Notice of Privacy Policies
Connective Family Therapy, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as “The Connective”) is committed to maintaining your trust, values your privacy, and recognizes the sensitivity of your personal information. We have crafted this Privacy Policy to address concerns you might have, and to assure you that if you give us personal information, we will treat it carefully and appropriately. We may update this policy from time to time; please revisit occasionally to receive the most up-to-date privacy policy.
HEALTH INFORMATION PRIVACY POLICY
This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to the information. Please review it carefully.
Understanding Protected Health Information (PHI)
What is PHI?
Protected Health Information (PHI) refers to any individually identifiable information related to your past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition, health care services you receive, and payment for your health care. This includes demographic details like your name, social security number, address, and date of birth. PHI can be in oral, written, or electronic form.
Examples of PHI:
Treatment records
Claims records
Communications between you and your health care provider
PHI ceases to be PHI if it is de-identified in accordance with HIPAA standards.
Our Commitment to Protect Your PHI
By law, we must:
Protect the privacy of your PHI.
Inform you about your rights and our legal duties regarding your PHI.
Notify you if there is a breach of your unsecured PHI.
Explain our privacy practices and adhere to the current notice.
Safeguards in Place:
Administrative: Privacy and security training, policies, and procedures.
Technical: Encryption and password protection.
Physical: Locked areas and cabinets.
Your Rights Regarding PHI
Accessing Your Records:
You can request to see or obtain a copy of your health records by submitting a written request. We will provide access within 5 business days for viewing, 15 days for copies, or between 10 business days and 30 calendar days for a treatment summary. A reasonable, cost-based fee may apply.
Access may be denied if it poses a danger to your physical safety. Parents requesting access to a minor's records may be denied if it is detrimental to the therapeutic relationship or the minor’s treatment and mental health.
Correcting or Amending Your Records:
You can request corrections to your health records if they are incorrect or incomplete. Submit your request to your WS practitioner or our administrative team. We will respond in writing within 60 days.
Confidential Communications:
You can request to be contacted in a specific way (e.g., home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address. We will accommodate reasonable requests, especially if safety concerns are involved.
Restricting Use and Sharing:
You can request restrictions on the use or sharing of your health information for treatment, payment, or operations. While we are not required to agree, we will consider all requests.
Accounting of Disclosures:
You can request a list of disclosures of your health information for the past six years. We will provide one free accounting per year and may charge a fee for additional requests within the same year.
Obtaining a Copy of This Notice:
You can request a paper copy of this notice at any time.
Choosing a Representative:
If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, they can exercise your rights and make decisions about your health information. We will verify their authority before taking action.
Filing a Complaint:
If you feel your rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with our CEO and founder, Tara Baker, at tara@theconnective.com or 415-632-1010. You can also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights at 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, 1-877-696-6775, or www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
How We Use and Disclose Your PHI
We are permitted by law to use and disclose your health information in certain ways without your written or oral permission.
Typical Uses and Disclosures:
Treatment: We may use and disclose your PHI for diagnosis, treatment, and coordination of care with other professionals.
Healthcare Operations: We may use and disclose your PHI to run our practice and improve services.
Appointment Reminders: We may use your PHI to contact you about appointments.
Payment: We may use and disclose your PHI for billing and payment purposes.
Special Situations:
Family and Friends: We may discuss your PHI with family or friends involved in your care if you do not object.
Disaster Relief: We may disclose PHI to assist in disaster relief efforts.
Parents of Minors: We may disclose a minor’s PHI to parents unless it is detrimental to the minor’s health or treatment.
Healthcare Oversight: Federal and state agencies may review our practices, including PHI.
Legal Requirements: We may disclose PHI to comply with legal requirements.
Law Enforcement: We may disclose PHI for law enforcement purposes.
Serious Threats: We may disclose PHI to prevent serious threats to health or safety.
Abuse or Neglect: We may disclose PHI to report suspected abuse or neglect.
De-identified Information: We may use PHI to create de-identified data, which may be disclosed to third parties.
Our Responsibilities:
Maintain the privacy and security of your PHI.
Notify you promptly if a breach occurs.
Follow the duties and practices described in this notice.
Obtain your written permission before using or disclosing your PHI for purposes not described here. You may revoke your permission at any time in writing, though this will not affect prior authorized use or disclosure.
