NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES (NPP) - Short Version
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.

Our commitment to your privacy: Personal Growth Concepts, Inc and our staff are dedicated to maintaining the privacy of your personal health information (PHI). We are required also by law to do this. These laws are complicated, but we must provide you with important information. This document is a shorter version of the full, legally required NPP which you received along with this, so refer to it for more information. However, we can not cover all possible situations so please talk to our Privacy Officer (see the end of this document) about any questions or problems.

We will use the information about your health which we get from you or from others mainly to provide you with treatment, to arrange payment for our services or for some other business activities which are called, in the law, health care operations. After you have read this NPP, we will ask you to sign a Consent Form to let us use and share your information. If you do not consent and sign that form, we can not treat you.

If we, or you, want to use or disclose (send, share, or release) your information for any other purposes, we will discuss this with you and ask you to sign an Authorization to allow this.

Of course we will keep your health information private but there are some times when the laws may require us to use or share it, such as:

  1. When there is a serious threat to your health and safety or the health and safety of another individual or the public. We will only share information with a person or organization who is able to help prevent or reduce the threat.
  2. Some lawsuits and legal or court proceedings.
  3. If a law enforcement official requires us to do so.
  4. For Worker's Compensation and similar benefit programs.
There are some other situations like these but which don't happen very often. They are described in the longer version of the NPP.

Your rights regarding 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. 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 limit what we tell certain individuals involved in your care or the payment for your care, such as family members and friends. While we do not have to agree to your request, if we do agree, we will keep our agreement except if it is against the law, or in an emergency, or when the information is necessary to treat you.
  3. You have the right to look at the health information we have about you such as your medical and billing records. You can even get a copy of these records but we may charge you. Contact our Privacy Officer to arrange how to see your records. See below.
  4. You have the right to request a copy of your Psychotherapy Notes. This must be done in writing to our Privacy Officer. We will review your request and grant it or deny it. The law is clear that the release of Psychotherapy Notes is solely at our discretion.
  5. If you believe the information in your records is incorrect or incomplete, you can ask us to make some kinds of changes (called amending) to your health information. You have to make this request in writing and send it to our Privacy Officer. You must tell us the reason you want to make the changes.
  6. You have the right to a copy of this notice. If we change this NPP we will post it in our waiting room and on our website, www.personalgrowthconcepts.com . You can always get a copy of the NPP from our Privacy Officer.
  7. 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 and with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. All complaints must be in writing. Filing a complaint will not change the health care we provide to you in any way.


If you have any questions regarding this notice or our health information privacy policies, please contact our Privacy Officer who is Michael Abramowitz and can be reached by phone at 203-375-5782, vmail 308 or by e-mail at mabramowitz@personalgrowthconcepts.com.

The effective date of this notice is April 14, 2003