Privacy Policy

We understand that health information about you and the care you receive is personal. Bell Health, PLLC (the "Practice") is committed to protecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your health information, as required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA"), the HITECH Act, and Massachusetts confidentiality and privacy laws. When these laws differ, the Practice will follow whichever law provides stricter protection for your confidentiality. 

We create a record of the care and services you receive at the Practice. We need this record to provide you with quality care and to comply with applicable legal requirements. This notice applies to the records of your care generated by the Practice, whether made by the Practice staff or records we have on file from your personal Provider(s) or other health care provider(s). This notice explains the ways in which the Practice may use and disclose health information about you. It also describes your rights regarding the health information we keep about you, and outlines certain obligations we have regarding the use and disclosure of your health information. 

The Practice is 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.

• Inform you if your PHI is compromised in a breach, as required under the federal HIPAA Breach Notification Rule.

• The Practice 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.

• The Practice complies with both federal HIPAA laws and all applicable Massachusetts privacy laws, including M.G.L. c. 123 §36 (psychiatric records), M.G.L. c. 112 §135A (psychotherapist-patient privilege), and M.G.L. c. 214 §1B (right to privacy). In accordance with these laws, the Practice will not disclose your mental-health or psychotherapy information without your written consent except when required by law, will limit any legally required disclosure to the minimum necessary, and will safeguard your records with the heightened confidentiality protections mandated under Massachusetts law. If a Massachusetts law provides stricter protections than HIPAA, we follow the stricter requirement.

• If you receive care through telehealth, the Practice uses secure, encrypted systems and has business associate agreements (“BAAs”) with applicable technology vendors to ensure compliance with the HIPAA Security Rule and adheres to Massachusetts telehealth practice standards and insurance-parity requirements (M.G.L. c. 175 §47BB).

1. Psychotherapy Notes: 

The Practice keeps "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: 

a. For our use in treating you.

b. For our use in training or supervising mental health practitioners to help them improve their skills in group, joint, family, or individual counseling or therapy.

c. For our use in defending ourselves in legal proceedings instituted by you.

d. For use by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to investigate our compliance with HIPAA. 

e. Required by law and the use or disclosure is limited to the requirements of such law.

f. Required by law for certain health oversight activities pertaining to the originator of the psychotherapy notes. 

g. Required by a coroner who is performing duties authorized by law.

h. Required to help avert a serious threat to the health and safety of others.

2. Marketing:

The Practice will not use or disclose your PHI for marketing purposes.

3. Sale of PHI:

The Practice will not sell your PHI in the regular course of business.

Subject to certain limitations in the law, the Practice may use or disclose your PHI without your authorization for the following reasons:

• When disclosure is required by federal or state law and the use or disclosure complies with and is limited to the relevant requirements of such law.

• Public health activities, such as assisting in product recalls and reporting adverse reactions to medication.

• Massachusetts law requires the Practice to report suspected abuse or neglect of children (M.G.L. c. 119 §51A), elders age 60+ (M.G.L. c. 19A), and persons with disabilities age 18–59 (M.G.L. c. 19C) when we have reasonable cause to believe such abuse, neglect, or exploitation may have occurred. Reports are made only to the appropriate state protective agency and include only the minimum information required by law.

• Health oversight activities such as audits and investigations.

• Judicial and administrative proceedings, including responding to a court or administrative order. We will seek your authorization when feasible unless a court order requires disclosure.

• Law enforcement purposes, including reporting crimes occurring on the premises.

• Disclosures to coroners or medical examiners when such individuals are performing duties authorized by law.

• Organ donation and transplantation activities.

• Research, 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. Research disclosures occur only with your authorization, or with an Institutional Review Board waiver of authorization when legally permitted.

• Specialized government functions involving military, national security, or correctional institutions.

• 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.

• 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 the Practice. We may also use and disclose your PHI to tell you about treatment alternatives, or other health care services or benefits that we offer.

• To Business Associates: Organizations that perform functions, activities, or services on our behalf.