For More Information:
Contact Us:
Executive Director: Tara Baker
Email: tara@theconnective.com
Phone: 415-632-1010
WEBSITE PRIVACY POLICY
The Connective is committed to safeguarding your privacy while visiting the The Connective website, namely, www.theconnective.com, (hereinafter all identified URLs are collectively referred to as the “Site”). Our goal is to provide you with an internet experience that delivers the information, resources, and services that are most relevant to you. To achieve this goal, part of the operation of the Site includes the gathering of certain types of information about Site users. Because we understand that your privacy is important, we wish to explain the types of information we gather and the way in which we use it. By using the Site, you consent to the terms and conditions of the Privacy Policy and to our processing of personal information for the purposes stated below. If you do not agree to the terms and conditions, please do not use the site.
BASIC CONFIDENTIALITY POLICY
Where personal information is required to use or interact with the Sites, it is our policy that this information – such as your name, postal or email address, or telephone number — is private and confidential. The personal information you provide to The Connective is stored in a secure location, accessible only by appropriate Connective staff, and is used for the purposes set forth in this policy, such as to reply to a question or to send requested materials.
INFORMATION COLLECTED
We collect two types of information from visitors to the Sites: (1) Personal information; and (2) Aggregated data:
PERSONAL INFORMATION
The term “personal information” refers to data you voluntarily provide in connection with use of the Site. Personal information includes, e.g., data submitted in connection with our services, such as your name, e-mail address, phone number, or physical address.
We may collect your first and last name and email address when you contact us with a question;
We may collect your email address if you sign up to receive our newsletter
We may collect your first and last name, date of birth, phone number, email, home address and additional information that you provide at your discretion if you choose to participate in our services
The above list provides an example of the personal information that may be collected from you on the Sites. If you do not want The Connective to collect your personal information, please do not provide it to us.
AGGREGATED DATA
The term “aggregated data” refers to general information regarding visitors and users of the Site that relates to use of the Site, e.g., traffic patterns, number of visits to certain pages, interest in services, etc. Aggregated data information does NOT identify you personally. Here are some examples of the non-personal information that is collected via the Sites and a description of how this information is used:
Internet Protocol (IP) address — Your IP address is a number that lets computers attached to the Internet know where to send you data — such as the webpages you view. We use this information to deliver our webpages to you upon request, to tailor our Sites to the interests of our users and to measure traffic within our Sites.
Cookies — The Connective websites use “cookies” to improve functionality and usability. We use this information for planning, tracking and to improve the technical functions of our sites and products. By using our products and agreeing to this policy, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with the terms of this policy.
ABOUT COOKIES
Cookies are text files sent by Web servers to Web browsers and are stored on the user’s computer or mobile device. If the browser is loading a page and the server requests the information stored in the cookie, the cookie is sent back to the server. Cookies contain data about the user’s activities on the website, and can be used by Web servers to identify and track users as they navigate different pages on a website, and to identify users returning to a website.
Cookies may be either “persistent” or “session” cookies. A persistent cookie will remain valid until its set expiration date (unless deleted by the user). A session cookie will expire at the end of the user session, when the Web browser is closed.
HOW THE CONNECTIVE USES COOKIES
Cookies do not contain any information that personally identifies the user, but information that we store about the user may be linked by us to the information stored in and obtained from cookies. The Connective websites may use the information we obtain from people’s use of our website through cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookie) for the following purposes:
To recognize the user’s computer when the user visits the website.
To track some user actions during website navigation.
To improve the website’s usability.
To analyze the use of the website.
To administer the website.
BLOCKING COOKIES
Most browsers allow users to refuse to accept cookies.
In Internet Explorer, you can refuse all cookies by clicking “Tools,” “Internet Options,” “Privacy,” and selecting “Block all cookies” using the sliding selector.
In Firefox, you can block all cookies by clicking “Tools,” “Options,” and un-checking “Accept cookies from sites” in the “Privacy” box.
In Google Chrome, you can adjust your cookie permissions by clicking “Options,” “Under the hood” and Content Settings in the “Privacy” section. Click on the Cookies tab in the Content Settings.
In Safari, you can block cookies by clicking “Preferences,” selecting the “Privacy” tab and “Block cookies.”
Blocking all cookies will, however, have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites. If you block cookies, you may not be able to log on, access content or use search functions, for example.
DELETING COOKIES
Users can also delete cookies already stored on their computers (although doing this may have a negative impact on the usability of many websites):
In Internet Explorer, you must manually delete cookie files.
