Privacy Policy

True Peace Recovery Center Privacy Policy – HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices

Important Information About Your Privacy and Treatment at True Peace Recovery Center

This notice explains how your personal and treatment information may be used and shared, as well as how you can access this information. Please read it carefully.

At True Peace Recovery Center, we prioritize the confidentiality and privacy of your health information. By law, we are required to protect your health details and inform you of our privacy practices and responsibilities. Similarly, we ask that you respect the privacy of others you may encounter during treatment.

We collect your health information and store it in a secure electronic health record (EHR). While the EHR is owned by True Peace Recovery Center, the information within it belongs to you. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) mandates that we keep your health records private and only use or share them when absolutely necessary. HIPAA also grants you specific rights regarding your health information, which we detail below.

Your treatment at True Peace Recovery Center is further safeguarded by federal regulations specific to drug and alcohol treatment, known as 42 CFR Part 2. These regulations protect any details related to your identity, diagnosis, prognosis, or treatment. We cannot share your treatment records without your written consent, except in very limited situations. The written consent must clearly outline what information will be shared, with whom, why, and for how long. You can withdraw this consent at any time, either verbally or in writing.  You may revoke a consent to disclose information relating to drug and alcohol verbally or in writing at any time. 

We may request your written consent to share treatment information for specific reasons, such as:

• Communicating with other healthcare providers.
• Processing insurance claims or payments
• Informing your family for treatment purposes or in emergencies

Without your consent, we will not share your treatment information for these purposes.

There are certain situations where we can share your treatment information without your written consent, as allowed by 42 CFR Part 2. These include:

• Internal use for treatment purposes and with affiliated entities
• With qualified service organizations that ensure confidentiality
• For audits, regulatory reviews, evaluations, and approved research
• In life-threatening emergencies
• Reporting crimes on our premises or against our staff
• Mandatory reporting of child abuse or neglect, cause of death, or as required by a valid court order

We may contact you to provide information about our treatment services or to remind you of upcoming appointments related to your care.

By adhering to these policies, True Peace Recovery Center ensures the highest standards of privacy and confidentiality for your health information.

I. Your Health Information Rights

In addition to protecting privacy and confidentiality, HIPAA and 42 CFR Part 2 afford you the following rights with respect to your medical record and drug or alcohol treatment information:

• You have the right to a paper copy of this written notice of True Peace Recovery Center privacy practices.
• You have a right to request a copy of your treatment record or to receive your health information through a reasonable alternative means or at an alternative location. True Peace Recovery Center requires that all such requests be put in writing. A reasonable fee will be charged for copying your health information.
• You have a right to request that True Peace Recovery Center amend health information that is incorrect or incomplete. If True Peace Recovery Center determines not to amend the health information, it will provide you with an explanation of the reason for the denial and your rights to disagree with the denial.
• You have a right to request restrictions on otherwise permitted uses and disclosures of your health information. True Peace Recovery Center is not obligated to comply with such requests.
• You may request that we provide you with a written accounting of all disclosures made by us during a specific time period (not to exceed 6 years). We ask that such requests be made in writing on a form provided by our facility. Please note that an accounting will not apply to any of the following types of disclosures: disclosures made with your written consent for reasons of treatment, payment, or health care operations; disclosures made to you or your legal representative, or any other individual involved with your care. You will not be charged for your first accounting request in any 12-month period. However, for any requests that you make thereafter, you will be charged a reasonable, cost-based fee.

II. Changes to this Notice of Privacy Practices

True Peace Recovery Center reserves the right to amend this Notice of Privacy Practices at any time in the future and to make the new provisions effective for all information that it maintains, including information that was created or received prior to the date of such amendment. Until an amendment is made, True Peace Recovery Center is required by law to comply with this Notice. Should our privacy practices change, we will provide all current and future patients with a copy of the revised Notice of Privacy Practices.

Effective January 1, 2024

III. Complaints Regarding Privacy Practices

Complaints about this Notice of Privacy Practices or how True Peace Recovery Center handles your health information should be directed to:

True Peace Recovery Center
496 Commercial St
Weymouth, MA
02188

If you are not satisfied with the manner in which this office handles a complaint, you may submit a formal complaint to one of the following:

Department of Health and Human Services
Office of Civil Rights
200 Independence Avenue, SW Room 509F, HHH Building
Washington, DC 20201

Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs

You may also address your complaint to one of the regional U.S Department of Health and Human Services Offices for Civil Rights. A list of these offices can be found online at: https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/addresses.html