Your Information. Your Rights. Our Responsibilities.

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.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Get a copy of your paper or electronic medical record
• Correct your paper or electronic medical record
• Request confidential communications
• Ask us to limit the information we share
• Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared your information
• Get a copy of this privacy notice
• Choose someone to act for you
• File a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated

You have some choices in the way that we use and share information as we:

Treatment. We can use your PHI and share it with other professionals or programs that are treating you, such as when you are referred to another mental health professional for further treatment. By using our services, you hereby explicitly consent to the sharing of information like your name, age, gender, problems you are seeking help for, including alcohol and substance use, care preferences, health plan coverage, and progress of your treatment with current and potential providers to promote good outcomes.
Organization Operations. We can use and share your PHI to support our business operations, that is to run our organization, improve our offerings to clients, improve your care and the coordination of your care, and contact you when necessary, such as using your PHI to manage your treatment and services. We may also use de-identified information that we retain for these purposes. Examples include:
• We may use your information for our compliance, audit, business planning and development, legal, quality assessment, employee review and training, and other administrative and business activities.
• We may use information to make our services better, such as by responding to your inquiries and sending you administrative communications; obtaining your feedback on our Sites and our offerings; or conducting research and measurement activities.
Billing and Payment. We may use and share your PHI to confirm eligibility for services and to ensure proper payment to providers. For example, we may request your information from your health plan or employer in order to confirm eligibility for services.
De-identified and Aggregated Data. We may use or disclose your health information in a de-identified and/or aggregated manner to analyze our patients’ experiences and help improve our services.
Business Associates. We may disclose your information to certain third parties known as “business associates” that perform services for us. For example, we use business associates to help store the data that we collect. We require business associates to appropriately protect the privacy of your information.
Other Uses. We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. For more information see: “Your Rights Under HIPAA”. The following are ways we may share your information:
• Help with public health and safety issues: We can share health information about you for certain situations such as reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence; preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety; reporting adverse reactions to medications; preventing disease; and helping with product recalls.
• Comply with the law: We will share information about you if state or federal laws require it, including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re complying with federal privacy law.
• Respond to organ and tissue donation requests: We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.
• Work with a medical examiner or funeral director: We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies.
• Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests: We can use or share health information about you for workers’ compensation claims; for law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official; with health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law; for special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services.
• Respond to lawsuits and legal actions: We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.
• Use of Artificial Intelligence. We may use artificial intelligence to process your data for treatment, payment, or organization operations.

• Tell family and friends about your condition
• Provide disaster relief
• Include you in a hospital directory
• Provide mental health care
• Market our services and sell your information
• Raise funds

We may collect your information through:

• Your registration for our services
• Your completion of Equip forms
• Obtaining your medical records
• Your communications with us, use of our services, or participation in sessions
• Health Information Exchanges (“HIEs”)

We may use and share your information as we:

• Treat you
• Run our organization
• Bill for your services
• Help with public health and safety issues
• Do research
• Comply with the law
• Respond to organ and tissue donation requests
• Work with a medical examiner or funeral director
• Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests
• Respond to lawsuits and legal actions
• Use artificial intelligence

Your Rights

When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you. Get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record

• You can ask to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information we have about you. To request a copy of your records, send an email to medicalrecords@equip.health.
• We will provide a copy or a summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.

Ask us to correct your medical record

• You can ask us to correct health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete. To request that we correct your records, send an email to compliance@equip.health and we will provide the appropriate forms and process.
• We may say “no” to your request, but we’ll tell you why in writing within 60 days.

Request confidential communications

• You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home, office, or cell phone) or to send mail to a different address.
• We will say “yes” to all reasonable requests.

Ask us to limit what we use or share

• You can ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no,” for example, if it could affect your care. If we agree to your request, we may still share this information in the event that you need emergency treatment.
• If you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full, you can ask us not to share that information for the purpose of payment or our operations with your health insurer. We will say “yes” unless a law requires us to share that information.

Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared information

• You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times we’ve shared your health information for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why.
• We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). We’ll provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.

Get a copy of this privacy notice

You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly.

