HIPAA & CMIA

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: May 6, 2026 · Last updated: May 6, 2026

1. Our Pledge Regarding Health Information

Pasadena Clinical Group ("PCG," "we," "us," or "our") is required by law to maintain the privacy of your protected health information ("PHI"), to provide you with this Notice of our legal duties and privacy practices, to notify you in the event of a breach of unsecured PHI, and to abide by the terms of the Notice currently in effect. We follow the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA," 45 C.F.R. Parts 160 and 164) and the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act ("CMIA," Civil Code §§56 et seq.). Where California law provides greater privacy protection than HIPAA, California law applies.

2. Uses and Disclosures Permitted Without Your Authorization

For treatment

We may use and disclose PHI to provide your care and to coordinate it with other providers (for example, sharing relevant information with your primary care physician or psychiatrist when you have authorized us to do so).

For payment

We may use and disclose PHI to bill and obtain payment from you, your health plan, or another payer, including pre-authorization, claim submission, and audit responses.

For health-care operations

We may use and disclose PHI for our internal operations, including quality assessment, training of supervisees, business management, and licensing activities, with the protections required by 45 C.F.R. §164.506.

Mandatory or permitted by law

  • Suspected child abuse or neglect — California Penal Code §§11164 et seq. (CANRA).
  • Suspected elder or dependent adult abuse or neglect — Welfare & Institutions Code §15630.
  • Serious threat to a reasonably identifiable victim — Civil Code §43.92, as set forth in Tarasoff.
  • Imminent danger to self or others — including notification of emergency services where reasonable and necessary.
  • Public health activities, communicable disease reporting, and FDA-regulated product safety reports, as permitted by 45 C.F.R. §164.512.
  • Health oversight activities conducted by federal or state agencies, including the California Board of Psychology and the Department of Managed Health Care.
  • Court orders, subpoenas, and other legal process, with the protections required by 45 C.F.R. §164.512(e). We will assert the psychotherapist-patient privilege (Cal. Evid. Code §1014) on your behalf where applicable.
  • Coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director, where required by law.
  • Workers' compensation, where authorized by California law.

3. Uses and Disclosures That Require Your Written Authorization

We will obtain your written authorization before using or disclosing PHI for any purpose not described above. In particular:

  • Psychotherapy notes (45 C.F.R. §164.501) are kept separately from the rest of your record and are released only with a separate written authorization, except in the limited circumstances permitted by HIPAA.
  • Marketing and sale of PHI. CMIA requires patient authorization for most marketing communications under California Civil Code §56.10(d), and our practice does not sell PHI. CMIA's standard for marketing authorization is, in several respects, stricter than HIPAA's, and we follow the stricter California rule.
  • Mental health records under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (Welf. & Inst. Code §5328) receive heightened protection; our disclosures will conform to that statute where it applies.
  • HIV/AIDS-related information is governed by Health & Safety Code §120975 and disclosed only as expressly permitted there.
  • Substance use disorder records, where applicable, are also governed by 42 C.F.R. Part 2.

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

4. Your Rights

  1. Right of access. You have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of your record under 45 C.F.R. §164.524 and California Health & Safety Code §§123100–123149.5. We will provide records within the timeframes those laws require, and may charge reasonable cost-based fees as permitted by §123110. Psychotherapy notes are not subject to the patient right of access under HIPAA, but may be subject to clinician discretion under CMIA where the clinician has determined that access would have a substantial adverse effect on the patient and California's specific procedural requirements have been followed.
  2. Right to amend. You may request that we amend information you believe is incorrect or incomplete (45 C.F.R. §164.526). We may deny the request in limited circumstances and will give you written reasons for any denial.
  3. Right to an accounting of disclosures. You have the right to receive a list of certain disclosures we have made (45 C.F.R. §164.528).
  4. Right to request restrictions. You may ask us to limit how we use or disclose PHI for treatment, payment, or operations. We are not required to agree, except that we must agree to a request to restrict disclosure to a health plan if you have paid in full out of pocket for the item or service and the disclosure would be solely for payment or operations purposes (45 C.F.R. §164.522(a)(1)(vi)).
  5. Right to confidential communications. You may request that we communicate with you by alternative means or at alternative locations.
  6. Right to a paper copy of this Notice on request.
  7. Right to be notified of a breach of unsecured PHI affecting you (45 C.F.R. §§164.400 et seq.; Cal. Civ. Code §1798.82).
  8. Right to file a complaint without retaliation (see Section 6).

5. Our Duties

We are required by law to maintain the privacy of PHI; to provide you with this Notice and to follow it; and to notify you in the event of a breach of unsecured PHI. We reserve the right to change the terms of this Notice and to make the new provisions effective for all PHI that we maintain. The current Notice will be posted in the office and on this page, and a copy will be provided on request.

6. How to File a Complaint

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with us, with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, or with the California Department of Justice. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

  • Pasadena Clinical Group, Privacy Officer, 301 N. Lake Ave, STE 600, Pasadena, CA 91101 · privacy@pasadenaclinicalgroup.com · (626) 354-6440.
  • U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, 200 Independence Avenue SW, Room 509F HHH Building, Washington, D.C. 20201 · www.hhs.gov/ocr/complaints.
  • California Office of the Attorney General, Privacy Enforcement and Protection Unit, P.O. Box 944255, Sacramento, CA 94244 · oag.ca.gov/privacy.
  • California Department of Public Health, Office of Health Information Integrity (CalOHII), for CMIA-related concerns.

7. Civil Claims and Dispute Resolution

This Notice does not, by itself, create a private right of action. HIPAA is enforced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights through the complaint process described above. Where state law (including the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act, Civil Code §§56 et seq.) provides a private right of action for unauthorized disclosure, any civil claim against Pasadena Clinical Group, its owner(s), clinicians, employees, contractors, or agents arising out of or relating to the privacy of your PHI is subject to the Mediation, Then Binding Arbitration Agreement in Sections 15–18 of the Treatment Consent, including the bold-face notice and 30-day right of rescission required by California Code of Civil Procedure §1295. The Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. §§1 et seq., governs the interpretation and enforcement of that arbitration agreement. Nothing in this Section 7 limits your right to file a complaint with HHS-OCR, the California Attorney General, the California Civil Rights Department, the California Department of Public Health Office of Health Information Integrity (CalOHII), or any other government agency, or to cooperate with any government investigation.

8. Contact

Pasadena Clinical Group, Privacy Officer
301 N. Lake Ave, STE 600, Pasadena, CA 91101
(626) 354-6440 · privacy@pasadenaclinicalgroup.com