’s own treatment, payment or health care operations. This includes sharing information with clinical supervisors or practice administrative personnel who operate directly under our supervision and direction. We may use and disclose your PHI so that the services you receive at our practice can be billed and collected. This may include sharing limited billing data with payment processors, financial institutions, or collection agencies if necessary to process or collect fees for services provided. Any external consultants we utilize for practice operations (such as secure, HIPAA-compliant platforms to manage communications, health records, and billing) are bound by a written contract that prohibits them from re-disclosing your PHI and requires them to safeguard the privacy of your PHI.
If your records are protected under 42 C.F.R. Part 2, certain uses and disclosures permitted by HIPAA for treatment, payment, and health care operations are materially limited by the stricter standards of those regulations. Furthermore, information disclosed pursuant to these rules may be subject to redisclosure by the recipient and may no longer be protected by federal privacy standards.
Disclosures for treatment purposes are not limited to the minimum necessary standard. Because therapists and other health care providers need access to the full record and/or full and complete information in order to provide quality care. The word “treatment” includes, among other things, the coordination and management of health care providers with a third party, consultations between health care providers and referrals of a patient for health care from one health care provider to another.
Notice of Electronic Disclosure of PHI: In accordance with Texas Health and Safety Code § 181.154, you are hereby notified that your Protected Health Information (PHI) created, received, or maintained by this practice is subject to electronic disclosure, transmission, and storage (such as through our secure, HIPAA-compliant Electronic Health Record system, electronic billing channels, or secure communication portals).
Incidental Use and Disclosure. We are not required to eliminate all risk of incidental use or disclosure of PHI. Uses or disclosures that occur incident to an otherwise permitted use or disclosure are allowed provided reasonable safeguards are in place and the minimum necessary information is disclosed.
Prohibition on the Sale of PHI: Our practice will never sell, trade, or receive direct or indirect remuneration for your PHI to any third party without your explicit, separate, signed authorization.
Lawsuits and Disputes: If you are involved in a lawsuit or custody dispute, we may disclose health information only in response to a valid court order issued and signed explicitly by a presiding judge. In accordance with Texas Health and Safety Code Chapter 611, we will not disclose your records or health information about your child in response to an attorney's subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process by someone else involved in the dispute unless you provide us with a specific, signed written Authorization, or we are compelled to do so by a federal or state judge's signature. However, for records protected by 42 C.F.R. Part 2, such records or testimony relaying their content shall not be used or disclosed in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceedings against you unless you provide specific written consent or a court order is issued in accordance with 42 C.F.R. Part 2.
III. CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES REQUIRE YOUR AUTHORIZATION:
Psychotherapy Notes. We do keep “psychotherapy notes” as that term is defined in 45 CFR § 164.501, and any use or disclosure of such notes requires your Authorization unless the use or disclosure is:
For our use in treating you.
For our use in defending ourselves in legal proceedings instituted by you.
For use by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to investigate our compliance with HIPAA.
Required by law and the use or disclosure is limited to the requirements of such law.
Required by law for certain health oversight activities pertaining to the originator of the psychotherapy notes.
Required by a coroner who is performing duties authorized by law.
Required to help avert a serious threat to the health and safety of others.
Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Counseling Notes. We may also maintain “SUD counseling notes,” which are notes recorded by a substance use disorder provider documenting the contents of a counseling session. Any use or disclosure of these notes requires your separate written authorization, which cannot be combined with a consent for other types of records. You can revoke your consent at any time except to the extent that we have already acted upon it to disclose these notes in accordance with your initial authorization.
Marketing and Fundraising Purposes. As a mental health practice, we will not use or disclose your PHI, including any SUD counseling notes, for marketing or fundraising purposes.
Sale of PHI. Under state law, the electronic disclosure or sale of your PHI for marketing purposes or financial remuneration is strictly prohibited. We will never sell or trade your PHI to any third party.
IV. CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES DO NOT REQUIRE YOUR AUTHORIZATION:
Subject to certain limitations in the law, we can use and disclose your PHI without your Authorization for the following reasons:
When disclosure is required by state or federal law, and the use or disclosure complies with and is limited to the relevant requirements of such law.
For public health activities, including reporting suspected child, elder, or dependent adult abuse, or preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety.
For health oversight activities, including audits and investigations.
For judicial and administrative proceedings, strictly limited to responding to a formal, binding court order signed by a presiding judge.
For law enforcement purposes, including reporting crimes occurring on our premises.
To coroners or medical examiners, when such individuals are performing duties authorized by law.