• Substance Use Information (Non–42 CFR Part 2 Programs). If your treatment includes diagnosis or discussion of substance use or misuse, the Practice will protect that information under HIPAA and Massachusetts confidentiality law. The Practice will not redisclose substance-use information received from a federally recognized Part 2 Program unless you authorize it or a legal exception applies.

• Duty to Protect: The Practice may disclose PHI to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the safety of a patient or third party, consistent with Massachusetts law.

Disclosures to family, friends, or others. The Practice 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 emergency situations.

You have the right to: 

• Request Limits on Uses and Disclosures of Your PHI. You have the right to ask the Practice 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 we may say “no” if we believe it would affect your health care.

• 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.

• Choose How We Send PHI to You. You have the right to ask the Practice 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.

• 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 the Practice has 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 or sooner if feasible, and we may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for doing so. In some unusual circumstances, if there is very strong evidence that reading this would cause serious harm to you or someone else, you may not be able to see all of the information. The Practice may deny your request if it believes the disclosure will endanger your life or another person's life. You may have a right to have this decision reviewed. For electronic PHI, you may request PHI in the format you prefer when technologically feasible. Massachusetts does not specify a retention period for APRNs; however, the Practice follows the widely recognized standard of retaining medical records for at least seven (7) years, and retaining minor patient records for at least seven (7) years or until the patient turns 18, whichever is longer.

• Get a List of the Disclosures We Have Made. You have the right to request a list of instances in which the Practice has 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. We will provide the list to you at no charge, but if you make more than one request in the same year, we will charge you a reasonable cost-based fee for each additional request.

• Designate a Third Party for Electronic Transmission (HITECH Right). You may request that your electronic PHI be sent directly to a third party of your choosing.

• 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 the Practice correct the existing information or add the missing information. The Practice may require you to make your request in writing and provide a reason for the request. We may say “no” to your request, but we will tell you why in writing within 60 days of receiving your request and allow you to submit a written statement of disagreement.

• Receive a paper or electronic copy of this Notice.

• Choose Someone to Act for You. If you have given someone medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights.

• File a Complaint if You Feel Your Rights are Violated. You can file a complaint by contacting the Practice using the following information:

Bell Health, PLLC 

82 Wendell Ave Ste 100

Pittsfield, MA 01201-7066 

Allison Margolis 

617-237-0839‬

You can 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/

The Practice will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

• The Additional Right Regarding Substance Use Information: Because the Practice is not a federally recognized Part 2 Program, your SUD-related PHI is handled under HIPAA and Massachusetts confidentiality law. However, if the Practice receives any records from a Part 2 Program, federal law prohibits redisclosure of that information unless you provide written authorization or an exception applies.

Under Massachusetts law (M.G.L. c. 112 §12F), minors may consent to certain types of mental health treatment without a parent or guardian. If a minor legally consents to their own treatment, the minor—not the parent or guardian—controls the rights described in this Notice with respect to that treatment, including the right to confidentiality and the right to authorize disclosures of PHI. The Practice will not share a minor’s mental-health information with a parent or guardian without the minor’s consent unless required or permitted by Massachusetts law, such as when it is necessary to protect the minor or others from serious harm. When parents or guardians have the legal right to access a minor’s health information, the Practice will comply with that right in a manner consistent with HIPAA and Massachusetts confidentiality statutes.

The Practice uses reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to protect the confidentiality of your health information in accordance with the HIPAA Security Rule. When electronic systems that are capable of meeting HIPAA requirements are used, the Practice maintains Business Associate Agreements (“BAAs”) with those vendors to ensure they implement appropriate security measures such as access controls, encryption, and audit capabilities. 

Some electronic communication methods, including email, telephone, and text messaging, may carry privacy risks depending on the security of the patient’s device, network, or method of access, even when HIPAA-compliant systems are used by the Practice. The Practice will use these methods only when you have been informed of the potential risks and have consented to receive communications through them, or when you initiate communication using these methods. In all cases, the Practice limits the information shared electronically to the minimum necessary to accomplish the intended purpose.