Privacy & HIPAA
Your privacy is important to us.
The Westwood Group is committed to protecting the confidentiality of our clients. We adhere to the federal HIPAA guidelines that went into effect in April 2003, and handle your protected health information only as allowed by federal and state law.
Notice of Privacy Practices
The Westwood Group Privacy Notice
The full notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed, and how you can get access to that information. Effective April 14, 2003.
Provider–patient confidentiality
Your rights over your health information.
Under HIPAA Privacy Standards (45 CFR Parts 160 & 164) and Virginia’s Human Rights code, you have the following rights concerning your protected health information. Exercising any of them will not change your services or lead to retaliation.
Inspect and copy your record
You may inspect or request copies of your medical record through your provider or the Privacy Officer. Access may be denied if it could cause harm, in which case you’ll receive a timely written explanation.
Request an amendment
If you believe information in your record is inaccurate or incomplete, you may request an amendment through your provider or the Privacy Officer.
Receive an accounting of disclosures
You may request an accounting of disclosures made for purposes other than treatment, payment, or health-care operations, and the names of anyone outside the practice who received your information.
Request restrictions
You may request a restriction on how your information is used or disclosed. We’ll give it serious consideration, though we aren’t legally required to agree to every restriction.
Request confidential communications
You may ask, in writing, that we communicate with you about medical matters in a certain way or at a certain location. We’ll accommodate all reasonable requests.
Obtain a paper copy
You have the right to obtain a paper copy of this Privacy Notice at any time, simply upon request.
Website privacy statement
How we handle information on this site.
The Westwood Group uses Google Analytics to track general usage information on our site (how many people use it, how long they stay on each page, and so on) so that we can serve our clients better. This data is anonymous; no personal information is obtained.
If you submit your personal information using one of our Google forms, please know that we respect your privacy and will never sell or make any of this information available. For details, see the Google Privacy Policy.
Privacy Officer
Jesse Pearlstein, LCSW
Questions about privacy and confidentiality? Ask your provider, or contact our Privacy Officer directly.
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may contact our Privacy Officer, the State Advocate, or the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. Doing so will not change the services provided to you, and no one in this practice will retaliate for it.