Articles

A commonly heard phrase at Tarzana Treatment Centers is “I can’t confirm or deny…” It’s an example of what health care organizations do to protect the privacy of health information. This can often lead to frustration for those who want to get information about a patient. It’s worth it, though, because by maintaining strict guidelines on confidentiality, we are able to provide our clients with a safe place to get well.

If you have delayed getting treatment because you are afraid that others will find out about it, this article should put your mind at ease. It will also serve as a guide to anyone planning to enter treatment, and their loved ones.

It all boils down to this; we don’t divulge patient information unless that patient says otherwise. Yes, that includes parents, spouses, and adult children. What a patient processes and learns about himself is his business (or herself/her, of course). The reasons are simple: Ethics, safety, and the law.

In order for a client to trust a counselor or therapist, rapport must be established. Rapport weighs heavily on trust, and the only way to gain trust is to be… trustworthy. This relies on the provider being concrete and understanding of the clients’ needs. But if the client has even a slight concern that what they say will go public, all of that is for nothing. Because of this, all staff members are required to learn and follow strict information security guidelines, and attend regular training for any changes.

One of the first things a client does upon admission to one of our programs is complete a Release of Information (ROI) form for each person that will be allowed to know they are on the premises, and if they can be informed about treatment progress. This tends to provide the client with a basic feeling of trust.

Due to the nature of substance abuse and mental health disorders, our clients sometimes enter treatment with friends or family on the outside who are less-than-happy. Almost instinctively, clients early in treatment know this is not the time to confront these situations and they do not complete an ROI for the individuals. Their reasons are not important, as long as the clients feel safe in our care. Knowing that they are secured away from certain people builds upon the initial trust, and it often leads to effective treatment where these “toxic associations” are involved.

The reasons for keeping your information safe are clear and common sense, and all responsible health care providers follow strict guidelines. To add a little more structure behind the information security and trust wall, this all happens to be the law. Breaking client confidentiality can result in fines and jail time for the organization and personally for the counselor.

This is a good place to mention that your information and presence is safe from everyone, including law enforcement, except in extreme cases when there is a written court order for specific information. It sometimes puts direct patient care staff in the funny position of Gatekeeper when police officers show up to question someone over a minor infraction or as a witness. Staff needs to obey the law and hold law enforcement off at the same time. If they needed to arrest someone, they would have followed a different procedure. So everyone is relaxed and the “stand-off” is usually of good-nature and quick.

There are times when a loved one will call for a client and there is no ROI on file for them. The client either forgot to include someone, was temporarily angry, or was physically unable to sign the form on the first day and then put it off. If an ROI for a loved one is not on file, counselors will not even acknowledge that a person exists much less disclose that they are a client.

That brings us back to the opening sentence of this article. “I can’t confirm or deny whether that person is here”, can be the most difficult words to say to a worried mother. Counselors need to hold their ground, no matter how emotionally distraught the person on the other end of the phone becomes. Eventually, the client corrects the issue and contact can be made, but there’s no telling how long it can take for that to happen. So it is extremely important that all of this is taken care of upon admission for treatment. Loved ones – This will probably be your responsibility in moderate cases of substance abuse and mental health disorder treatment.

Securing patient health information is at the top of our list of priorities when providing care. We think you and your loved ones appreciate that about us, and we promise to keep it that way.