Privacy Policies | Hopeful Hues Counseling

PRIVACY POLICY

Protecting your private information is our priority. This Statement of Privacy applies to www.hopefulhuescounseling.com, Hopeful Hues Counseling, PLLC, and Hannah Pipher and governs data collection and usage. For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, unless otherwise noted, all references to Hopeful Hues Counseling includes www.hopefulhuescounseling.com and Hannah Pipher, LSW. The Hopeful Hues Counseling website is a psychotherapy services site. By using this website, you consent to the data practices described in this statement.

Given the nature of Hopeful Hues Counseling and its work, it is imperative that it maintains the confidence of client information that it receives in the course of its work. Hopeful Hues Counseling is a mental health practice that provides mental health services. Hopeful Hues Counseling works solely to provide the best counseling treatment options to its clients. Hopeful Hues Counseling is prohibited from releasing any client information to anyone except in limited circumstances in accordance with this Notice of Privacy Policies and Practices. Discussions or disclosures of protected health information (“PHI”) within the practice are limited to the minimum necessary that is needed for the recipient of the information to perform their job. Please review this Notice of Privacy Policies and Practices (“Notice of Privacy Policies”). It is my policy to:

Fully comply with the requirements of the HIPAA General Administrative Requirements, the Privacy, and Security Rules;
Provide every client who receives services with a copy of this Notice of Privacy Policies;
Ask the client to acknowledge receipt when given a copy of this Notice of Privacy Policies;
Ensure the confidentiality of all client records transmitted by facsimile;
Obtain from each client an informed Authorization for Release of Protected Health Information form when required.

Hopeful Hues Counseling is required to follow all state and federal statutes and regulations including Federal Regulation 42 C.F.R. Part 2 and Title 25, Article 4, Part 14 and Title 25, Article 1, Part 1, CRS and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), 45 C.F.R. Parts 142, 160, 162 and 164, governing testing for and reporting of TB, HIV AIDS, Hepatitis, and other infectious diseases, and maintaining the confidentiality of PHI.

PHI refers to any information that Hopeful Hues Counseling creates or receives, and relates to an individual’s past, present, or future physical or mental health or conditions and related care services or the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to an individual; and identifies the individual or there is a reasonable basis to believe the information can be used to identify the individual. PHI includes any such information described above that Hopeful Hues Counseling transmits or maintains in any form, this includes Psychotherapy Notes. HIPAA, and federal law regulate the use and disclosure of PHI when transmitted electronically.

COLLECTION OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

In order to better provide you with products and services offered, Hopeful Hues Counseling may collect personally identifiable information, such as your:

First and Last Name
Email Address
Phone Number

We do not collect any personal information about you unless you voluntarily provide it to us. However, you may be required to provide certain personal information to us when you elect to use certain products or services. These may include: (a) registering for an account; (b) entering a sweepstakes or contest sponsored by us or one of our partners; (c) signing up for special offers from selected third parties; (d) sending us an email message; (e) submitting your credit card or other payment information when ordering and purchasing products and services. To wit, we will use your information for, but not limited to, communicating with you in relation to services and/or products you have requested from us. We also may gather additional personal or non-personal information in the future.

USE OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Hopeful Hues Counseling collects and uses your personal information to operate and deliver the services you have requested.

A use of PHI occurs within a covered entity (i.e., discussions among staff regarding treatment). A disclosure of PHI occurs when Hopeful Hues Counseling reveals PHI to an outside party (i.e., Hopeful Hues Counseling provides another treatment provider with PHI, or shares PHI with a third party pursuant to a client’s valid written authorization).

Hopeful Hues Counseling may use and disclose PHI, without an individual’s written authorization, for the following purposes:

Treatment: disclosing and using your PHI by those who are involved in your care for the purpose of providing, coordinating, or managing your health care treatment and related services. This includes consultation with clinical supervisors or other treatment team members and for coverage arrangements during your therapist’s absence, and for sending appointment reminders or information about treatment alternatives or other health related benefits and services that may be of interest to you.
Health Care Operations: disclosing and using your PHI to support Hopeful Hues Counseling business operations which may include but not be limited to quality assessment activities, licensing, audits, and other business activities.

Uses and disclosures for health care operations purposes are subject to the minimum necessary requirement. This means that Hopeful Hues Counseling may only use or disclose the minimum amount of PHI necessary for the purpose of the use or disclosure. Uses and disclosures for treatment purposes are not subject to the minimum necessary requirement.

Hopeful Hues Counseling is required to promptly notify you of any breach that may have occurred and/or that may have compromised the privacy or security of your PHI.

