Legal & Privacy

Notice of Privacy Practices

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.
Effective date: 2026.

Patient confidentiality is the bedrock of this practice. The protections that follow are required by federal law. They are also the standard the practice would observe in the absence of any law.

Our Commitment

Advanced Mental Health Institute Inc. ("AMHI," "the practice," "we") is required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA"), and by the federal regulations governing the confidentiality of substance-use disorder records under 42 CFR Part 2, to maintain the privacy of your protected health information ("PHI") and to provide you with this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to that information.

We are required to abide by the terms of this Notice currently in effect. We reserve the right to change the terms of this Notice; if we do, the revised Notice will apply to all PHI we maintain, and a copy will be provided to current patients and posted in our practice.

Two Layers of Protection

Records pertaining to substance-use disorder treatment are subject to two overlapping legal protections: HIPAA, which governs all protected health information, and 42 CFR Part 2, which provides additional, stricter protection for records identifying a patient as having a substance-use disorder. Where the two regulations differ, the more protective standard applies.

The practical consequence is this: in the ordinary course, we will not disclose any record that would identify you as a patient of this practice without your specific written authorization, even to family members, employers, insurers, schools, courts, or other treating clinicians.

How We May Use and Disclose Your Information — Without Your Authorization

For Treatment

We may use your PHI to provide you with medical treatment and related services. With your written consent, this may include sharing relevant clinical information with consulting clinicians, the nursing team supporting in-home medical stabilization, family therapists working within the engagement, or other physicians involved in your care. Substance-use disorder records remain protected under 42 CFR Part 2; sharing them outside the practice requires your written consent in nearly every instance.

For Payment

The practice is private-pay and does not bill third-party insurers. With your written authorization, we may provide you with a billing statement (a "superbill") for your own submission to an insurer. We do not transmit billing information to insurers, employers, or other third parties without your specific written authorization.

For Health Care Operations

We may use your PHI for the internal operations of the practice — quality review, training, credentialing, legal services, and similar administrative activities. Where 42 CFR Part 2 applies, we follow its more restrictive rules.

Disclosures Required or Permitted by Law — Without Your Authorization

In limited circumstances, federal and state law require or permit disclosure of certain information without your authorization. These include:

Reports of suspected child abuse, elder abuse, or vulnerable adult abuse, where state law requires
Bona fide medical emergencies in which disclosure is necessary to prevent imminent harm to the patient or another identifiable person
Public health activities, including reporting of certain communicable diseases, as required by law
Compliance with a valid court order specifically authorizing the disclosure of substance-use disorder records — note that ordinary subpoenas, search warrants, and discovery requests are not sufficient under 42 CFR Part 2; a court order with specific findings is required
Crimes committed on the practice's premises or against its personnel
Research, audit, and evaluation activities conducted under specific protective protocols
Coroner or medical examiner inquiries, where required by law

Disclosures That Require Your Written Authorization

Other than as described above, we will not use or disclose your PHI without your written authorization. Authorizations specific to substance-use disorder records under 42 CFR Part 2 must include the patient's name, the recipient's name, the specific information to be disclosed, the purpose of the disclosure, an expiration date, and a statement of the patient's right to revoke. The following always require your written authorization:

Disclosures to family members, friends, employers, attorneys, schools, or any other party not directly involved in your treatment
Marketing communications of any kind
Sale of PHI (which the practice does not engage in regardless of authorization)
Use of your name, image, testimonial, or identifying information in any public, promotional, research, or educational context
Most disclosures of psychotherapy notes

You may revoke an authorization at any time, in writing, except to the extent that the practice has already acted in reliance on it.

Confidentiality and the Family

Family inclusion is part of the clinical model at this practice. Even so, communications between the physician and the patient remain confidential, and communications with family members occur only with the patient's specific consent and within agreed parameters. The practice maintains a clear distinction between the patient as the holder of the privilege and the family as participants in the patient's care.

Your Rights Regarding Your Health Information

You have the following rights with respect to your PHI maintained by this practice:

Right to inspect and copy. You may inspect and request copies of most of your records. Certain psychotherapy notes and records prepared in anticipation of legal proceedings are excepted.
Right to request amendment. If you believe information in your record is incorrect or incomplete, you may request that we amend it. We may deny the request in limited circumstances; if we do, you have the right to file a written statement of disagreement.
Right to an accounting of disclosures. You may request a list of disclosures we have made of your PHI for purposes other than treatment, payment, and operations.
Right to request restrictions. You may ask that we restrict certain uses or disclosures of your PHI. We are not required to agree, except in limited cases involving disclosures to insurers when the patient pays in full out of pocket — which is the default at this practice.
Right to confidential communication. You may request that we communicate with you at a specific address, phone number, or by a specific method.
Right to a paper copy of this Notice on request.
Right to be notified of a breach of unsecured PHI.
Right to file a complaint. You may file a complaint with the practice or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, without retaliation.