Choose someone to act for you

• If someone has authority to act as your personal representative, such as if someone has your medical power of attorney or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise your rights and make choices about your health information.
• We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action.

File a complaint if you feel your rights are violated

• You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting us at compliance@equip.health.
• 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 https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/index.html.
• We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

Your Choices

For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions. In these cases, you have both the right and choice to tell us to:

• Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in your care or payment for your care
• Share information in a disaster relief situation
• Include your information in a hospital directory

If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.

In these cases we never share your information unless you give us written permission:

• Marketing purposes
• Sale of your information
• Most sharing of psychotherapy notes

You may revoke or restrict the authorization to disclose your PHI for these purposes at any time by emailing compliance@equip.health.

In the case of fundraising:

• We may contact you for fundraising efforts, but you can tell us not to contact you again.

If we have your substance use disorder patient records, subject to 42 CFR part 2, we will give you clear and obvious notice in advance and a choice about whether to receive fundraising communications that use your Part 2 information.

Our Collection Uses, and Disclosures of Your Information

How do we typically collect your health information?

We typically collect your health information in the following ways.

Registration

Before using some of our services, we need you to register with the Site and provide your name, email address, a password, and other personal details. We request this information for identification purposes, to communicate with you, and to improve the functioning of certain services. By providing us with your email address, you consent to receiving information from us through the email you provide us, including protected health information which is private to you and protected by HIPAA. For more information on the information we collect, you can also review our Terms of Use here and our privacy policy here.

Forms

You may also be asked to complete other forms (e.g. intake forms, informed consent, etc.) depending on the services you choose. To fully use our offerings, you may need to fill out these forms that ask for or contain personal information such as your name, contact information, health, and other personal information. By providing us with your mobile phone number, you consent to receiving information from us by text or voicemail, including protected health information.

Medical Records

In order for us to get you the best care, we may ask you to provide us with your medical records or we may collect or access medical records from your past, current, and future health care providers. This may include information about your existing or past diagnoses, previous treatments, general health, laboratory or pathology test results and reports, social histories, medications history, and family medical history. We may also ask you for a description of symptoms, a medical history, lifestyle descriptions and information on the progress of your treatment from your provider either over the phone, by email, or through our Site. We will maintain records from your care, treatment, and services with Equip Health Medical and retain such records in accordance with state laws and regulations as well as internal policy.

Communications and Sessions

If you interact with our care team by videoconference, phone or by email, we may record and retain copies of the interaction for, among other things, ongoing quality assurance, training, and development of our services. If you access any apps or other services we offer, we may record your interactions with our software or our providers. We will inform you if we are recording your interactions with our care team or providers and, if you do not wish to be recorded, you can let the care team or provider know at that time. We may retain some information from the interactions in a fully de-identified and anonymized format for ongoing quality assurance, training, and development of our services.

Feedback, Communications and Outcomes

We may periodically send you surveys to collect your feedback on the outcomes of your therapy. Understanding outcomes is central to our mission of providing effective, evidence-based care, and data can help inform Equip Health Medical’s approach to treatment and assessment of progress. In addition, Equip Health Medical uses aggregated, de-identified outcomes data to provide health plans with insight into how their members are responding to our services. We anonymize and convert individual outcome scores into improvement levels, and then aggregate those in reporting across an entire population.

Health Information Exchanges (“HIEs”)

• Equip Health may participate in health information exchanges (“HIEs”) and may electronically retrieve your medical information from, and share your medical information with, other participants in the HIEs for treatment, payment and/or healthcare operations purposes.
• We will only access and use your health information as permitted by HIPAA and other applicable privacy laws.
• If you choose not to opt out, we may provide your medical information to the HIEs in which we participate in accordance with applicable law.

Opting out:

• You can opt out of participating in an HIE at any time by contacting us at compliance@equip.health and informing us that you opt out of including your medical information in an HIE.
• Your opt-out will be effective as soon as we are able to process your request.
• Information shared or retrieved prior to receipt of your opt-out will not be affected.

We will store the above described categories of information for as long as needed to provide our services, and as required to comply with our legal obligations (including those under HIPAA), resolve potential or actual disputes, improve the quality of our services, or enforce our agreements.