Confidentiality of client records and substance abuse client records maintained are protected by federal law and regulations. It is Hopeful Hues Counseling's policy that a client must complete an Authorization for Release of Protected Health Information it provides prior to disclosing health information to another individual and/or entity for any purpose, except for treatment or health care operations in accordance with this Notice of Privacy Policies.

Absent to the above referenced form, other than for treatment or health care operations purposes, Hopeful Hues Counseling is prohibited from disclosing or using any PHI outside of or within the organization, including disclosing that the client is in treatment without written authorization, unless one of the following exceptions arises:

Responding to lawsuit and legal actions (Disclosure by a court order, in response to a complaint filed against Hopeful Hues Counseling etc. This does not include a request by you or another party for your records).
Disclosure is made to medical personnel in a medical emergency or to qualified personnel for research, audit or program evaluation.
Help with public health and safety issues (Client commits or threatens to commit a crime either at Hopeful Hues Counseling's office or against any person who works for Hopeful Hues Counseling; A minor or elderly client reports having been abused or there is reasonable suspicion that abuse has or will take place; Client is planning to harm another person, including but not limited to the harm of a child or at-risk elder; Client is imminently dangerous to self or others).
Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests.
Respond to organ and tissue donation requests.
Business Associates: Hopeful Hues Counseling may enter into contracts with business associates to provide billing, legal, auditing, and practice management services that are outside entities. In those situations, protected health information will be provided to those contractors as is needed to perform their contracted tasks. Business associates are required to enter into an agreement maintaining the privacy of the protected health information released to them.
In compliance with other state and/or federal laws and regulations.

The above exceptions are subject to several requirements under the Privacy Rule, including the minimum necessary requirement and applicable federal and state laws and regulations. See 45 C.F.R. § 164.512. Before using or disclosing PHI for one of the above exceptions, Hopeful Hues Counseling staff must consult its Privacy Officer to ensure compliance with the Privacy Rule. Violation of these federal and state guidelines is a crime carrying both criminal and monetary penalties. Suspected violations may be reported to appropriate authorities, as listed in the “Client Rights” section, in accordance with federal and state regulations. Know that Hopeful Hues Counseling will never market or sell your personal information without your permission.

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SHARING INFORMATION WITH THIRD PARTIES

Hopeful Hues Counseling does not sell, rent or lease its customer lists to third parties.

Hopeful Hues Counseling may share data with trusted partners to help perform statistical analysis, send you email or postal mail, provide customer support, or arrange for deliveries. All such third parties are prohibited from using your personal information except to provide these services to Hopeful Hues Counseling, and they are required to maintain the confidentiality of your information.

Hopeful Hues Counseling may disclose your personal information, without notice, if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to: (a) conform to the ethics of the law or comply with legal process served on Hopeful Hues Counseling or the site; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of Hopeful Hues Counseling; and/or (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of Hopeful Hues Counseling, or the public.

SPECIAL AUTHORIZATIONS

Certain categories of information have extra protections by law and thus require special written authorizations for disclosures.

Psychotherapy Notes: Hopeful Hues Counseling may keep and maintain “Psychotherapy Notes”, which may include but are not limited to notes Hopeful Hues Counseling makes about your conversation during a private, group, joint, or family counseling session, which is kept separately from the rest of your record. These notes are given a greater degree of protection than PHI. These are not considered part of your “client record.” Hopeful Hues Counseling will obtain a special authorization before releasing your Psychotherapy Notes.
HIV Information: Special legal protections apply to HIV/AIDS related information. Hopeful Hues Counseling will obtain a special written authorization from you before releasing information related to HIV/AIDS.
Alcohol and Drug Use Information: Special legal protections apply to information related to alcohol and drug use and treatment. Hopeful Hues Counseling will obtain a special written authorization from you before releasing information related to alcohol and/or drug use/treatment.

You may revoke all such authorizations to release information (PHI, Psychotherapy Notes, HIV information, and/or Alcohol and Drug Use Information) at any time, provided each revocation is in writing, signed by you, and signed by a witness. You may not revoke an authorization to the extent that (1) Hopeful Hues Counseling has relied on that authorization; or (2) if the authorization was obtained as a condition of obtaining insurance coverage, the law provides the insurer the right to contest the claim under the policy.

As a covered entity under the Privacy and Security Rules, Hopeful Hues Counseling is required to reasonably safeguard PHI from impermissible uses and disclosures. Safeguards may include, but are not limited to the following:

Not leaving test results unattended where third parties without a need to know can view them.
Any PHI received as an employee, intern, or volunteer about a client or potential client, may not be used or disclosed for non-work purposes or with unauthorized individuals. Hopeful Hues Counseling may only use and disclose such PHI as described above.
When speaking with a client about their PHI where third parties could possibly overhear, the conversation will be moved to a private area.
Seeking legal counsel in uncertain situations and/or incidences.
Obtaining a Business Associates Agreement with those third parties that have access to and/or store client information. Some of the functions of the practice may be provided by contracts with business associates. For example, some of the billing, legal, auditing, and practice management services may be provided by contracting with outside entities to perform those services.
Implementing FAX security measures
Obtaining your consent prior to sending any PHI by unsecure electronic transmissions
Providing information on my electronic record-keeping.

