Empathra Medical P.C.
Effective date: October 12, 2026
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.
Who this notice covers
This notice applies to Empathra Medical P.C. and its affiliated, state-specific professional entities (together, "Empathra," "we," or "us"). Our clinicians provide your care through the Mica Peak Health platform.
Mica Peak Health is operated by Mica Health Ventures, LLC. It is a separate company that provides technology and administrative services to us. When it handles your health information for us, it does so as our business associate, under a written contract that requires it to protect that information. Information Mica Peak Health collects for its own purposes, such as website use, is covered by the Mica Peak Health Privacy Policy, not by this notice.
Our duties to you
- We are required by law to maintain the privacy of protected health information.
- We are required to give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices.
- We are required to notify affected individuals following a breach of unsecured protected health information.
- We are required to follow the terms of the notice currently in effect.
How we may use and share your health information
We may use and share your health information for the purposes below without your written permission.
Treatment. We use your information to care for you and share it with others who treat you. Example: your clinician reviews your intake answers and lab results, then sends a prescription to a pharmacy so it can be filled.
Payment. We use and share your information to bill and collect payment for your care. Example: we use your name and the service you received to charge your membership or visit fee. We do not bill insurance. If you ask us for a receipt so you can seek reimbursement yourself, we will give it to you.
Health care operations. We use and share your information to run our practice and improve care. Example: we review charts to check the quality of care our clinicians provide, and to train and supervise staff.
Business associates. We share information with companies that perform services for us, such as our technology platform, electronic health record, and messaging providers. Each one signs a contract requiring it to protect your information.
Reminders and care information. We may contact you about appointments, refills, check-ins, and treatment options or health services that may interest you. If you have opted in to text messages that include health details, we will send them; you can opt out at any time.
People involved in your care. If you tell us it is okay, or if you do not object when given the chance, we may share information with a family member or other person involved in your care or in paying for it.
We may also use or share your information in these situations, as the law permits or requires:
- When required by law, including to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to show we comply with privacy law.
- Public health and safety. Reporting to prescription drug monitoring programs, reporting adverse reactions to medications, helping with product recalls, preventing disease, and reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence.
- Health oversight. Audits, inspections, licensing, and investigations by agencies that oversee health care.
- Lawsuits and legal actions. In response to a court or administrative order, or a subpoena, when the legal requirements are met.
- Law enforcement, in limited situations the law allows.
- To prevent a serious threat to anyone's health or safety.
- Coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors, and organ procurement organizations.
- Research, when the legal protections for research are met.
- Workers' compensation claims.
- Special government functions, such as military, national security, and presidential protective services.
Stricter laws. Some state and federal laws give extra protection to certain information, such as mental health, substance use disorder, sexually transmitted infection, and genetic information. Where a stricter law applies, we follow it.
Substance use disorder treatment records
We are not a substance use disorder treatment program. If we receive records about you from a program covered by federal law (42 CFR Part 2), or testimony about what those records say, they will not be used or disclosed in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative proceedings against you unless you give written consent, or a court issues an order after you have had notice and an opportunity to be heard. A court order allowing use or disclosure must come with a subpoena or other legal requirement compelling it before the record is used or disclosed.
Uses that need your written permission
We will ask for your written authorization before we:
- Use or share your information for marketing.
- Sell your information. We do not sell health information.
- Use or share psychotherapy notes, in most cases.
Any other use or sharing not described in this notice will be made only with your written authorization. You may revoke an authorization at any time in writing. The revocation applies going forward; it does not undo what we already did while your permission was in effect.
Fundraising. We do not use your health information for fundraising. If that ever changes, you will first be given a clear chance to choose not to receive fundraising communications.
Redisclosure. Information we share as this notice allows may be shared again by the person or organization that receives it, and may then no longer be protected by federal privacy law.
Your rights
To use any of these rights, contact our Privacy Officer using the details at the end of this notice. We may ask you to put a request in writing.
See and get a copy of your 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. We will provide a copy or a summary, usually within 30 days. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.
Ask us to correct your record. You can ask us to correct health information you think is wrong or incomplete. We may say no, and if we do, we will tell you why in writing within 60 days.
Ask for confidential communications. You can ask us to contact you in a specific way, such as by a certain phone number or email, 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 information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree, and we may say no if it would affect your care. One exception: if you pay for a service in full out of pocket, you can ask us not to share information about that service with your health insurer for payment or operations purposes, and we will agree unless a law requires us to share it.
Get a list of who we have shared your information with. You can ask for an accounting of the times we shared your health information in the six years before your request, who we shared it with, and why. It will not include sharing for treatment, payment, health care operations, or sharing you asked us to make. One accounting each year is free; we may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for more.
Get a copy of this notice. You can ask for a paper copy at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically. We will send one promptly.
Choose someone to act for you. If you have given someone medical power of attorney, or someone is your legal guardian, that person can use your rights and make choices about your health information. We will confirm their authority before we act.
Changes to this notice
We reserve the right to change the terms of this notice. Changes will apply to all the health information we have about you, including information we already hold. The current notice is always posted at micapeakhealth.com/notice-of-privacy-practices, and we will give you a copy on request.
Complaints
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with us by contacting our Privacy Officer at the details below.
You can also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights:
- Online: www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint
- Mail: 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20201
- Phone: 1-877-696-6775
We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
Contact
Privacy Officer, Empathra Medical P.C.
522 W Riverside Ave Ste N, Spokane, WA 99201
Phone: 509-355-7988
Email: legal@micapeakhealth.com