Privacy & Security Policy

BHL’s Web site provides information about the company, and about personal crises and how to find help (see Products & Services). In addition to the Web site, BHL offers direct services in the form of a Call Center and Mobile Crisis Services. The Privacy Policy for the Web site is different from the Privacy Policy for our direct services, as explained below.

Web site Privacy Policy

BHL does not collect any personally identifiable information (PII) or personal health information (PHI) through its Web site. You will not be contacted by anyone as a result of using our Web site unless you email us (see Communication with BHL, below), and no record of your viewing the Web site will be kept that identifies you. BHL does not use spyware or any other program that stays on your computer after you leave our Web site. The Web site does use “session cookies”, which are small programs that the Web site puts on your computer to make the Web site work best for you; these cookies do not remain on your computer after you leave our Web site, and do not give BHL any information about you or your computer. If you set up your browser so that it does not accept cookies you will not be able to make full use of the site.

1.      Communication with BHL

The Contact page gives you information about communicating with BHL. Two convenient channels are through the Web site and through our Call Center.

• Web site – We invite you to contact us about our Web site by email (see the Contact page), but you should not include personal information in emails. The purpose of contacting the Web site is to tell us if there are features on the site that do not work for you, and to give us your feedback, positive or negative, about what you find on the site. You cannot communicate with a health professional through the Web site. We respond to emails about the site, usually within five business days. If you send us personal information a member of our Web site staff will respond to your feedback about the site, and will include a reminder of our Web site privacy policy; Web site staff will not respond to the personal information you sent and will delete any information that could easily identify you -- including your email address -- in order to protect your privacy. We will invite you instead contact to our Call Center. Emails related to employment and business are not considered personal, and information they contain may be retained and used at BHL's discretion.

• Call Center – BHL’s Call Center (1-800-715-4225) is the way to contact BHL with personal information and talk with a trained professional.  1-800-715-4225 is a crisis Call Center, operating under state and federal laws and regulations related to privacy of personal information and health information, and you can talk confidentially with our professional Call Center staff to get help with a problem and to get connected with help in your local community. The Call Center is operated separately from the Web site, and no information given to the Call Center is transferred to the Web site operation. BHL’s Direct Services Privacy Policy for the Call Center and our Mobile Crisis Service is included below.

Direct Services Privacy Policy

This notice describes how health information about you may be disclosed and how you can obtain access to this information if you receive the direct crisis services provided by Behavioral Health Link, d/b/a for Integrated Health Resources, LLC. This includes if you call the Georgia Crisis & Access Line at 1-800-715-4225 or utilize our Mobile Crisis Team assessment services. Please review it carefully.

If you have any questions, please contact Director of Corporate Compliance Dr. Bruce Albert at (404) 420-3202 or Bruce Albert.

Understanding Your Health Information |  Your Health Information Rights 

BHL Responsibilities  |  Disclosures for Treatment, Payment & Operations 

Other Uses & Disclosures  |  Confidentiality of Substance Abuse/HIV

1. Understanding Your Health Information

As you may know, each visit you make to a physician, hospital, or other health provider or service is documented in a health information record. This record usually contains your symptoms, any assessments or evaluations, test results, diagnoses, communications among health professionals who contribute to your care and treatment, and a treatment plan for the future. Behavioral Health Link (BHL) keeps a health information record that describes services and referrals that you receive from BHL or any of its programs. This record documents and supports your service, and is also a source of data for organizational planning, obtaining payment, and quality improvement.

Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is used helps to ensure the accuracy of your health information. It also helps you to make informed decisions concerning authorizing the disclosure of your health information to others, and to understand who may access your health information, what information they may have access to, and under what circumstances your health information may be accessed. Your authorization to disclose information gives written permission for specific disclosures only. An authorization will be required, with some exceptions noted below, before the release of notes of conversations between you and a BHL staff member during telephone conversations or any face-to-face assessment. These notes are given greater protection than other private health information. BHL does not collect personal health information through its Web site.

2. Your Health Information Rights

BHL will compile a health information record that is the physical property of BHL; however the information in the record belongs to you. You have the right to:

• request a paper copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices,
• revoke your authorization to use or disclose health information except when action based on your authorization has already been taken,
• review the information in your record (requests to review may be denied under certain circumstances),
• request to amend your health record (which may be denied under certain circumstances),
• request a restriction on certain uses and disclosures of your information (BHL is not required to agree to the restriction you request),
• obtain an accounting of disclosures of your health information, and
• request communications concerning your health information by other means or locations (e.g., phone number, address) which you specify for your safety or privacy.

