Virginia Sleep Center Terms of Service

Welcome to the Virginia Sleep Center, where our commitment to addressing and treating insomnia is at the heart of everything we do. The following Terms of Service govern the relationship between you and Virginia Sleep Center.

Psychotherapy Services

We provide psychotherapy services for adults who 18 years old and above. The first appointment(s) serves as an intake appointment. We will want to hear about the difficulties that led to you making an appointment, goals for therapy, and general information about yourself and your current life situation. By the end of this first appointment, we will give you some initial recommendations on what we think will help. If we do not think we are able to best assist you, we will give you the names of other professionals who we believe would work well with your issues. If you do not agree with our treatment recommendations or do not think our personality styles will be a good match for you, let us know and we will do our best to suggest a different therapist who may be a better fit.

If you and your therapist decide to work together in therapy, you will collaborate on a treatment plan that incorporates effective strategies to help with whatever difficulties you are hoping to reduce in therapy. Sometimes more than one approach is helpful. A therapy session typically lasts 45-60 minutes unless otherwise arranged. Oftentimes, sessions are set for once each week, but this varies based on what seems most appropriate for your particular situation.

Therapy can be extremely helpful and fulfilling, and it takes work both in and out of sessions to be most effective. It requires active involvement, honesty, and openness in order to change thoughts, emotional reactions and/or behaviors. There are benefits and risks to therapy. Potential benefits include increased healthy habits, improved communication and stability in relationships, and lessening of distress. Some potential risks include increased uncomfortable emotions as you self-explore, and changes in dynamics or communication with significant people in your life. Although there are many benefits to therapy, there is no guarantee of positive or intended results. If during your work together with your therapist, noncompliance with treatment recommendations becomes an issue, we will make effort to discuss this with you to determine the barriers to treatment compliance. At times, treatment noncompliance may necessitate termination of therapy service. We encourage you to discuss any concerns you have about our work together directly so that we can address it in a timely manner. Other factors that may result in termination of therapy include, but are not limited to, violence or threats toward us, or refusal to pay for services after a reasonable time and attempts to resolve the issue.

Deciding when therapy is complete is meant to be a mutual decision, and we will discuss how to know when therapy is nearing completion. Sometimes people begin to schedule less frequently to gradually end therapy. Others feel ready to end therapy without a phasing out period of time. We may at times seek consultation with other therapists to ensure we are helping you in the most effective manner. We will give information only to the extent necessary, and we make every effort to avoid revealing the identity of my clients. The consultant is also under a legal and ethical duty to keep the information confidential.

Diagnostic Assessment Services

The diagnostic process involves the completion of a variety of psychological assessments and personal interviews. The total time of the evaluation may vary and will depend upon the questions you or the testing subject or the referral source that made the testing referral might have. The testing subject may experience emotional distress because of the personal nature of some of the information solicited by the testing process. The testing subject may interrupt or discontinue this testing process at any time.

After the assessment process is completed, a report based on the results of the assessment and information provided by the testing subject and others will be written. Upon your written consent to the therapist who administered the testing, this report will be given to the person or agency that referred you or the testing subject for this service and a copy of this report will be kept in the testing subject's treatment record at Virginia Sleep Center. An appointment with the therapist who did the testing will be scheduled to discuss the results of the diagnosis.

Limits of Confidentiality: Like all treatment records, reports and results of psychological assessments are confidential and can be released only with a written consent authorizing such release. However, if the testing subject discloses information related to suspected threats of physical harm of self or others, occurrence of child, elder, or dependent adult abuse, or if commanded by court order, Virginia Sleep Center may be required to disclose such information to appropriate authorities or parties mandated by law.

Contacting the Clinic

If necessary, you can contact your therapist through our customer service's email and contact number. When you leave a message, include your telephone number even if you think we already have it, and best times to reach you. We make every effort to return calls in a timely manner. In the rare occurrence that a message is missed or accidentally deleted, if you do not hear back from us within one day, please leave a second message. If we are unavailable for an extended time, such as on vacation, we will inform you of the contact information for the therapist on-call during our absence.

If you are in an emergency situation and cannot wait for us to return your call, go to the nearest emergency room or call 911. Virginia Sleep Center is not a crisis facility. Do not contact us by email or fax in an emergency, as we may not get the information quickly.

Rates and Insurance

Therapy is a commitment of time, energy and financial resources. If you have health insurance, it is important for you to verify your mental health benefits, so you understand your coverage prior to your appointment. Some insurance companies require a precertification before the first appointment, or they will not cover the cost of services.

