Privacy Policy

We are required by law to protect your health information, give you this notice, follow its terms, and notify you if your unsecured information is breached.

How We Use and Share Your Information

  • Treatment, payment, and operations: to care for you, bill for services, and run our practice (quality review, training, compliance).

  • As required or permitted by law: public health reporting, abuse/neglect reporting, health oversight, court orders, law enforcement, serious threats to safety, workers' compensation, and coroners.

  • Business associates: vendors who perform services for us (e.g., billing, EHR, scribe technology) must sign agreements to protect your information.

  • With your written authorization only: marketing, sale of information, most psychotherapy notes, and any use not described here. You may revoke authorization in writing at any time.

  • Sensitive information: Maine and federal law give extra protection to mental health, substance use disorder (42 CFR Part 2), HIV, and certain other records. We will disclose these only as those laws allow.

Electronic Scribe Used at Visits

We use an electronic scribe (ambient AI documentation tool) at visits. This technology allows your clinician to be more present in your encounter and improved accuracy of documentation which may lead to better care outcomes. This software records the audio of your visit and uses artificial intelligence to draft a note. Your clinician reviews and edits the note before it becomes part of your medical record. Recordings and transcripts are processed by a vendor under a HIPAA business associate agreement; they are not used to train the vendor's products. I understand that be proceeding with care in this practice, that I consent to the use of an electronic/AI scribe to record my visits.

Your Rights

  • You have the right to:

  • See and get a copy of your records (paper or electronic)

  • Ask us to correct your records

  • Request confidential communications (e.g., alternate address/phone)

  • Ask us to limit what we use or share; we must agree not to share with your health plan services you pay for in full out of pocket

  • Get a list of certain disclosures we have made

  • Get a paper copy of this notice

  • Choose someone to act for you (e.g., health care power of attorney, guardian)

  • File a complaint (see below); we will not retaliate

Complaints

Contact our Privacy Officer: Erica Burkhart, 100 Brickhill Ave #304, South Portland, ME 04106. You may also file with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, 200 Independence Ave SW, Washington, DC 20201, 1-877-696-6775, www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/.

Changes

We may change this notice; changes will apply to all information we hold. The current notice will be posted in our office and on our website.