Effective Date: September 23, 2026
Operating Entity: Alira Family Therapy Group, Inc. (“Alira”)
Privacy Contact: Privacy Officer, Alira Family Therapy Group, Inc.
Email: hello@aliratherapy.com
Mail: PO Box 2013, Los Gatos, CA 95031
Phone: 424.866.8466
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.
This notice applies to protected health information (PHI) Alira creates or receives in providing care and operating its practice. It includes clinically relevant information from digital services, such as identifiable reports submitted through the Island of Shared Meaning mobile application and retained in the Dashboard, when that information is part of our health information. Not every piece of website or app usage data is necessarily PHI; other privacy policies explain those services in more detail.
Your rights
You have rights concerning the health information we maintain about you. Contact our Privacy Officer using the details above to make a request or ask how to exercise a right. We will respond under the applicable law.
Get a copy of your information
You can ask to inspect or receive an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information about you that we maintain in a designated record set. You may also request that we send a copy to a person you designate, subject to applicable requirements. We will respond within the time required by law. HIPAA generally allows up to 30 days for an access request, while applicable California law may require a faster response. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee where permitted and will explain any lawful denial and your available review rights.
Ask us to correct your information
You can ask us to amend health information that you believe is incorrect or incomplete. We may deny an amendment when the law allows, but we will explain why in writing, generally within 60 days under HIPAA, and tell you how to submit a statement of disagreement. Applicable law permits a limited extension with written notice.
Request confidential communications
You can ask us to contact you in a specific way, such as at a particular phone number, or to send mail to a different address. We will accommodate reasonable requests. You do not have to explain why you are asking.
Ask us to limit uses or disclosures
You can ask us not to use or share particular health information for treatment, payment, or health care operations. We are generally not required to agree, but will honor a restriction we accept except as permitted by law, including when emergency treatment requires disclosure. If you pay for a service in full out of pocket, you can ask us not to disclose information about that service to your health plan for payment or health care operations. We must agree unless the disclosure is required by law. Tell us at the time of payment so we can address the request.
Get an accounting of disclosures
You can request a list of certain disclosures of your health information made in the six years before your request, including the recipient and purpose. The accounting does not include disclosures for treatment, payment, or health care operations and other disclosures excluded by law, such as disclosures you authorized. We will provide one accounting in a 12-month period without charge. For another accounting within that period, we may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee and will tell you the cost in advance.
Get a paper copy of this notice
You can ask for a paper copy at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically. We will provide it promptly.
Choose a personal representative
A person legally authorized to act for you, such as a guardian or someone with a valid medical power of attorney, may exercise your rights and make choices about your information. We will verify that authority before acting. Applicable law may limit a representative’s access in particular circumstances.
File a complaint without retaliation
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, contact our Privacy Officer at hello@aliratherapy.com, 424.866.8466, or PO Box 2013, Los Gatos, CA 95031. You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by visiting its HIPAA complaint page, writing to 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20201, or calling 1-877-696-6775. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
Your choices and authorizations
You may tell us your preference for sharing information with family, close friends, or others involved in your care or payment for your care, or with organizations assisting in disaster relief. If you cannot tell us your preference, we may share information when we believe it is in your best interest, as permitted by law. We may also disclose information when necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety.
We generally need your written authorization for most uses or disclosures of psychotherapy notes (notes kept separately from the medical record by a mental health professional), for marketing, and for a sale of PHI. Other uses and disclosures not described in this notice will be made only with your written authorization. You may revoke an authorization in writing at any time. Revocation does not undo a use or disclosure we already made in reliance on it.
If we contact you for fundraising, you may tell us not to contact you again for that purpose. If we ever use records protected by 42 CFR Part 2 for fundraising, we will give you clear advance notice and a choice whether to receive those communications.
How we may use and disclose your information
We may use or disclose health information without your written authorization for the purposes below when the law permits. A permission under HIPAA does not override any stricter applicable law or a required consent. We disclose only as permitted under the circumstances.
Treatment, payment, and health care operations
- Treatment: We may use your information to provide and coordinate care, and share it with professionals involved in your treatment. For example, a treating clinician may consult another clinician about your care.
- Payment: We may use and share information to bill for services and obtain payment, such as sending information to your health plan for a covered claim, subject to any required restriction for a service you paid for in full out of pocket.
- Health care operations: We may use and share information to manage the practice, assess quality, improve care, and contact you when necessary. For example, we may review care processes to improve our services.
Other uses and disclosures allowed or required by law
We may use or disclose information, subject to applicable conditions and limits, to:
- Help with public health and safety, including disease reporting, product recalls, reporting suspected abuse or neglect, and preventing or reducing a serious threat to a person’s health or safety.
- Conduct health research when the legal requirements for research use or disclosure are met.
- Comply with federal or state law, including disclosure to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to show compliance with federal privacy requirements.
- Respond to requests involving organ or tissue donation, or share information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when permitted.
- Address workers’ compensation claims, authorized health oversight, certain law-enforcement requests, and special government functions when permitted or required.
- Respond to a court or administrative order, subpoena, or other legal process only when applicable legal requirements are satisfied.
- Obtain emergency treatment for you or address a serious and imminent safety threat as the law allows.
These examples do not mean Alira makes every type of disclosure listed. Other laws may impose additional limits or require your permission.
Additional protection for certain substance use disorder records
Some substance use disorder patient records are protected by 42 CFR Part 2. This section applies only to records Alira holds that are actually subject to Part 2; it does not make every mental health or substance use record a Part 2 record. We follow Part 2’s consent and other requirements for those records. When Part 2 permits a disclosure for treatment, payment, or health care operations under your consent, a HIPAA-covered recipient may redisclose the information in accordance with HIPAA, subject to Part 2’s continuing protections. Part 2 does not impose a blanket ban on every redisclosure.
We will not use or disclose Part 2-protected records in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative investigations or proceedings against you without your written consent or a court order and subpoena as required by Part 2. This protection applies to Part 2 records even when another disclosure described in this notice might otherwise be allowed.
California privacy protections
California’s Confidentiality of Medical Information Act generally limits disclosure of medical information without patient authorization, subject to disclosures permitted or required by law. For certain requests for information specifically about a patient’s participation in outpatient psychotherapy, California Civil Code § 56.104 requires a written request identifying the information and its intended use, with notice to the patient, subject to statutory exceptions. We apply these protections when they govern a disclosure and follow any more protective California rule that applies to your records.
Our responsibilities
We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your PHI, follow the duties and privacy practices in this notice, and provide you a copy. We will notify you as required by law if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information. We will not use or disclose your information in a way not described in this notice unless you give us written authorization. You may revoke that authorization in writing as explained above.
We may change the terms of this notice. A revised notice may apply to all PHI we maintain, including information created or received before the change. The current notice will be available on our website and upon request; contact the Privacy Officer for a paper copy or questions about a revision.