Notice of Privacy Practices

DRAFT — not yet adopted. Please do not rely on this document.

This is a draft prepared by Managed Mental Health's website consultant, Intuitive Context Consulting, for review by Managed Mental Health's own attorney. Intuitive Context Consulting is not a law firm, and this draft is not legal advice. It has not been reviewed, revised, or adopted by Managed Mental Health, and it does not yet describe how Managed Mental Health actually handles your health information.

Nothing on this page creates any commitment, and nothing on this page should be relied on, until an attorney has completed and approved it and Managed Mental Health has formally adopted it. If you have a question about your privacy rights right now, please call our Hialeah office at (786) 233-6721 or our Plantation office at (954) 666-5942.

About the bracketed sections below

Wherever this draft says [TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL], a specific fact about how Managed Mental Health operates has not been confirmed, and it has been left blank rather than guessed. A Notice of Privacy Practices is largely a set of promises about a practice's own internal procedures. Inventing those promises would be worse than leaving them visible and unanswered.

Who this Notice covers

This Notice describes the privacy practices of Managed Mental Health and applies to the protected health information we create and keep about your care at both of our offices — Hialeah and Plantation — including care delivered by telehealth. "Protected health information" means information about you, including details like your name and contact information, that relates to your mental or physical health, the care you receive, or payment for that care.

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL: whether Managed Mental Health is a single covered entity; whether it participates in an organized health care arrangement or affiliated covered entity with any other provider; and whether this Notice is intended to cover all clinicians, contractors, registered interns, students, and volunteers at both locations.]

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL: our clinical staff includes both mental health counselors licensed under chapter 491 and advanced practice registered nurses licensed under chapter 464. Florida's confidentiality statutes do not map identically onto both — section 491.0147 governs the counselors but does not reach the APRNs. Counsel should decide whether this Notice states one unified standard or distinguishes by clinician type. IMPORTANT: the practice's actual license roster must come from the practice, not from this website. The credentials shown on our team page are display strings carried over verbatim from the prior site at the client's instruction, and they contain at least one known internal inconsistency — one clinician's heading and her own biography state different credentials, and two team members are registered interns practicing under supervision rather than independent licensees. Reading the license mix off the published page would therefore produce the wrong answer for exactly the clinicians whose supervision status matters most.]

How we may use and share your information to care for you

For treatment. We may use your health information to provide, coordinate, and manage your care, and share it with others involved in that care. For example, a therapist here may discuss your care with a psychiatric provider here who manages your medication, or we may share information with another provider you have asked us to coordinate with.

For payment. We may use and share your health information to bill and collect payment for your care — for example, to confirm coverage with your health plan, to obtain prior authorization, or to submit a claim.

For health care operations. We may use and share your health information to run our practice — for example, for quality review, clinical supervision and training, licensing and credentialing, and business management.

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL — SIGNIFICANT: Florida law may be stricter than HIPAA here, and this affects the two paragraphs above. Fla. Stat. § 456.057(7)(a) and (7)(c) permit disclosure without written authorization only to the patient, their legal representative, other treating practitioners, and six enumerated exceptions; payment and health care operations are not among them, and § 491.0147's waiver list contains no payment or operations exception either. The only plausible hook for payors is § 456.057(7)(a)1 (a person or corporation that "procured or furnished such care or treatment with the patient's consent"), and whether that reaches commercial payors, Medicare, Medicaid, clearinghouses, and business associates is unresolved on the face of the statute. Many Florida practices therefore obtain a signed consent at intake rather than relying on HIPAA's treatment-payment-operations permission alone. Counsel must decide this; it drives the two largest sections of this Notice.]

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL: whether Managed Mental Health uses an electronic health record system, and which one; whether it participates in any health information exchange or state health data network that would make records visible to other providers; and whether patients may opt out. Also which vendors act as business associates and have signed business associate agreements, which remains an open item on the practice's website project.]

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL: how the practice contacts patients about appointments and care — text, email, voicemail at home or work, or mail — and what it will and will not leave in a message. For a mental health practice this is among the most consequential questions patients have, and it deserves a specific answer rather than a generic one.]

If more than one person is in therapy together

Managed Mental Health provides couples and family therapy. Florida law adds a protection here that federal law does not: when more than one person in a family is receiving therapy, records and communications from that therapy may be released only if each family member agrees to the release, in writing (Fla. Stat. § 491.0147(1)(b)). One participant cannot authorize release of the shared record on their own.

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL: how the practice implements this — whether couples and family records are kept separately from individual records, how a release is obtained when one participant refuses or is unreachable, and how the practice responds when a participant later requests the record for use in a divorce or custody matter.]

Psychotherapy notes

Psychotherapy notes are a clinician's private notes about a counseling session, kept separate from the rest of your record. Federal law gives them extra protection: with narrow exceptions, we may not use or share psychotherapy notes without your specific written authorization — not even for most payment or health care operations purposes (45 CFR 164.520(b)(1)(ii)(E)).

