Who we are
CooperRiis is a healing community for those struggling with mental health challenges. CooperRiis is located in Asheville and Mill Spring, North Carolina.
Purpose of this Page
This page outlines our website privacy policy: what data we collect on the site, why we collect it, and how it is stored and shared.
This page also outlines our Notice of Privacy Practices as it relates to health information. Please note: No personal health information is collected or stored within this site. However, we wish to share our privacy practices with you via this webpage for easy access.
Website Privacy Policy | Notice of Privacy Practices
Website Privacy Policy
Personal data we collect on this site and why we collect it
Comments
When visitors leave comments on the blog we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help detect spam.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Embedded content from other websites
Pages on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, reviews, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracing your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Google Analytics
CooperRiis uses Google Analytics to collect information about how visitors of this site:
- Found the site in the first place (i.e. a referring link, or a search term)
- What pages are visited and for how long
- What device and web browser is used
- Where the visitor is located, via their IP address
This data is collected for the purpose of understanding how visitors find and use this website and which pages are popular, and to determine how to improve the website over time. The data collected is never shared, sold, or disclosed and cannot be used to identify you personally by name.
Who we share your data with
Email List & CRM
If you choose to sign up for our email newsletter, fill out our contact form, donate to CooperRiis, or interact with the site via other forms, the email address you provide to us will be sent directly to our customer relationahip management tool (CRM) and stored within the CRM. The email address you provide is not stored on this site.
You may be subscribed to our email list by taking one of these actions. You may unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email you receive.
How long we retain your data
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
If you fill out our contact form, your data is stored for 90 days and then automatically removed from the site. No personal health information is collected or stored within this site.
What rights you have over your data
If you have an account on this site, or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.
Where we send your data
Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service.
When you fill out any form on this site, your data may be sent to our CRM and you may be subscribed to our email list.
How we protect your data
We do not share or sell any information that you provide via our website, whether it be your email address, name, or blog comment.
If you have any concerns about your data, please contact us.
Notice of Privacy Practices
Please Note: No personal health information is collected or stored within this site. However, we wish to share our privacy practices with you via this webpage for easy access.
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 communication
- 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
Your Choices
You have some choices in the way that we use and share information as we:
- Talk to family and friends
- Market our services and sell your information
- Raise funds
Our Uses and Disclosures
We may use and share your information as we:
- Provide services
- Run our organization
- Bill for services
- Help with public health and safety issues
- 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
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 request in writing to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information we have about you.
- We will provide a copy or a summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request.
Ask us to correct your medical record
- You can ask in writing us to correct health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete.
- 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 or office 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” if it would affect your care.
- 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.
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 you have given someone 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 the CooperRiis HIPAA Officer, contact information below.
- 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/.
- 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. 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
- Psychotherapy notes. “Psychotherapy Notes” means notes recorded by a health care provider who is a mental health professional documenting or analyzing the contents of conversation during a private counseling session or a group, joint, or family counseling session and that are separated from the rest of the individual’s medical record. However, “Psychotherapy Notes” DOES NOT mean medication prescription and monitoring, counseling session start and stop times, the type and frequency of treatment, results of clinical tests, and any summary of the following items: diagnosis, functional status, the treatment plan, symptoms, prognosis, and progress to date. Generally, we will NOT use or disclose PHI contained in psychotherapy notes without an authorization from you except in certain circumstances. Those circumstances include when the originator of the psychotherapy notes uses them for treatment, or we use or disclose them for our own training programs in which our staff, students, trainees, or practitioners in mental health learn under supervision to practice or improve their skills in milieu, group, joint, family or individual counseling, or to defend CooperRiis in a legal action or other proceeding brought by you. Psychotherapy notes may also be used or disclosed when required to investigate or determine our compliance with HIPAA, when required by local, state or federal law, for government oversight, to a coroner or medical examiner, or if the use or disclosure of the psychotherapy notes is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public and the use and disclosure of the information is to a person(s) reasonably able to prevent or lessen the threat, including the target of the threat.
In the case of fundraising:
- We may contact you for fundraising efforts, but you can tell us not to contact you again.
Our Uses and Disclosures
How do we typically use or share your health information?
We typically use or share your health information in the following ways.
Your care
- We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you. Example: A doctor treating you for an injury asks another doctor about your overall health condition.
Run our organization
- We can use and share your health information to run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary.
Bill for your services
- We can use and share your health information to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities.
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: www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/index.html.
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
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.
Our Responsibilities
- We are required by law 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 here 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.
This notice is effective September 10, 2018
HIPAA Compliance Officer
Lisa Schactman, PhD
Director of Quality Assurance and Outcomes
85 Zillicoa Street
Asheville, NC 28801
Lisa.schactman@cooperriis.org