Communication and Technology

Patients of the practice are routinely in contact with the physician by telephone, secure text, secure video, and secure messaging. Standard SMS and unencrypted email are not secure channels and the practice does not use them to transmit clinical information. Initial inquiries received by SMS contain only the requesting party's name and a request to schedule; clinical detail is reserved for the consultation.

Website and Digital Privacy

This website does not use third-party advertising pixels, cross-site tracking technologies, or analytics platforms that share data with advertisers. The practice does not maintain Meta (Facebook/Instagram), TikTok, or other social-media tracking pixels on any page. The website does not require an account, does not collect health information through forms, and does not place a cookie that links a visitor to a clinical record. Any third-party services that process information on our behalf (for example, payment processing through Stripe) operate under appropriate agreements and process only the minimum data required.

Inquiries via SMS to 917-512-6082 are handled by the practice and the cellular carrier under standard telecommunications regulations; SMS itself is not an encrypted medium, and the practice asks that initial inquiries not contain clinical detail.

Confidentiality of Your Status as a Patient

The practice does not confirm or deny that any individual is, has been, or has inquired about becoming a patient, in response to any third-party inquiry, without specific written authorization. This applies to family members not party to the engagement, employers, attorneys, journalists, and any other party.

Terms of Engagement

The following terms apply to the consultation, the year-long engagement, and any à la carte clinical work undertaken with the practice. They are summarized here; the binding form is the engagement agreement signed at the beginning of care.

Consultation

The consultation fee is $5,000, paid in full prior to the appointment. The fee is non-refundable once the consultation occurs. The consultation is approximately two hours of physician time at the practice's $2,500/hour rate and includes a clinical interview with the patient, a separate interview with the family, and review of relevant prior records.

If, within sixty days of the consultation, the patient and family elect to enter the year-long engagement, the consultation fee credits toward that engagement.

The Year-Long Engagement

The fee is $100,000 for a twelve-month engagement, payable on terms set forth in the engagement agreement. The fee is inclusive of medically managed in-home stabilization (when clinically indicated), twelve months of direct physician continuity for the patient and family, and the structured family work embedded in the arc.

Goods and services not included in the engagement fee — for example, third-party laboratory testing, prescribed medications, hospital or emergency-department care, residential treatment, services of clinicians outside the practice, and travel-related expenses — are the responsibility of the patient. The practice does not bill third-party insurers; the patient may obtain a superbill for personal submission, where applicable.

À La Carte Time

Clinical and consultative time outside an active engagement is billed at $2,500 per hour, in fifteen-minute increments, with a one-hour minimum.

Cancellation and Scheduling

Consultations cancelled with less than 48 hours' notice forfeit the consultation fee. Within an active engagement, the practice maintains the calendar in collaboration with the patient and family; missed appointments are addressed clinically rather than commercially.

Scope of the Physician-Patient Relationship

The physician's clinical judgment governs all medical decisions. The practice is not a 24/7 emergency medical service. In a medical emergency, the patient or family should call 911 or proceed to the nearest emergency department; the practice should be notified at the earliest opportunity. For mental health or substance-use crisis support, call or text 988 or use the 988 Lifeline chat.

Termination

Either party may terminate the engagement at any time, in writing. The practice may terminate the engagement for non-payment, breach of the engagement agreement, behavior that compromises the safety of clinical staff, or clinical reasons that make continued engagement inappropriate. Refunds, when applicable, are governed by the engagement agreement; the practice does not retain unused fees beyond what is set forth there.

Governing Law

The engagement agreement is governed by the laws of the State of New York, except where the laws of the patient's state of residence preempt by reason of medical licensure, scope of practice, or consumer protection. Disputes are resolved by binding arbitration in New York County, except where applicable law requires another forum.

Contact and Complaints

For questions about this Notice, requests under your patient rights, or to file a privacy complaint, contact the practice's Privacy Officer in writing through the engagement materials provided to you, or by initiating contact via SMS to 917-512-6082 and requesting that a Privacy Officer respond.

You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, at www.hhs.gov/ocr. The practice will not retaliate against any patient for filing a complaint.

This Notice is intended to comply with the requirements of HIPAA and 42 CFR Part 2. Patients and prospective patients are urged to read this Notice carefully and to address any questions to the practice before engagement begins.