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL: whether Managed Mental Health's clinicians actually maintain psychotherapy notes as a record separate from the progress notes in the main chart. Under 45 CFR 164.501 they are a distinct legal category only if kept separately, so if process notes live inside the main chart there are no protected psychotherapy notes and this section would promise protection the workflow does not deliver. Note also that 45 CFR 164.508(a)(2)(i)(B) permits use of psychotherapy notes without authorization in the practice's own training programs where students, trainees, or practitioners learn under supervision — directly relevant because the practice's published team includes a registered clinical social worker intern and master's-level counselors. If supervision uses these notes, this section must say so.]

Children and teenagers

In most cases a parent or legal guardian controls the health information of a child under 18 and may see and request that child's records. Florida law creates important exceptions.

Under Fla. Stat. § 394.4784, a minor 13 or older may consent on their own to outpatient diagnostic and evaluation services, and to crisis intervention or talk therapy, for up to two visits in any one-week period before a parent or guardian's consent is required for further services. That statute expressly does not extend to medication or other somatic treatment. In practical terms, the consent rules can differ between our therapy services and our psychiatry and medication management services for the same adolescent.

Separately, if a parent or guardian cannot be reached after a reasonable attempt, Florida law lets certain other adults — a stepparent, grandparent, or adult sibling, in a set order of priority — consent to a minor's care, but expressly not to psychotropic medication (Fla. Stat. § 743.0645). A parent has a right to inspect records of care provided that way.

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL: how Managed Mental Health handles minors' records in practice — who may access records of services a minor consented to on their own; how those visits are documented and separated in the chart; whether a parent who later consents to continued treatment can see the earlier self-consented visits (no Florida statute answers this, which under 45 CFR 164.502(g)(3)(ii)(C) makes it a licensed professional's judgment call); how requests from a non-custodial parent are handled; and how the practice responds when a parent asks for records the adolescent objects to releasing. This is the most operationally sensitive area in this draft and must not be answered generically.]

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL: billing mechanics for minor-consented services. Fla. Stat. § 394.4784(3) makes parents not liable for payment unless they participate, and in the closely related context of Fla. Stat. § 384.30(2) the Legislature treated sending a bill to a parent as itself an impermissible indirect disclosure. Counsel should decide how these visits are billed so that billing does not undo the confidentiality the statute grants.]

Substance use disorder treatment records

Substance use disorder treatment records that come from a program covered by the federal regulation at 42 CFR Part 2 carry a specific extra protection: those records, and testimony repeating what they say, may not be used or disclosed in a civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceeding against you unless you give written consent or a court issues an order after you have had notice and an opportunity to be heard (45 CFR 164.520(b)(1)(iii)(D)).

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL: whether 42 CFR Part 2 applies to Managed Mental Health at all. Our reading is that it probably does not — Part 2 program status requires both federal assistance and that the practice hold itself out as providing substance use disorder diagnosis, treatment, or referral (42 CFR 2.12). The practice already satisfies the federal-assistance element because it participates in Medicare, so the only thing keeping it outside Part 2 is that it does not advertise or provide substance use services. That would change immediately if any clinician began providing substance use counseling or medication-assisted treatment. Counsel should confirm the current answer and record that it is fragile.]

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL: separately, whether the practice ever receives substance use disorder treatment records from a Part 2 program — for example in a referral packet or a records request. If it does, the protection described above applies to those received records and this section must remain in the final Notice regardless of the practice's own Part 2 status.]

Uses and disclosures that always require your written permission

Other than the situations described above, we will not use or share your health information without your written authorization. In particular, your written authorization is required before we may use or share your information for marketing or solicitation purposes, before we may sell your information, and, with narrow exceptions, before we may share psychotherapy notes. Florida law is broader than federal law on marketing: any use of patient information to solicit or market the sale of goods or services requires a specific written release (Fla. Stat. § 456.057(7)(b)).

If you give us a written authorization, you may revoke it in writing at any time. Revoking it stops any future use or sharing under that authorization; it cannot undo something already done while the authorization was in effect.

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL: the practice's authorization form, where a patient sends a revocation, and who processes it.]

Limits on sharing your information again

Florida law provides that a third party who receives information from your medical record is prohibited from disclosing it further without your express written consent (Fla. Stat. § 456.057(11)). We tell you this because many notices of privacy practices say the opposite — that once information leaves the practice it may be re-shared and is no longer protected. In Florida that general statement is not accurate.

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL: how to state the federal redisclosure concept, if at all, without contradicting Fla. Stat. § 456.057(11) and § 394.4615(1). Note that the federal provision that had required a redisclosure statement, 45 CFR 164.520(b)(1)(ii)(H), was among those vacated in Purl v. HHS in June 2025, so there may no longer be a federal requirement to reconcile.]

