Notice of Privacy Practices: Our Commitment to Your Story

Effective 06/01/2026

At Still Harbor Health, we believe that your medical history, your personal journey, and your current health status are deeply sacred. Protecting the privacy of your health story is not just a federal legal requirement for us—it is a core part of our commitment to your dignity and peace of mind.

This notice explains how we look after your protected health information, how we use it to coordinate your care, and how you can exercise your personal privacy rights.

1. How We Gently Use and Share Your Health Information

To provide you with seamless comfort care, we occasionally need to share parts of your health information behind the scenes. We only do this for three fundamental reasons:

To Coordinate Your Care (Treatment): We may share updates, medication adjustments, or clinical assessments with your other doctors, specialists, local pharmacies, or home health and hospice agencies to ensure everyone walking alongside you is on the exact same page.

To Manage Our Practice (Operations): We use your records internally to review the quality of care we provide and to manage our small, independent practice.

To Handle Your Payments (Billing): Although we do not bill insurance, we use your information to generate your personal invoices or superbills, and we may share essential data if your credit card processor or bank requires transaction validation.

2. When We Will Ask for Your Express Consent

Your choices are paramount. We will never sell your health information, use it for marketing, or share deeply personal psychotherapy notes without your explicit, written permission. You can change your mind and revoke that permission at any time.

3. Holding Space for Your Support Network

We understand that navigating advanced illness, memory changes, or aging requires a team.

With Your Permission: If you wish, we will gladly share relevant medical updates and billing details with the family members, friends, or trusted legal proxies you designate on your communications form.

In an Emergency: If you are temporarily unable to tell us what you want due to an acute health change or advanced memory loss, our clinicians will use their best professional judgment to share only the necessary comfort updates with the person clearly acting as your closest advocate.

If You Are a Solo Ager: We deeply respect your independence. We will coordinate strictly and exclusively with you, or with the specific professional advocates or legal fiduciaries you have officially appointed to guide your care.

4. Special Situations Required by Law

Very rarely, federal or Maine state laws may require us to share specific information without your explicit consent. This only happens for critical public safety reasons, such as complying with a direct court order, reporting necessary data to public health authorities, or ensuring safety during an immediate, life-threatening crisis.

5. Your Personal Privacy Rights

Under federal HIPAA laws, you hold the keys to your medical information. At any point, you or your legally authorized health proxy have the right to:

See and Receive a Copy of Your Records: You can access your complete medical and billing history through your secure CharmHealth Patient Portal, or ask us to print a copy for you.

Request a Correction: If you feel something in your record is incorrect or incomplete, you can ask us to add a clarifying amendment to your chart.

Request Extra Privacy Restrictions: You can ask us not to share certain health information with specific providers or entities. While we will do everything humanly possible to honor your request, we will let you know if an emergency prevents us from doing so.

Choose How We Contact You: You can tell us exactly how you want to be reached—such as only calling your cell phone, leaving brief voicemails, or sending billing paperwork to a specific secure email address.

Receive a History of Disclosures: You can ask us for a list of the times we have shared your health information for reasons outside of routine treatment or business operations over the past six years.

6. Our Responsibilities and Changes to This Notice

We are legally required to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.

We will notify you immediately if a secure system data breach ever occurs that compromises your personal information.

We will always follow the practices described in this notice. We may update this policy occasionally as laws change; any updates will immediately apply to all the information we hold, and a current copy will always be made available to you through your patient portal.

Questions, Comfort, or Concerns

If you ever have a question about your privacy, feel your rights have been compromised, or simply want to clarify how your data is handled, please reach out directly to our practice. We are here to listen and adjust.

You also have the absolute right to file a formal complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. We deeply care about your peace of mind, and we promise that raising a privacy question or filing a complaint will never change or impact the gentle, devoted care you receive at Still Harbor Health.