Notice of Privacy Practices

Last updated: December 1, 2025

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW HEALTH INFORMATION MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

This Notice of Privacy Practices applies to the employees and independent providers of Your Time Behavioral & Mental Health LLC. The practices and entities that are subject to this Notice are collectively known as “Your Time” (“YTBMH”, “us,” “we,” or “our”). The providers who deliver services through Your Time are licensed mental health professionals.

Your Time operates the websites located at www.yourtimebmh.com and other websites, products, services, and applications with links to this Notice of Privacy Practices, including, without limitation, the Your Time webpages and applications (collectively, the “Sites” or “Websites”, unless otherwise specified). Individuals who use the Sites and access services through the Sites are referred below as “Users”, “Clients”, “Patients”, “you”, “your”, or “yours”.

OUR PLEDGE REGARDING HEALTH INFORMATION:

Your Time and your counselor understand that health information about you and your health care is personal. We are committed to protecting health information about you. Your counselor creates a record of the care and services they provide to you. They need this record to provide you with quality care and to comply with certain legal requirements. This notice applies to all of the records of your care generated by this mental health care practice. For the avoidance of doubt, providing treatment services, collecting payment and conducting healthcare operations are all necessary activities for quality care. State and federal laws allow us to use and disclose your health information for these purposes.

‍This Notice of Privacy Practices (the “Notice”) will describe the ways in which we may use and disclose medical or billing records or other health information we use to make decisions about you (“Protected Health Information” or “PHI”). By PHI, we mean protected health information as defined under federal law (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or “HIPAA”, and its implementing regulations). We also describe your rights and certain obligations we have regarding the use and disclosure of your PHI and how you can access your PHI. This Notice applies only to health information that is “protected health information” as defined by HIPAA. It does not apply to information that is not covered by HIPAA. Please see YTBMH’s Privacy Policy for terms that apply to non-HIPAA covered products and services.

EXCEPT AS DESCRIBED IN THIS NOTICE, WE WILL NOT DISCLOSE PHI WITHOUT YOUR AUTHORIZATION. 

YTBMH and your counselor are required by law to:

• Make sure that Protected Health Information (“PHI”) that identifies you is kept private. 
• Give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to health information.
• Follow the terms of the notice that is currently in effect.
• We can change the terms of this Notice, and such changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new Notice will be available upon request and on our website.

HOW WE MAY USE AND DISCLOSE HEALTH INFORMATION ABOUT YOU:

The following categories describe different ways that we use and disclose health information. For each category of uses or disclosures, we will explain what it means and try to give some examples. Not every use or disclosure in a category will be listed. However, all of the ways we are permitted to use and disclose information will fall within one of the categories.

For Treatment Payment or Health Care Operations: Federal privacy rules (regulations) allow healthcare providers who have a direct treatment relationship with the patient/client to use or disclose the patient/client’s personal health information without the patient’s written authorization in order to carry out the health care provider’s own treatment, payment, or health care operations. We may also disclose your protected health information for the treatment activities of any healthcare provider. This too can be done without your written authorization. For example, if a counselor were to consult with another licensed healthcare provider about your condition, we would be permitted to use and disclose your personal health information, which is otherwise confidential, to assist the licensed healthcare provider in the diagnosis and treatment of your mental health condition.

Disclosures for treatment purposes are not limited to the minimum necessary standard because therapists and other healthcare providers need access to the full record and/or full and complete information in order to provide quality care. The word “treatment” includes, among other things, the coordination and management of health care providers with a third party, consultations between health care providers, and referrals of a patient for health care from one health care provider to another.

Lawsuits and Disputes: If you are involved in a lawsuit, we may disclose health information in response to a court or administrative order. We may also disclose health information about your child in response to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process by someone else involved in the dispute, but only if efforts have been made to tell you about the request or to obtain an order protecting the information requested.

CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES REQUIRE YOUR AUTHORIZATION:

Psychotherapy Notes. Your Time and your counselor do keep “psychotherapy notes” as that term is defined in 45 CFR § 164.501, and any use or disclosure of such notes requires your Authorization unless the use or disclosure is:

1. For their use in treating you.
2. For their use in training or supervising mental health practitioners to help them improve their skills in group, joint, family, or individual counseling or therapy.
3. For their use in defending themselves in legal proceedings instituted by you.
4. For use by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to investigate their compliance with HIPAA.
5. Required by law and the use or disclosure is limited to the requirements of such law.
6. Required by law for certain health oversight activities pertaining to the originator of the psychotherapy notes.
7. Required by a coroner who is performing duties authorized by law.
8. Required to help avert a serious threat to the health and safety of others.

Health Insurance. Your health insurance company requires certain personal health information pertaining to your counseling sessions. We must provide a clinical diagnosis. Sometimes additional information, such as treatment plans or summaries, is required. We make every effort to release only information that is necessary.

Marketing Purposes. Your Time and your counselor WILL NOT use or disclose your PHI for marketing purposes.

Sale of PHI. Your Time and your counselor WILL NOT sell your PHI in the regular course of business.

CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES DO NOT REQUIRE YOUR AUTHORIZATION:

Subject to certain limitations in the law, Your Time and your counselor can use and disclose your PHI without your Authorization for the following reasons:

1. If you threaten or attempt to commit suicide or otherwise conduct yourself in a manner in which there is a substantial risk of incurring serious bodily harm.
2. If you threaten grave bodily harm or death to another person.
3. If your counselor has a reasonable suspicion that you or another named victim is the perpetrator, observer of, or actual victim of physical, emotional, or sexual abuse of children under the age of 18 years.
4. Suspicions as stated above in the case of an elderly person or dependent adult who may be subjected to these abuses.
5. Suspected neglect of the parties named in items #3 and # 4.
6. If a client is in therapy or being treated by order of a court of law, or if information is obtained for the purpose of rendering an expert’s report to an attorney.
7. When disclosure is required by state or federal law, and the use or disclosure complies with and is limited to the relevant requirements of such law.
8. For health oversight activities, including audits and investigations.
9. If a court of law issues a legitimate subpoena for information stated on the subpoena or information is requested through a legitimate administrative order; although our preference is to obtain an Authorization from you before doing so.
10. For law enforcement purposes, including reporting crimes occurring on our premises.
11. To coroners or medical examiners, when such individuals are performing duties authorized by law.
12. For research purposes, including studying and comparing the mental health of patients who received one form of therapy versus those who received another form of therapy for the same condition.
13. Specialized government functions, including, ensuring the proper execution of military missions; protecting the President of the United States; conducting intelligence or counter-intelligence operations; or, helping to ensure the safety of those working within or housed in correctional institutions.
14. For workers’ compensation purposes. Although our preference is to obtain an Authorization from you, we may provide your PHI in order to comply with workers’ compensation laws.
15. Appointment reminders and health-related benefits or services. We may use and disclose your PHI to contact you to remind you that you have an appointment with one of our counselors. We may also use and disclose your PHI to tell you about treatment alternatives, or other health care services or benefits that we offer.
16. When medication management is part of the treatment plan, it may be necessary for Your Time and your counselor to release information to your physician.
17. Certain aspects and components of our services are performed through contracts with outside third-party persons or organizations, such as claims and billing, auditing, outcomes data collection, information technology infrastructure, email communications, etc. At times, it may be necessary for us to provide your PHI to one or more of these outside persons or organizations who assist us with our health care operations. In all cases, we require these business associates to appropriately safeguard the privacy of your information.

CERTAIN USES AND DISCLOSURES REQUIRE YOU TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO OBJECT:

Disclosures to family, friends, or others. YTBMH and your counselor may provide your PHI to a family member, friend, or other person that you indicate is involved in your care or the payment for your health care, unless you object in whole or in part. The opportunity to consent may be obtained retroactively in emergencies.

YOU HAVE THE FOLLOWING RIGHTS WITH RESPECT TO YOUR PHI:

1. The Right to Request Limits on Uses and Disclosures of Your PHI. You have the right to ask Your Time and your counselor not to use or disclose certain PHI for treatment, payment, or health care operations purposes. We are not required to agree to your request and may say “no” if we believe it would affect your health care.
2. The Right to Request Restrictions for Out-of-Pocket Expenses Paid for In Full. You have the right to request restrictions on disclosures of your PHI to health plans for payment or health care operations purposes if the PHI pertains solely to a health care item or a health care service that you have paid for out-of-pocket in full.
3. The Right to Choose How YTBMH And Your Counselor Send PHI To You. You have the right to ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address, and we will agree to all reasonable requests.
4. The Right to See and Get Copies of Your PHI. Other than “psychotherapy notes,” you have the right to get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other information that YTBMH and your counselor have about you. We will provide you with a copy of your record, or a summary of it, if you agree to receive a summary, within 30 days of receiving your written request, and we may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for doing so.
5. The Right to Get a List of the Disclosures YTBMH and Your Counselor Have Made. You have the right to request a list of instances in which we have disclosed your PHI for purposes other than treatment, payment, or health care operations, or for which you provided us with an Authorization. We will respond to your request for an accounting of disclosures within 60 days of receiving your request. The list we will give you will include disclosures made in the last six years, unless you request a shorter time, who we shared it with, when we shared it, and purpose of sharing. We will provide the list to you at no charge, but if you make more than one request within twelve (12) months, we will charge you a reasonable cost-based fee for each additional request.
6. The Right to Correct or Update Your PHI. If you believe that there is a mistake in your PHI, or that a piece of important information is missing from your PHI, you have the right to request that we correct the existing information or add the missing information. We may say “no” to your request but will tell you why in writing within 60 days of receiving your request.
7. The Right to Get a Paper or Electronic Copy of this Notice. You have the right to get a paper copy of this Notice, and you have the right to get a copy of this notice by e-mail. And, even if you have agreed to receive this Notice via e-mail, you also have the right to request a paper copy of it.
8. In addition to federal privacy laws like HIPAA, many U.S. states have enacted laws that provide additional protections for certain types of health information. Depending on where you live, additional privacy protections may apply to your health information. Where state law provides stronger privacy protections than federal law, we follow the more protective state requirements.
9. If at any time you believe we have violated your rights, you can file a complaint with us by emailing us at privacy@yourtimebmh.com or you can write to us at the address in the CONTACT US section below.
10. You can also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints.
11. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

CONTACT US:

For all privacy inquiries, requests for records, special requests, questions about specific state protections that may apply to your health information, or to file a complaint, you can email us at privacy@yourtimebmh.com or write to us at the following address:

Attn: Privacy Requests

Your Time Behavioral & Mental Health LLC

PO Box 210

Freeland, Michigan, 48623-0210