Equinox Counseling & Consulting LLC
Stephanie Eckler, M.S., LMHC (license MH16510)
7401 Wiles Road, Suite 237, Coral Springs, FL 33067
(954) 314-1400 | [email protected] | equinox-counseling.com
Privacy Contact: If you have questions about this notice or want to exercise any of the rights it describes, please contact Stephanie Eckler, LMHC, at (954) 314-1400 or [email protected].
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. My Pledge Regarding Health Information
I understand that health information about you and your health care is personal. I am committed to protecting health information about you. I create a record of the care and services you receive from me. I need this record to provide you with quality care and to comply with certain legal requirements. This notice applies to all of the records of your care generated by this mental health care practice. This notice tells you about the ways in which I may use and disclose health information about you. It also describes your rights to the health information I keep about you and certain obligations I have regarding the use and disclosure of your health information. I am required by law to:
- Make sure that protected health information (“PHI”) that identifies you is kept private.
- Give you this notice of my legal duties and privacy practices with respect to health information.
- Follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect.
- Notify you if there is a breach of your unsecured protected health information.
I can change the terms of this notice, and such changes will apply to all information I have about you. The new notice will be available upon request, in my office, and on my website.
II. How I May Use and Disclose Health Information About You
The following categories describe different ways that I use and disclose health information. For each category of uses or disclosures, I will explain what I mean and try to give some examples. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. However, all of the ways I am permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of the categories.
For Treatment, Payment, or Health Care Operations: Federal privacy rules allow health care providers who have a direct treatment relationship with the client to use or disclose the client’s personal health information without the client’s written authorization, to carry out the health care provider’s own treatment, payment, or health care operations. I may also disclose your protected health information for the treatment activities of any health care provider. This too can be done without your written authorization. For example, if I were to consult with another licensed health care provider about your condition, I would be permitted to use and disclose your personal health information, which is otherwise confidential, in order to assist in the diagnosis and treatment of your mental health condition.
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 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 client for health care from one health care provider to another.
Lawsuits and Disputes: If you (or your child, if my client is a minor) are involved in a lawsuit or dispute, I may disclose health information in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process by someone else involved in the dispute, but only if efforts have been made to tell you about the request or to obtain an order protecting the information.
III. Certain Uses and Disclosures Require Your Authorization
Psychotherapy Notes. I do not currently maintain separate “psychotherapy notes” as that term is defined in 45 CFR § 164.501. All notes I create about your care, including any AI-assisted drafts I review and finalize, become part of your regular treatment record and are available to you under the “Right to See and Get Copies of Your PHI” section below.
Marketing Purposes. As a psychotherapist, I will not use or disclose your PHI for marketing purposes.
Sale of PHI. As a psychotherapist, I will not sell your PHI in the regular course of my business.
IV. Certain Uses and Disclosures Do Not Require Your Authorization
Subject to certain limitations in the law, I 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 abuse, abandonment, or neglect, and abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a vulnerable adult, to the Florida Department of Children and Families through the Florida Abuse Hotline, 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, including responding to a court or administrative order. My preference is to obtain authorization from you before doing so.
- For law enforcement purposes, including reporting crimes occurring on my 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 clients who received one form of therapy versus those who received another form of therapy for the same condition.
- For 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 my preference is to obtain authorization from you, I may provide your PHI in order to comply with workers’ compensation laws.
- For appointment reminders and health-related benefits or services. I may use and disclose your PHI to remind you of an appointment with me, or to tell you about treatment alternatives or other health care services or benefits that I offer.
Florida law gives you stronger protection than HIPAA does for some of these categories. Under Fla. Stat. § 491.0147, your communications with me are confidential, and in most cases I need your written consent or a valid court order or subpoena before I disclose them, even in situations where HIPAA alone would otherwise permit disclosure. Where Florida law requires more than HIPAA does, I follow Florida law.
V. Certain Uses and Disclosures Require You to Have the Opportunity to Object
Disclosures to family, friends, or others. I may provide your PHI to a family member, friend, or another 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 me not to use or disclose certain PHI for treatment, payment, or health care operations purposes. I am not required to agree to your request, and I may say “no” if I believe it would affect your health care.
The Right to Request Restrictions for Out-of-Pocket Expenses Paid 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 service that you have paid for out-of-pocket in full.
The Right to Choose How I Send PHI to You. You have the right to ask me to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address, and I will agree to all reasonable requests.
The Right to See and Get Copies of Your PHI. Other than “psychotherapy notes,” you have the right to get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other information that I have about you. I will provide you with a copy of your record, or a summary of it if you agree to receive a summary, within 30 days of receiving your written request, and I may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for doing so.
The Right to Get a List of the Disclosures I Have Made. You have the right to request a list of instances in which I have disclosed your PHI for purposes other than treatment, payment, or health care operations, or for which you provided me with authorization. I will respond to your request for an accounting of disclosures within 60 days of receiving it. The list I give you will include disclosures made in the last six years unless you request a shorter time. I will provide the list to you at no charge, but if you make more than one request in the same year, I will charge you a reasonable cost-based fee for each additional request.
The Right to Correct or Update Your PHI. If you believe that there is a mistake in your PHI, or that important information is missing from it, you have the right to request that I correct the existing information or add the missing information. I may say “no” to your request, but I will tell you why in writing within 60 days of receiving your request. If I deny your request, you have the right to submit a written statement disagreeing with my denial, and I will include your statement with your record going forward.
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 it by email. Even if you have agreed to receive this notice by email, you also have the right to request a paper copy of it.
The Right to File a Complaint. If you believe I have violated your privacy rights, you may file a complaint with me at the contact information above, or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, by calling 1-877-696-6775, or at www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints. I will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
Effective Date of This Notice
This notice went into effect on October 4, 2026. I will update this date only when I revise this notice.
A Downloadable Copy
You may download a copy of this notice at any time using the link on this page, or request a paper copy at no charge at my office.