How do we typically use or share your health information?

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.

Treat you

We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you. By using our services, you hereby explicitly consent to the sharing of information like your name, age, gender, problems you are seeking help for, including alcohol and substance use, care preferences, health plan coverage, and progress of your treatment with current and potential providers to promote good outcomes. Example: When you are referred to another mental health professional for further treatment.

Run our organization

We can use and share your health information to run our practice, improve your care, improve our offerings to clients, and contact you when necessary. We may also use de-identified information that we retain for these purposes. Examples:

• We use health information about you to manage your treatment and services.
• We may use your information for our compliance, audit, business planning and development, legal, quality assessment, employee review and training, and other administrative and business activities.
• We may use information to make our services better, such as by responding to your inquiries and sending you administrative communications; obtaining your feedback on our Site and our offerings; or conducting research and measurement activities.

Bill for your services

We can use and share your health information to confirm eligibility for services, bill and get payment from health plans or other entities. Example: We give information about you to your health insurance plan so it will pay for your services.

How else can we use or share your health information?

We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. For more information see: “Your Rights Under HIPAA”. In all cases, including those listed below, if we have substance use disorder patient records about you, subject to 42 CFR part 2, we cannot use or share information in those records in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative investigations or proceedings against you without (1) your consent or (2) a court order and a subpoena.

Help with public health and safety issues

We can share health information about you for certain situations such as:

• Preventing disease
• Helping with product recalls
• Reporting adverse reactions to medications
• Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence
• Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety

Do research

We can use or share your information for health research. De-identified information from your treatment may also be used to support research aimed at improving eating disorder care.

Comply with the law

We will share information about you if state or federal laws require it, including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re complying with federal privacy law.

Respond to organ and tissue donation requests

We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations.

Work with a medical examiner or funeral director

We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies.

Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests

We can use or share health information about you:

• For workers’ compensation claims
• For law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official
• With health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law
• For special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services

Equip Health Medical reserves the right to release collected information to law enforcement or other government officials, as we, in our sole and absolute discretion, deem necessary or appropriate.

Respond to lawsuits and legal actions

We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to assist in providing certain services. For example, AI may be used to help schedule appointments, collect demographic information, or support our staff in managing your health information. When we use AI, it is for purposes permitted under HIPAA, such as treatment, payment, or for our healthcare operations. Our use of AI is subject to the same privacy and security protections that apply to all your health information. We do not use AI to make decisions about your care without appropriate human involvement. Any information collected or processed by AI is handled in accordance with our privacy and security policies, and only authorized personnel have access to your health information. If you have questions or concerns about our use of AI, or if you would prefer to interact directly with a staff member instead of an AI system, please contact us using the information provided at the end of this notice.

Our Responsibilities

• We are required by federal law (HIPAA) and state law (e.g., CMIA in California) to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.
• We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.
• We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it.
• We will not use or share your information other than as described in this notice unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind.

For more information see: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/noticepp.html.

Changes to the Terms of this Notice

We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request, by emailing compliance@equip.health, and on our web site.

How to contact us?

If you have questions, or need to reach us for any other reason, you may contact the Compliance Department at compliance@equip.health.

This Notice of Privacy Practices Applies to the Following Organizations:

Equip Health Medical PC, Equip Health Medical Colorado PC, Equip Health Medical Kansas Professional Corporation, Equip Health Medical NJ, P.C., and Equip Health Medical NY, P.C., (collectively known as “Equip Health Medical” and also referred to as “we”, “our” or “us” throughout this Notice). The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) provides standards for how medical information should be used and disclosed by healthcare providers, health plans, and other covered entities. We provide each of our users with this information and ask each of our users to acknowledge receipt of our HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices for Equip Health Medical, which discloses our practices for personal information gathering and dissemination. Please note that by registering on the website (the “Site”) or by using the services provided by Equip Health Medical, you accept the practices described in this Notice of Privacy Practices. If you do not agree to this Notice, please do not use the Site or Equip Health Medical services.

Last Updated and Effective: August 10th, 2026