In Firefox, you can delete cookies by first ensuring that cookies are to be deleted when you “clear private data” (this setting can be changed by clicking “Tools,” “Options” and “Settings” in the “Private Data” box) and then clicking “Clear private data” in the “Tools” menu.
In Google Chrome, you can adjust your cookie permissions by clicking “Options,” “Under the hood,” and Content Settings in the “Privacy” section. Click on the Cookies tab in the Content Settings.
In Safari, you can delete cookies by clicking “Preferences,” selecting the “Privacy” tab and selecting “Remove All Website Data.”
Web Beacons (also known as “clear gifs,” “Web bugs” or “pixel tags”) —”Web Beacons” are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies, and are used to allow us to count users who have visited certain pages of the Sites and to help determine the effectiveness of promotional or advertising campaigns. When used in HTML-formatted email messages, Web beacons can tell the sender whether and when the email has been opened. In contrast to cookies, which are stored on a user’s computer hard drive, Web beacons are embedded invisibly on Web pages.
USE OF INFORMATION COLLECTED VIA THE SITES
We take the utmost care to ensure that the personal information we obtain from you is not used in a way that you may be unaware of or not agreeable to. You may wish to submit an information request to The Connective or unsubscribe to our email lists. In response, we may ask for information such as your name and email address. In the event you opt to provide us with this information, we will only use it for the purpose specified.
Information collected on the Site may be used to:
Register you as a customer of The Connective
Enter your email for our newsletter and to receive updates from The Connective about upcoming events, significant policy changes, company updates, or other promotional materials
Send appointment reminders
Send marketing communications or surveys to you
Respond to your questions or suggestions
Improve the quality of your visit to our site
OPT OUT
Marketing and promotional emails will provide an opt-out button to allow you to choose not to participate in The Connective lists and future online marketing. In deciding whether or not to join such lists, please note that they are only used for The Connective’s internal purposes. We do not sell, rent or share any of your personal information with any other party including any third-party joint promoters, nor use it for unapproved commercial purposes. You may request to be removed from our lists at any time.
RELEASE OF INFORMATION TO THIRD PARTIES
We do not share, sell, or otherwise disclose your PHI to any third parties without your explicit consent, except as required by law or to protect the safety of our clients and staff.
LINKS PROVIDED TO THIRD PARTY SITES
The Site may provide links to a number of other web sites that we believe might offer you useful information and services. However, those sites may not follow the same privacy policies as The Connective. Therefore, we are not responsible for the privacy policies or the actions of any third parties, including without limitation, any web site owners whose sites may be reached through this Site, nor can we control the activities of those web sites. We urge you to contact the relevant parties controlling these sites or accessing their online policies for the relevant information about their data collection practices before submitting any personal information or other sensitive data.
LINKS TO OTHER SITES
The Site links to other websites outside of the Site’s control or ownership. We advise that users read the Privacy Policies of each website they visit. The following websites are affiliated with the Site. Please read the privacy policies (links provided) associated with each website.
WEBSITE SECURITY
No data transmissions over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100 percent secure. Consequently, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us and you understand that any information that you transfer to The Connective is done at your own risk. However, The Connective uses website security measures consistent with current best practices to protect its website, email, and mailing lists. These measures include technical, procedural, monitoring and tracking steps intended to safeguard data from misuse, unauthorized access or disclosure, loss, alteration or destruction. We realize there can be incidents of misuse or unauthorized program incursions, as almost every website, service and user encounters. In those instances, our goals are to move quickly to isolate the problem, ensure or restore proper functionality and minimize any inconvenience to our users. As appropriate and necessary, The Connective will notify the relevant authorities of these incidents of misuse or unauthorized program incursions of The Connective website.
PERMISSION FOR USE
The Connective may collect and use personal information that you submit at the Site in any manner that is consistent with uses stated in this Privacy Policy or disclosed elsewhere at the Site at the point you submit such personal information. At the time you submit personal information or make a request, the intended use of the information you submit will be apparent in the context in which you submit it and/or because the Site states the intended purpose. By submitting personal information at the Site, you are giving your consent and permission for any use that is consistent with uses stated in this Privacy Policy or disclosed elsewhere at the Site at the point you submit such personal information, and such consent will be presumed by The Connective, unless you state otherwise at the time you submit the personal information. Please do not request any such communications on behalf of an individual or company if you are not authorized to make the request.
CONTACTING US
If there are any questions regarding this website privacy policy you may contact us using the information below.
The Connective (formerly Wellspace SF)
870 Market St Ste. 345
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 632-1010
E-mail: hello@theconnective.com