Confidentiality
The law protects the relationship between a patient and a psychiatrist, and protected health information information cannot be disclosed verbally or in writing without written permission in accordance with HIPAA laws and Notice of Privacy Practices for this practice, which may be found on the Helpful Forms page.
Exceptions include:
If a patient states or suggests that he or she is abusing a child (or vulnerable adult), or has recently abused a child (or vulnerable adult), or identifies a child (or vulnerable adult) who is in danger of abuse, I am mandated by law to report this.
If a patient is threatening serious bodily harm to another person/s, I must notify the police and inform the intended victim.
If a patient intends to harm himself or herself, I will make every effort to enlist his/her cooperation in ensuring his or her safety. If he/she does not cooperate, I am required by law to take further measures without permission in order to ensure his/her safety.
Email is available to established patients within my practice with appropriate authorization to use email communication with me and for routine office matters and administrative purposes, e.g., scheduling requests, etc. through my Patient Portal.
Email is not appropriate for communicating confidential information, and should never be used in an urgent or emergency situation.
Although I do my best to read and respond to email in a timely fashion, I focus first on in-office patient visits, phone calls, and coordination of care with other physicians, therapists and pharmacies. Please be aware that there are limits to protecting patient confidentiality over the Internet because email can be copied, archived, and retransmitted. For this reason, it should never be used to communicate confidential information. In addition, email is retained in the logs of Internet service providers and could potentially be read now or in the future by the system administrator(s) of the internet service provider or disclosed by the system administrator. Please call me or schedule an office visit to discuss sensitive information.
Social Media and Networking
Psychiatric care is best conducted within a safe setting with clear boundaries. So as a matter of policy, I do not interact with my patients on social networking sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. Please don’t be offended if your request to connect is politely declined.