Frequently Asked Questions
Why choose Inner Lakes Therapy?
How we treat our patients: Our therapists are compassionate for the journey you’re on and entered this field because we are passionate about offering comfort, acceptance, and tools for healing. We practice from a person-centered, empowerment-focused, and social justice-oriented lens, and we each prioritize helping you feel safe, heard, and in control of your treatment.
How we treat our therapists: As a social-justice oriented practice, we like to practice what we preach with competitive pay and flexible time off. We firmly believe that clinicians who are cared for provide better care and have more mental and emotional space to grow as providers.
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Confidentiality
Client confidentiality is the requirement that therapists protect their client’s privacy by not revealing the contents of therapy, or that the patient is in therapy. For licensed mental health professionals, confidentiality is protected by state laws and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Therapists who break confidentiality can get in trouble with state licensing boards. They can also be sued by their clients in some cases. There are limited exceptions to confidentiality: when a person is a risk to themselves or others, or when the therapist has reason to suspect abuse of a child, elder, or disabled individual. If you have any questions about confidentiality, please have an open conversation with your therapist.
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Virtual Therapy
Your therapist will see you via the secure and HIPAA-compliant video chat through our patient portal, or through our backup HIPAA-compliant platform, doxy, which offers an alternative in the event of technology issues. To prepare for your telehealth session, please ensure that you are in a safe, quiet, and private location. Please do not drive during your session. Please ensure your therapist knows your physical location in the event of an emergency.
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Scheduling
Our therapists each make their own schedules that work best for their work-life balance. You can make an appointment by calling, messaging your therapist, or through the patient portal. Please allow 24 hours’ advance notice of any cancellations, or a no-show/late cancellation fee may apply, depending on the policy of your individual therapist. Repeated cancellations/no shows may result in discharge. Frequency of your appointments will be determined with your therapist and are dependent on clinical need and availability.
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What if my therapist isn't the right fit for me?
That’s totally fine! It’s important to find the right fit for you. We encourage you to reach out to your current therapist and let them know you would like to be transferred to another clinician. Please know this is a regular and expected part of therapy, and that this does not reflect negatively on either the client or therapist.
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How will I know if therapy is improving my symptoms?
Your therapist will work with you collaboratively to develop a treatment plan, which will include measures for recording progress at pre-determined intervals.
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How or why would I receive a mental health diagnosis?
Particularly for clients who would like to use insurance or out of network benefits to pay for therapy, a diagnosis is required. For other clients, a diagnosis can simply be a way of conceptualizing your symptoms and aiding in the conceptualization of a treatment plan. Your therapist will often fully explain to you their diagnostic process, typical symptoms, and treatment options. If you have any questions about this, please direct them to your therapist.
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What if I face financial difficulty, or my insurance changes?
The “Financial” page is a great resource for understanding ways of paying for therapy. Please direct any concerns to your clinician and they can assist you in figuring out what the next steps should be.
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Can my therapist still see me if I move out of state?
Licensed mental health professionals can only see clients in the states in which they are licensed. Your therapist can assist you with a referral to a provider in the state you are moving to.
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If I have a crisis after hours, would my therapist be available to assist me?
This is largely up to the individual therapist. However, as a practice, are not a crisis center and we encourage our therapists to have healthy boundaries that allow them uninterrupted time with their families and for self care. Unless your therapist has indicated an exception directly related to your individual treatment plan, please utilize 988 and crisis services such as SAMHSA’s National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357) for emergencies.
Posting of the Dept. of Health and Human Services-required Privacy Policy is as-follows:
Your Information. Your Rights. Our Responsibilities.
Effective date: 01/01/2022
Privacy Officer Contact: Emily Oliver, LCSW, (607)398-0212, emilyoliverlcsw@gmail.com
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:
• Tell family and friends about your condition
• Provide disaster relief
• Include you in a hospital directory
• Provide mental health care
• Market our services and sell your information
• Raise funds
Our Uses and Disclosures
We may use and share your information as we:
• Treat you
• Run our organization
• Bill for your services
• Help with public health and safety issues
• Do research
• 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 ask to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information we have about you. Ask us how to do this.
• We will provide a copy or a summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.
Ask us to correct your medical record
• You can ask us to correct health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete. Ask us how to do this.
• 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 but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months.
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 us using the information on page 1.
• 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
• Share information in a disaster relief situation
• Include your information in a hospital directory
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
• Most sharing of psychotherapy notes
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.
Treat you
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.
Example: We use health information about you to manage your treatment and services.
Bill for your services
We can use and share your health information to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities.
Example: We give information about you to your health insurance plan so it will pay for your services.
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
Do research
We can use or share your information for health research.
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.
We will never share any substance abuse treatment records without your written permission.
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, in our office, and on our web site.