AUTOMATICALLY COLLECTED INFORMATION

Information about your computer hardware and software may be automatically collected by Hopeful Hues Counseling. This information can include: your IP address, browser type, domain names, access times and referring website addresses. This information is used for the operation of the service, to maintain quality of the service, and to provide general statistics regarding use of the Hopeful Hues Counseling website.

LINKS

This website contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of any other site that collects personally identifiable information.

SECURITY OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Hopeful Hues Counseling secures your personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. Hopeful Hues Counseling uses the following methods for this purpose:

SSL Protocol

When personal information (such as a credit card number) is transmitted to other websites, it is protected through the use of encryption, such as the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol.

We strive to take appropriate security measures to protect against unauthorized access to or alteration of your personal information. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet or any wireless network can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, you acknowledge that: (a) there are security and privacy limitations inherent to the Internet which are beyond our control; and (b) security, integrity, and privacy of any and all information and data exchanged between you and us through this Site cannot be guaranteed.

YOUR RIGHTS AS THE CLIENT

When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you.

Get an electronic or paper copy of your mental health record

You can ask to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your mental health 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 to fulfill your request.
If we deny your request, in whole or in part, we will let you know why in writing and whether you have the option of having the decision reviewed by an independent third-party.

Ask us to correct your mental health 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.
Please review the Consent for Communication of Protected Health Information by Non-Secure Transmissions.
You are required to “opt-in” to receive communications electronically as set forth in the Consent for Communication of Protected Health Information by Non-Secure Transmissions. If you choose not to “opt-in” to receive electronic communications, we will not communicate with you via electronic means. 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. Additional Restrictions
You have the right to request additional restrictions on the use or disclosure of your mental health information. However, we do not have to agree to that request, and there are certain limits to any restriction. Ask us if you would like to make a request for any restriction(s).

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 using the information on page 1.
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 www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/.
We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
You may also file a complaint with the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, Division of Professions and Occupations, Mental Health Section; 1560 Broadway, Suite 1350, Denver, Colorado, 80202, 303-8942291; DORA_Mentalhealthboard@state.co.us. Please note that the Department of Regulatory Agencies may direct you to file your complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights listed above and may not be able to take any action on your behalf.

RIGHT TO DELETION

Subject to certain exceptions set out below, on receipt of a verifiable request from you, we will:

• Delete your personal information from our records; and

• Direct any service providers to delete your personal information from their records.

Please note that we may not be able to comply with requests to delete your personal information if it is necessary to:

Complete the transaction for which the personal information was collected, fulfill the terms of a written warranty or product recall conducted in accordance with federal law, provide a good or service requested by you, or reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you, or otherwise perform a contract between you and us;
Debug to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality;
Exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise his or her right of free speech, or exercise another right provided for by law;
Comply with the Colorado Privacy Act;
Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when our deletion of the information is likely to render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of such research, provided we have obtained your informed consent;
Enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with your expectations based on your relationship with us;
Comply with an existing legal obligation; or
Otherwise use your personal information, internally, in a lawful manner that is compatible with the context in which you provided the information.

CHILDREN UNDER THIRTEEN

Hopeful Hues Counseling does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of thirteen in Colorado. If you are under the age of thirteen in Colorado, you must ask your parent or guardian for permission to use this website.

E-MAIL COMMUNICATIONS

From time to time, Hopeful Hues Counseling may contact you via email for the purpose of providing announcements, promotional offers, alerts, confirmations, surveys, and/or other general communication.

CHANGES TO THIS STATEMENT

Hopeful Hues Counseling reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you about significant changes in the way we treat personal information by sending a notice to the primary email address specified in your account, by placing a prominent notice on our website, and/or by updating any privacy information. Your continued use of the website and/or Services available after such modifications will constitute your: (a) acknowledgment of the modified Privacy Policy; and (b) agreement to abide and be bound by that Policy.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Hopeful Hues Counseling welcomes your questions or comments regarding this Statement of Privacy. If you believe that Hopeful Hues Counseling has not adhered to this Statement, please contact Hannah Pipher and Hopeful Hues Counseling at:

Rocky Mountain Registered Agent, LLC

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110 16th Street, Suite 1460

Denver, CO 80202

Email Address: info@hopefulhuescounseling.com

Telephone number:

618-214-6011

Effective as of June 5, 2025