For research purposes, including studying and comparing the mental health of patients who received one form of therapy versus those who received another form of therapy for the same condition.
Specialized government functions, including ensuring the proper execution of military missions; protecting the President of the United States; conducting intelligence or counter-intelligence operations; or helping to ensure the safety of those working within or housed in correctional institutions.
For workers’ compensation purposes. Although our preference is to obtain an Authorization from you, we may provide your PHI in order to comply with workers’ compensation laws.
Appointment reminders and administrative communications. We may use and disclose your PHI to contact you as a reminder that you have an appointment or that an administrative/billing action is required. These communications may be sent via email or SMS text message using our secure communication vendors, in accordance with your preferences and our data privacy policies and standard mobile carrier opt-in protocols.
V. CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES REQUIRE YOU TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO OBJECT:
Disclosures to family, friends, or others. We may provide your PHI to a family member, friend, or other person that you indicate is involved in your care or the payment for your health care, unless you object in whole or in part. The opportunity to consent may be obtained retroactively in emergency situations.
VI. YOU HAVE THE FOLLOWING RIGHTS WITH RESPECT TO YOUR PHI:
The Right to Request Limits on Uses and Disclosures of Your PHI. You have the right to ask us not to use or disclose certain PHI for treatment, payment, or health care operations purposes. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if we believe it would affect your health care.
The Right to Request Restrictions for Out-of-Pocket Expenses Paid for In Full. You have the right to request restrictions on disclosures of your PHI to health plans for payment or health care operations purposes if the PHI pertains solely to a health care item or a health care service that you have paid for out-of-pocket in full.
The Right to Choose How We Send PHI to You. You have the right to ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone), or to send mail to a different address, and we will agree to all reasonable requests.
The Right to See and Get Copies of Your PHI. Other than “psychotherapy notes” and “SUD counseling notes” you have the right to get an electronic or paper copy of your clinical record and other information that we have about you, as long as we maintain the record. We will provide you with a copy of your record, or a summary of it, if you agree to receive a summary, within 15 business days of receiving your written request for records, maintained electronically, in compliance with Texas state law, and we may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for doing so. In limited circumstances, access may be denied, and you may have the right to appeal that decision.
The Right to Get a List of the Disclosures We Have Made. You have the right to request a list of instances in which we have disclosed your PHI for purposes other than treatment, payment, or health care operations, or for which you provided us with an Authorization. We will respond to your request for an accounting of disclosures within 60 days of receiving your request. The list we will give you will include disclosures made in the last six years unless you request a shorter time. We will provide the list to you at no charge, but if you make more than one request in the same year, we will charge you a reasonable cost-based fee for each additional request. You also have the right to request an accounting of disclosures specifically for your substance use disorder records protected under 42 C.F.R. Part 2.
The Right to Correct or Update Your PHI. If you believe that there is a mistake in your PHI, or that a piece of important information is missing from your PHI, you have the right to request that we correct the existing information or add the missing information. We may say “no” to your request, but we will tell you why in writing within 60 days of receiving your request.
Right to Opt Out of Marketing and Fundraising. You have the right to opt out of receiving any marketing or fundraising communications. Please be advised that we do not engage in fundraising, marketing blasts, or tracking for donation purposes. In compliance with 42 C.F.R. Part 2 and Texas law, we will never use or disclose your health information, including substance use disorder records, for marketing, fundraising, or promotional purposes, nor will we sell your information to third parties.
The Right to Get a Paper or Electronic Copy of this Notice. You have the right to get a paper copy of this Notice, and you have the right to get a copy of this notice by e-mail. And, even if you have agreed to receive this Notice via e-mail, you also have the right to request a paper copy of it.
VII. Questions, Breaches, and Complaints
If you have questions about this Notice, please contact our Privacy Officer listed below.
Shannon Champion, LPC Associate
Supervised by Heather Moss, LPC-S
1410 Stonehollow Dr Suite 200
Kingwood, TX 77339
shannon@sccounselingco.com
Breach Notification: In the unlikely event of an unauthorized security breach or compromise of your unencrypted PHI, our practice will notify you without unreasonable delay (and no later than 60 days from discovery). If a breach impacts 250 or more Texas residents, the practice will simultaneously notify the Texas Attorney General in accordance with state compliance mandates.
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with our Privacy Officer, the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council (BHEC), the Texas Attorney General, or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We support your right to privacy and you will not be penalized, retaliated against, or denied services for filing a complaint.
Website privacy policy
SC Counseling Co respects the privacy of its clients and online visitors. To learn how we protect your online privacy, please view our online Privacy Policy.