Fundraising

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL: whether Managed Mental Health engages in any fundraising. Federal law requires a separate statement in this Notice if the practice intends to contact patients to raise funds, together with a clear description of the right to opt out (45 CFR 164.520(b)(1)(iii)(A)); a further restriction applies to fundraising involving 42 CFR Part 2 records (§ 164.520(b)(1)(iii)(E)). We have not asserted an answer either way. If the practice does not fundraise, delete this section rather than replace it with a denial we cannot verify.]

Our responsibilities

We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information, to give you notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to that information, and to notify you promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information (45 CFR 164.520(b)(1)(v)).

We are required to follow the terms of the Notice currently in effect. We may change this Notice, and any change will apply to all health information we maintain, including information created or received before the change. If we make a material change, we will post the revised Notice on this page and make copies available at our offices. [TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL: whether the practice will also mail or hand out a revised Notice, and how patients will be alerted that it changed.]

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL: whether to add a short section on what happens to your records if the practice closes or a clinician leaves. Fla. Stat. § 456.057(12) requires records owners to advertise or notify patients in writing on termination, retirement, or relocation and to offer patients a copy of their record. It is not required content for this Notice, but patients ask, and the practice must do it either way. Related open question: whether the clinician employment agreements designate the practice as the "records owner" under Fla. Stat. § 456.057(1) — if they do not, individual clinicians are the records owners, which changes who owes these duties.]

How to file a complaint

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us using the contact information below, and you may also file a complaint directly with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. You will not be penalized, and your care will not be affected, for filing a complaint.

You can reach the Office for Civil Rights at 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, by phone at (800) 368-1019 (TDD (800) 537-7697), by email at [email protected], or online at ocrportal.hhs.gov.

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL: the practice's own complaint procedure — who receives a complaint, whether it must be in writing, how it is acknowledged, and how quickly the practice responds.]

Who to contact with questions

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL: federal law requires this Notice to name a specific contact — the name or title of the person or office responsible for handling privacy questions, and a telephone number (45 CFR 164.520(b)(1)(vii)). Managed Mental Health must designate a Privacy Officer, and that person's name or title and direct phone number must appear here. This is a required element and it cannot ship blank.]

Until that designation is made, general questions can be directed to our Hialeah office at (786) 233-6721, our Plantation office at (954) 666-5942, or [email protected].

Effective date

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL: the effective date of this Notice, which federal law requires and which may not be earlier than the date the Notice is printed or published (45 CFR 164.520(b)(1)(viii)). To be set when counsel approves the final version and Managed Mental Health formally adopts it.]

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL: the delivery obligations that publishing this page does NOT satisfy. As a direct treatment provider, Managed Mental Health must give this Notice to each patient no later than the first service delivery and make a good faith effort to obtain a written acknowledgment of receipt, documenting both the effort and the reason if it is not obtained (45 CFR 164.520(c)(2)(i)–(ii)). It must keep the Notice available to take at each physical office and post it in a clear and prominent location at both Hialeah and Plantation (§ 164.520(c)(2)(iii)). Because the practice offers telehealth, where first service delivery is electronic the Notice must be sent electronically, automatically and contemporaneously, in response to the patient's first request for service — and the acknowledgment requirement still applies (§ 164.520(c)(3)(iii)). Copies of issued notices and the acknowledgments or good-faith documentation must be retained for six years (§§ 164.520(e), 164.530(j)). Counsel should confirm who owns each of these steps.]

In an emergency, do not rely on this website

This website is not a crisis service and is not monitored around the clock. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, are in crisis, or are thinking about harming yourself or someone else, call or text 988 (the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, available in English and Spanish, 24/7), call 911, or go to your nearest emergency room.

Please don't send medical information through this website

This website is not a secure channel for protected health information. Please do not include medical information, symptoms, diagnoses, or treatment details in the contact form or in any email or message sent through this Site. If you have questions about your privacy rights or your records, please call our Hialeah office at (786) 233-6721 or our Plantation office at (954) 666-5942, or write to [email protected].

This Notice is separate from our other notices

This Notice of Privacy Practices governs protected health information collected in the course of your care — things like clinical records, diagnoses, and treatment history. It is separate from our Privacy Policy, which explains what information this website collects (for example, through the contact form or email newsletter) and how that information is handled, and separate again from our Notice of Nondiscrimination and Language Assistance, which explains your civil rights and how to get a free interpreter.

[TO BE CONFIRMED BY COUNSEL — CROSS-DOCUMENT REQUIREMENT, now partly addressed: 45 CFR § 92.11(c)(5) requires the Section 1557 notice of availability of language assistance services and auxiliary aids to be included IN a specified list of patient-facing documents, and that list EXPRESSLY NAMES THE NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES. That notice is now embedded above, in English and Florida’s fifteen most common LEP languages, which addresses § 92.11(c)(5)(ii) for this document. The rest of the list is NOT addressed and is outside anything a website can fix: application and intake forms, consent forms, complaint forms, billing and collections materials, notices of denial or termination, discharge papers, and patient handbooks. Counsel should confirm the embedded notice is acceptable in this form and decide how each remaining document carries it. Note the compliance date for § 92.11 was July 5, 2025 and is already past.]