A request for any of these actions should be addressed to the BHL Director of Quality Management, whose contact information appears above. We will notify you if we are unable to agree to a request regarding your information.

3. Responsibilities of Behavioral Health Link

BHL will maintain the privacy of your health information and will not use or disclose your health information without your authorization, except as described in this Notice.

BHL reserves the right to change its privacy practices. If privacy practices change, a revised Notice will be posted on our Web site; a hard copy will be given to you upon request.

If you have questions or would like additional information about your information and privacy, please contact the BHL Director of Quality Management, whose contact information appears above.

You may file a complaint with the Directors of BHL or with the Secretary of Health and Human Services if you believe your privacy rights have been violated. There will be no retaliation for filing a complaint, and services available to you from BHL will not be affected.

4. Disclosures for Treatment, Payment, and Health Operations

BHL uses your health information for your services. For example, information obtained by a BHL employee will be recorded in your record and used to determine the course of service that should work best for you. This clinical information will be provided to the healthcare provider and/or facility to which you are referred to assist him/her in providing care once you are referred for service.

BHL also uses your health information for regular health business operations, such as quality improvement, planning, and securing payment for services. For example, members of the BHL clinical staff and Quality Management staff may, on a need-to-know basis, use information in your health record to assess the services and outcomes in your case and others like it.

5. Other Uses or Disclosures

• Child, Elder, Disabled, or Domestic Abuse — The law requires that If there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child, elderly person, or disabled adult has been abused, neglected, or exploited, a report must be filed with the proper authorities.
• Threats to Health or Safety — If it is believed that you are a danger to yourself or someone else, your information may be disclosed in order to provide protection to you or other person(s) at risk.
• Legal Proceedings — If you are involved in a court proceeding and there is a question concerning your records or the services provided by BHL or any of its programs, that information will not be released without either your written consent or a court order.
• Correctional Institution — If you are an inmate of a correctional institution, BHL may disclose to the institution or its agents health information necessary for your health, and the health and safety of other individuals.
• Health Oversight — If any BHL licensed clinical staff is a subject of investigation by their respective Georgia licensing board based on a complaint you file, the disclosure of protected health information may be required to complete the investigation.
• Business Associates — BHL contracts with Business Associates to provide certain services. We may disclose your health information to our Business Associate so that they can perform the services for which they are contracted. The Business Associate is required by contract to appropriately safeguard and protect your health information the same as BHL employees.

6. Confidentiality of Substance Abuse and HIV/AIDS Records

For individuals who have received treatment, diagnosis, or referral for treatment from drug or alcohol abuse programs, the confidentiality of drug or alcohol abuse records is protected by Federal and State laws and regulations.  As a general rule, we may not tell a person outside the programs that you attend any of these programs, or disclose any information identifying you as an alcohol or drug abuser, unless:

• you authorize the disclosure in writing; or
• the disclosure is permitted by a court order; or
• the disclosure is made to medical personnel in a medical emergency or;
• to qualified personnel for research, audit, or program evaluation purposes; or
• you threaten to commit a crime either at the drug abuse or alcohol program or against any person who works for our programs.

A violation by BHL of the Federal law and regulations governing drug or alcohol abuse is a crime. Suspected violations may be reported to the Unites States Attorney in the district where the violation occurs. Federal law and regulations governing confidentiality of drug or alcohol abuse require us to report suspected child abuse or neglect under State law to appropriate state or local authorities. (References: 42 U.S.C. § 290dd-2 for federal law, and 42 C.F.R., Part 2 for Federal regulations governing confidentiality of alcohol and drug abuse patient records).

BHL and its staff are prohibited by State law from intentionally or knowingly disclosing information regarding the HIV/AIDS status of a consumer. AIDS confidential information may be disclosed only under the following limited circumstances:

• disclosure may be made to a parent or guardian if the person served is a minor or is legally incompetent; or
• to persons designated by the person served in writing.

Additionally, upon consultation among the BHL Directors, Medical Director, and licensed clinicians involved in the person’s care and the legal counsel for the organization, it may be considered appropriate under Georgia state privacy standards to disclose that the person is infected with HIV to a spouse, sexual partner or child of the infected consumer, if there is agreement that another person is at risk of being infected and every attempt has been made to contact the infected consumer to discuss disclosure; or when the disclosure is authorized by other State or Federal law. (Reference: OGCA § 24-9-47, State regulations governing confidentiality of HIV/AIDS patient records.)