We are happy to assist you in filing claims with your insurance company on your behalf. However, you, not your insurance company, are responsible for payment of the fee for therapy. Acceptable forms of payment include debit cards and credit cards, and we charge for your copay, coinsurance, and/or deductible at the time of your appointment. You can request an invoice by emailing our customer service email. If fees for services are not paid in a reasonable amount of time, and attempts have been made to resolve the financial matter to no avail, a client account may be sent to a collection service.

We check insurance benefits as a courtesy for our clients. There are times when insurance misquotes benefits. In the event of a misquote, clients are still responsible for their copay/coinsurance/deductible amount that insurance reports after claims are submitted. Clients can call their insurance company to check their own benefits as well by calling the number on the back of their insurance card. Clients are required to share all of their health insurance coverages, including coverages that might not apply to our services. Clients are also required to update the clinic with any changes in coverage, including but not limited to new coverages or terminated coverages. If the client does not update the clinic until after the filing deadline for the given coverage, the client will be responsible for paying the rates in full and for filing their own claims.

Most insurance agreements require you to authorize us to provide a clinical diagnosis and sometimes additional clinical information. If you request it, we will provide you with information to send to your insurance company. This information will become part of the insurance company's files. Insurance companies claim to keep information confidential, but you should check with your insurance company directly if you have questions about their confidentiality practices.

Cancelation and No-show Policy

Failure to provide a 24-hour notice for cancellations or missed appointments will result in a $75 fee charge, which insurance companies do not cover. Additionally, appointments will be marked as a no-show if the client is 15 minutes late.

For urgent changes to appointments, please contact us immediately at (703) 520-7222.

Social Media Policy

In order to maintain your confidentiality and our respective privacy, we do not interact with current or former clients on social networking websites. We do not accept friend or contact requests from current of former clients on any social networking sites including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. We will not respond to friend requests or messages through these sites.

We will not solicit testimonials, ratings or grades from clients on websites or through any means. We will not respond to testimonials, ratings or grades on websites, whether positive or negative, in order to maintain your confidentiality. Our hope is that you will bring concerns about our work together to the therapy session so we can address concerns directly.

Professional Records

Both law and the standards of our profession require that we keep appropriate treatment records. If we receive a request for information about you, you must authorize in writing that you agree that the requested information released.

Confidentiality

In general, law protects the confidentiality of all communications between a client and a mental health clinician, and we can only release information to others with your written permission. However, there are a number of exceptions, which are have indicated below. More information is provided about this in your HIPAA statement.

In judicial proceedings, if a judge orders the records released, we have to release the records. In addition, we are ethically and legally required to take action to protect others from harm even if taking this action means we reveal information about you. For example, if we believe a child, elderly person or disabled person is being abused or neglected, we are mandated to report this to the appropriate state agency. If we believe a client is threatening serious harm to another person or property, we must take protective action (through notifying the potential victim, the police, and/or facilitating hospitalization of my client). If we believe a client is a serious threat to harming him/ herself, we must take protective action (arranging hospitalization, contacting family/ significant others for notification, and/ or contacting the police). We would make reasonable effort to discuss any need to disclose confidential information about you, and we are happy to answer any questions you have about the exceptions to confidentiality.

Court Related Services

We do not provide or perform evaluations for custody, visitation or other forensic matters. Therefore, it is understood and agreed that we cannot and will not provide any testimony or reports regarding issues of custody, visitation or fitness of a parent in any legal matters or administrative proceedings.

If we are contacted by an attorney regarding your treatment (either at your behest or related to a legal matter you are involved in please note the following. We charge a $1500 retainer prior to any preparation or attendance of legal proceedings. We charge $200/hour to prepare for and/or attend any legal proceeding and for all court related services. Charges for court related services are not covered by insurance. Court related services include: talking with attorneys, preparing documents, traveling to court, depositions and court appearances. If the court or attorneys do not pay our fee, you will be charged for the time we spend responding to legal matters. You will also be charged for any costs we incur responding to attorneys in your case, including but not limited to fees we are charged for legal consultation and representation by our attorneys.

Complaints

If you have a concern or complaint about your treatment or about your billing statement, please talk to us about it. We will take your criticism seriously, openly, and respond respectfully.

Privacy Policy

Your Rights

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 at [email protected], or phone us at (703) 520-7222. 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 https://www.hhs.gov/guidance/document/hippa-violation-file-complaint. 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, sales of your information, most sharing of psychotherapy notes.

Our Uses and Disclosures

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.

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: https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/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 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.

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, 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.