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Disclaimer

with HIPPA Privacy Practices

If you or someone you know are currently experiencing a psychiatric or non-psychiatric medical emergency, call 911 immediately.  The services described on this website are not appropriate in the event of an emergency, and it is dangerous to delay a 911 call.  Emergency circumstances include but are not limited to suicidal/self-harm ideation/behavior, homicidal ideation/behavior, and psychiatric symptoms which have led to malnutrition/significant weight loss, dehydration, and exposure to the elements.  In an emergency, you or the individual about whom you are concerned require and must request from 911 immediate physical intervention by police, a PERT clinician, and/or EMTs, followed as swiftly as possible by medical and psychiatric stabilization by physicians in a hospital emergency department.  If you or someone you know are currently experiencing a psychiatric crisis rather than an emergency, you should still call 911 before seeking or even investigating the services described on this website.  In addition, you or the person about whom you are concerned should attempt to obtain crisis treatment on a walk-in basis at a hospital emergency department or community mental health clinic.  It is only appropriate to investigate and seek the services described on this website if you or the person about whom you are concerned are not experiencing a psychiatric or non-psychiatric medical emergency, and if you or the person about whom you are concerned are experiencing a psychiatric crisis, have made repeated attempts to obtain crisis treatment via 911 and on a walk-in basis, and continue to attempt to obtain crisis treatment via 911 and on a walk-in basis while investigating and seeking the services described on this website. The information contained within this website is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as medical advice. This site has not been designed to replace a psychiatrist's assessment and/or medical judgment.  The information contained within this website is not intended to diagnose any health/medical problems.

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Copyrights and Restrictions of Use
The content included on this website, including, but not limited to, text, graphics, photographs, graphs, sounds, data, images, audio and video clips available on this website ("Content"), is the property of Joseph De Vico and Christy Jaynes (herein referred to as "the owners of this website") or their content suppliers and protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. The compilation, collection, selection, arrangement, assembly, and coordination of all Content available on this web site is the exclusive property of the owners of this website and vendors therein, and protected by U.S. and international copyright laws.

The owners of this website reserve the right to dispense any information on this website that the owners of this website deem educational or informative, and that is supplied to the owners of this website's brick & mortar address, either through, but not limited to, purchase, advertisement, pamphlets, text, fax, images, graphics, photographs, art work, or any other material designed for exclusive, or non-exclusive distribution to their past, present, or future staff, associates, or clients, that was delivered to, or created for, their office for it's past, present, or future staff, associates, or client distribution, for the sole purpose of staff, associates, or client enlightenment, or education, unless otherwise stated, in writing, to the contrary. The owners of this website will not limit it's ability to educate and inform it's past, present, and future clients, staff, and associates, unless otherwise stated in writing.

Any posting or information that is incorrect, or in error, will be removed and / or corrected within 48 hours from the time the owners of this website are notified of any posting error or incorrect information.

All the Content available on this web site may only be used by you for your personal service selection and data gathering resource. You may not make copies of selected portions of the Content or of its entirety, unless granted permission in writing from the owners of this website. Any other use, including but not limited to, the reproduction, modification, distribution, transmission, republication, display or performance of the Content for any other purposes is strictly prohibited. 

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Trademarks
Graphics, logos, and service names used on this website are the trademarks of the owners of this website, and associated vendors. This website's trademarks may not be used in connection with any third-party products or services or in any manner that disparages or discredits the owners of this website and/or this website. All other brands and names (including third-party product names) are the property of their respective owners. 

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Disclaimer of Warranty​

The content contained in this website is provided by the owners of this website as a service to their customers/clients. This website does not contain information about all psychiatric disorders or medical, psychotherapeutic, psychosocial, or legal interventions, nor does this website contain all clinical or legal information that may be relevant.  All content provided in this website is only general health, psychosocial, and legal information and is only intended to facilitate communication between you and your service provider(s). It is not intended for diagnosis and cannot provide a diagnosis for any particular individual and should not be used as a substitute for seeking professional medical/psychiatric advice, diagnosis, treatment, or care.  It is not intended for legal consultation and cannot provide professional legal advice. All specific medical/psychiatric questions you have about your, your loved one's, or your client's medical condition, treatment, care, or diagnosis should be presented to your, your loved one's, or your client's professional healthcare provider.  All specific questions you have about your, your loved one's, or your client's rights or legal status should be presented to your, your loved one's, or your client's professional legal services provider.

Except as expressly and unambiguously stated otherwise, the owners of this website do not endorse, operate, control, or assume responsibility for any product, brand, method, treatment, information, or services on the website, in any way. 

The information, services, and products contained in this website are provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, express or implied.

To the full extent permissible by applicable law, the owners of this website and its medical advisors, legal advisors, consultants, and staff disclaim and exclude all warranties with respect to all information, services, and products contained in this website, expressed or implied, including but not limited to, any warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

This website includes content provided by third parties and users. For such content, the owners of this website are distributors and not publishers.  The owners of this website have no more editorial control over such content than does a public library or newsstand. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers, or other information expressed or made available by third parties (including merchants and licensors) are those of the respective authors or distributors of such content and not of the owners of this website or its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, or agents.  There are no warranties made as to the completeness, accuracy, currency, or reliability of information published by the owners of this website. 

The owners of this website do not warrant that information, services, and products contained in this website will satisfy your requirements or that it is without defect or error.  You acknowledge, by your use of this website, that your use of this website is at your sole risk, that you assume full responsibility for all risk associated with any of your use of this website, including responsibility for all costs associated with all necessary servicing or repairs of any equipment you use in connection with your use of this website.

