Confidentiality & Privacy

CONFIDENTIALITY & PRIVACY

Confidentiality

Confidentiality is critical for you and of upmost importance to Dr. O’Rourke. It is not only her ethical and legal obligation, but it is essential for the efficacy of her partnership with clients.

Sometimes, in collaboration with clients, it is decided that it would be helpful for Dr. O’Rourke to gather information from other sources such as teachers, therapists, tutors and other treatment providers. For that to occur, Dr. O’Rourke will need a signed consent authorizing her to speak with and/or obtain information from the those specified individuals. Dr. O’Rourke will provide you with access to such a consent form. You may revoke that authorization at any time as long as it is in writing but obviously cannot be retroactive to information already gathered.

There are legally mandated exceptions to patient confidentiality which include:

Suspected child or elder abuse
Potential danger to yourself
Potential danger to others
Risk of a child hurting him/herself or others
Mandates from judges or state/federal law

If any of these situations were to occur and action is warranted, as possible, Dr. O’Rourke will discuss them with you.

Privacy

Dr. O’Rourke does not electronically transmit any Personal Health Information (PHI) to outside billing services, insurance companies or government agencies. Thus, she is “non-covered entity” under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. To further safeguard your privacy, your records and identifiable date are not accessible to any networked computer or entered electronically into any outside or public databases.