Confidentiality

Please don’t send confidential information by email or through the internet. They aren’t secure. To talk about anything personal, call (888) 516-5995.

Our commitment

Everything you share with your provider at Life Support Behavioral Institute is treated as confidential. Information about you, including the fact that you receive services, is not disclosed outside LSBI without your written permission, except in the limited circumstances below or as required by law.

HIPAA compliance

LSBI complies with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Colorado privacy laws. These laws set national standards for protecting your health information and give you rights over how it is used and shared. Our staff are trained in privacy practices, and our paper and electronic records are kept secure, with access limited to the people who need it to provide or support your care.

You’ll receive our Notice of Privacy Practices at your first appointment. It describes how your information may be used and shared and how to exercise your rights. Ask for another copy any time.

Access to your records

You have the right to inspect and get a copy of your records. Please make requests in writing. In rare cases a provider may decide that reviewing certain information would be harmful; if so, we’ll explain why and talk through alternatives, such as reviewing the record together or sharing it with another professional you choose.

You may also ask us to correct information you believe is wrong or incomplete, and request an accounting of certain disclosures we have made.

For minors, parents or legal guardians generally have rights to access records, subject to Colorado law on minors consenting to their own mental health treatment. Your provider will go over how this applies to your family when services begin.

Routine consent

When you begin services, you’ll be asked to sign a consent form. It allows LSBI to use and share your information for routine purposes related to your care:

• Treatment: coordinating your care among LSBI providers and supervisors.
• Payment: sending claims and required information to your insurance company or the program funding your services.
• Health care operations: quality improvement, clinical supervision, licensing and accreditation reviews.

Only the minimum necessary information is shared for these purposes.

Release of information

For anything beyond routine treatment, payment and operations, we ask for your specific written authorization, called a Release of Information. It names who may receive information, what may be shared, why, and for how long. You may revoke a release in writing at any time, except where we have already acted on it.

Common examples: your primary care physician, a school, an attorney, or a family member you choose.

Limits of confidentiality

In a few situations the law permits or requires us to share information without your consent:

• When there is a serious and imminent risk of harm to you or someone else.
• When there is reasonable suspicion of abuse or neglect of a child or at-risk adult.
• When we receive a valid court order.
• When a court, probation officer or referral source requires information as a condition of court-ordered or program-funded services, such as DUI classes or county-referred services. We’ll explain this before services begin.
• Other circumstances required by state or federal law.

Whenever possible, your provider will talk with you before any such disclosure.

Internet and email

Email, text messages and web forms are not secure. Use them only for general matters like scheduling, and please don’t send confidential, clinical or urgent information through the internet or by email. Email isn’t watched around the clock and must never be used in an emergency. If you’re in crisis, call 911.

Employer access

Your employer has no access to your records or to information about your participation in services. Even when services are paid through an employer-sponsored plan or Employee Assistance Program, we won’t release anything to your employer without your written authorization. If a release is needed, for example for a return-to-work request, only the specific information you authorize is shared.