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Limitation on Liability

As partial consideration for your use of and access to this website, you agree that: (i) in no event will the owners of this website, website developers, or any other party involved in creating, producing, or delivering this website or any site linked to this website, be liable to you in any manner whatsoever for any decision made or action or non-action taken by you in reliance upon the information provided through this website; and (ii) the aggregate liability of the owners of this website, website developers, or any of its distributors or dealers, arising from or relating to this agreement (regardless of the form of action or claim, e.g. contract, warranty, tort, strict liability, negligence, malpractice, fraud, and/or otherwise) is limited to the purchase price of any products you purchased from the owners of this website in the relevant transaction; and (iii) the owners of this website shall not in any case be liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages, even if the owners of this website have been advised of the possibility of such damages. 

The user of this website assumes all responsibility and risk for the use of this website. Under no circumstances shall this website or its employees or its affiliates or anyone else involved in creating or maintaining this website be liable for any DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL or CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, or LOST PROFITS that result directly or indirectly from the use or inability to use the website and/or any other websites which are linked to this website - or that result directly or indirectly from mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion of files, viruses, errors, defects, or any failure of performance, communications failure, theft, destruction or unauthorized access.


In states which do not allow some or all of the above limitations of liability, liability shall be limited to the greatest extent allowed by law and the remainder (including any revised portion of the agreement) shall remain and have full force and effect.

This website does not constitute an attempt to practice medicine, psychotherapy, social service, or law. Use of the website does not establish a clinician-client relationship.  Individuals should consult a qualified health care provider for medical advice and answers to personal health questions.  Individuals should consult a qualified legal services provider for legal advice and answers to personal legal questions.  While this website attempts to be as accurate as possible, it should not be relied upon as being comprehensive or error-free.  E-mail inquiry does not serve as a means of communicating a request for diagnostic information, treatment, psychotherapy, or social service and is not a substitute for the client to directly schedule an appointment for care or take appropriate steps to obtain proper/appropriate care.

This website reserves the right to change its disclaimer or privacy policy, so users should review these periodically. This website recommends that any person reviewing the materials presented herein obtain specific medical/psychiatric advice and answers to specific medical/psychiatric questions from a qualified physician.  This website recommends that any person reviewing the materials presented herein obtain specific legal advice and answers to specific legal questions from a qualified provider of legal services.

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Notice of HIPAA Privacy Practices​​

This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information.  Please review it carefully.  

We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information (“PHI”) and to provide you with this Notice of Privacy Practices (“Notice”).  We must abide by the terms of this Notice, and we must notify you if a breach of your unsecured PHI occurs.  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, in our office, and on this website. 

Except for the specific purposes set forth below, we will use and disclose your PHI only with your written authorization (“Authorization”). It is your right to revoke such Authorization at any time by giving us written notice of your revocation. 

Uses (Inside Practice) and Disclosures (Outside Practice) Relating to Treatment, Payment, or Health Care Operations Do Not Require Your Written Consent.  

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We can use and disclose your PHI without your Authorization for the following reasons: 

1.  For your treatment.  We can use and disclose your PHI to treat you, which may include disclosing your PHI to another health care professional.  For example, if you are being treated by a physician or a psychiatrist, we can disclose your PHI to them to help coordinate your care, although our preference is for you to give us an Authorization to do so. 

2.  To obtain payment for your treatment.  We can use and disclose your PHI to bill and collect payment for the treatment and services provided by us to you.  For example, in the event we come to accept insurance for billable services, we might send your PHI to your insurance company to get paid for the health care services that we have provided to you, although our preference is for you to give us an Authorization to do so. 

3.  For health care operations.  We can use and disclose your PHI for purposes of conducting health care operations pertaining to our practice, including contacting you when necessary.  For example, we may need to disclose your PHI to our attorney to obtain advice about complying with applicable laws. 

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Certain Uses and Disclosures Require Your Authorization. 

Psychotherapy Notes.  We 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 our use in treating you.

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

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

  4. For use by the Secretary of Health and Human Services to investigate our 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. 

  9. Marketing Purposes.  As psychotherapists, we will not use or disclose your PHI for marketing purposes.

  10. Sale of PHI.  As psychotherapists, we will not sell your PHI in the regular course of our business. 

 

Certain Uses and Disclosures Do Not Require Your Authorization.  

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

  1. 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. 

  2. For public health activities, including reporting suspected child, elder, or dependent adult abuse, or preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety. 

  3. For health oversight activities, including audits and investigations.

  4. For judicial and administrative proceedings, including responding to a court or administrative order, although our preference is to obtain an Authorization from you before doing so. 

  5. For law enforcement purposes, including reporting crimes occurring on our premises. 

  6. To coroners or medical examiners, when such individuals are performing duties authorized by law. 

  7. 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. 

  8. 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. 

  9. 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. 

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

 

Certain Uses and Disclosures Require You to Have the Opportunity to Object. 

Disclosures to family, friends, or others.  We 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. 

Your Rights Regarding Your PHI

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 us 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. 

  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 we 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 we 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 receive a list of the disclosures we 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.  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. 

  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 we will tell you why in writing within 60 days of receiving your request. 

  7. The right to receive a paper or electronic copy of this notice. You have the right to receive a paper copy of this Notice, and you have the right to receive 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. 

 

How to Complain About Our Privacy Practices 

If you think we may have violated your privacy rights, you may file a complaint with Joseph De Vico, as the Privacy Officer for our practice, and his address and phone number are: 

8898 Navajo Road, Suite C111, San Diego, CA 92119, 877.298.3866

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You can also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by: 

  1. Sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201; 

  2. Calling1.877.696.6775; or, 

  3. Visiting www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints. 

We will not retaliate against you if you file a complaint about our privacy practices. 

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