Privacy policy for psychaitric practice

A sense of privacy is essential for good psychiatric care. A psychiatrist needs to learn the pattern of feelings of their patients. Discussing your feelings, however, makes you vulnerable unless you can trust your listener not to harm you by not revealing anything you don't want revealed. As part of good medical practice, I maintain a record of all psychiatric work I do. In general, I will not release my records of your treatment unless 1) you request that I do so, or 2) I am required by law. In cases where I am required to release information without your consent, I will inform you if possible. For specific legal expectations, you can consult the California Civil Code, sections 56-56.37 (also know as the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act). Some examples you should consider:

Other situations could arise which I would be happy to discuss with you. I go into detail here because I feel it is important to keep my patients informed about anything I know that might affect our treatment relationship.

You also have rights regarding your access to the records I keep. These are specified in the California Health and Safety Code, sections 123110-123149.5 (also known as the Patient Access to Medical Records Act). Specifically:

If you make the above requests, I may charge a reasonable fee for making copies of any papers I give you. Written requests for releasing information, requests for records, etc. should be sent to my office address. I will usually wish to confirm these verbally as well. If you have any questions or comments about these policies, please call or mail me. 740 Front St. suite  335, Santa Cruz, CA 95060. 831-465-9519.