Limits of Confidentiality:
The law protects the privacy of all communications between a client and a therapist. In most situations, we can only release information about your treatment to others if you sign a written authorization form that meets certain legal requirements imposed by state law. But, there are some situations where Dr. Raffle is permitted or required to disclose information without either your consent or authorization:
Dr. Raffle may occasionally find it helpful to consult other health and mental health professionals about your case. During a consultation, he makes every effort to avoid revealing your identity. The other professionals are also legally bound to keep the information confidential. Dr. Raffle normally will not tell you about these consultations unless he feels that it is important to our work together, or you tell him that it is important for you to know. He will note all consultations in your clinical record (which is called PHI in the notice of psychologist policies and practice to protect the privacy of your health information.). Disclosure required by health insurers are discussed elsewhere in this agreement.
Based on the Tarasoff law, if you state your intention to physically harm a reasonably identifiable victim, Dr. Raffle is obligated by law to inform the police as well as the intended victim.
If you are involved in a court proceeding and a request is made for information about the professional service that we have provided you and or the records thereof, such information is protected by doctor/client privilege law. We cannot provide any information without your (or your legally appointed representative’s) written authorization, a court order, or compulsory process (a subpoena) or discovery request form another party to the court proceeding where that party has given you proper notice (when required) has stated valid legal ground for obtaining PHI, and we do not have ground for objecting under state law (or you have instructed us not to object). If you are involved or are contemplating litigation, you should consult with your attorney to determine whether a court would be likely to order us to disclose information.
If a government agency is requesting the information for health oversight activities pursuant to their legal authority, we may be required to provide it for them.
If your file a complaint or lawsuit against Dr. Raffle and/or Raffle Brain Institute, we may disclose relevant information regarding you in order to defend ourselves. If you file a worker’s compensation claim, we must, upon appropriate request, disclose information relevant to your emotional condition to the worker’s compensation insurer.
There are some situations in which we am legally obligated to take actions that we believe are necessary to attempt to protect others from harm and we may have to reveal some information about your treatment. These situations are unusual in our practice:
Child Abuse Mandated Reporting: If we have observed or reasonably suspect that a child under 18 has been the victim of child abuse or neglect, the law requires that we file a report with the Department of Child and Family Services. We also may make a report if we know or reasonably suspect that mental suffering has been inflicted upon a child or that his or her emotional well-being is endangered in any other way. Once such a report is filed, we may be required to provide additional information.
Elder (65+) Abuse Mandated Reporting: If we observe or have knowledge of an incident that reasonably appears to be physical abuse, abandonment, abduction, isolation, or financial abuse, or neglect of an elder or dependent adult, or if an elder or dependent adult credibly reports that he or she has experienced behavior including an act or omission constituting physical abuse, abandonment abduction, isolation, financial abuse, or neglect, or reasonably suspects that abuse, the law requires that we report to the appropriate government agency. Once such a report is filed, we may be required to provide additional information.
If any of the above exceptions to confidentiality or privilege arises, we will make every effort to fully discuss it with you before taking any action and we will limit our disclosure to the minimum information necessary. While this written summary of exceptions to confidentiality should prove helpful in informing you about potential problems, it is important that we discuss any questions or concerns that you may have now or in the future. The laws governing confidentiality can be quite complex, and Dr. Raffle is not an attorney. In situations where specific advice is required, formal legal advice may be needed.