Confidentiality

Our Promise

At North-Star Care, Inc. (“NorthStar”), confidentiality is not an afterthought; it is part of the foundation of how we deliver care. We understand that fear of being seen, judged, or exposed keeps many people from getting help for alcohol and substance use. Our entire model, from a fully virtual program you can take part in from home, to anonymous peer support, is designed to protect your privacy so that seeking treatment never has to come at the expense of your reputation, your career, or your relationships.

This page is a plain-language summary of how we protect your information. It does not replace our Notice of Health Information Privacy Practices or our Privacy Policy, which describe your rights and our obligations in full and control if there is any difference.

The Laws That Protect You

Your information at NorthStar is protected by some of the strongest privacy laws in U.S. healthcare:

• HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act sets federal standards for protecting your health information and limits how it can be used and disclosed.
• 42 CFR Part 2, because we provide substance use disorder treatment, many of your records receive an additional, heightened layer of federal protection. In general, we cannot disclose records that would identify you as having a substance use disorder without your written consent, except in limited circumstances permitted by law (such as a medical emergency, certain audits or evaluations, research, or a qualifying court order). These records are also protected against being used to investigate or prosecute you.

Where more than one law applies, we follow the one that gives you the most protection.

How We Protect Your Information

We maintain physical, technical, and administrative safeguards designed to protect your information, and we limit access to those members of your care team and staff who need it to provide your care or support our operations. Our practices include:

• Limiting use and disclosure of your information to the minimum necessary for the purpose;
• Requiring vendors who handle your information on our behalf to sign Business Associate Agreements and to safeguard it;
• Using internal patient identifiers in sensitive workflows where possible, for example, our genetic testing process uses internal identifiers rather than sharing your name with the genetics laboratory; and
• Training our team on privacy and confidentiality and investigating any concern that is raised.

Please note that email and text messages you initiate with us may not be secure. We will tell you about other ways to communicate sensitive information when needed.

Anonymous Peer Support

Our virtual-reality peer support groups are designed so that you can connect with others through an avatar, without showing your face or revealing your identity to other participants. This is intentional: it removes the fear of being recognized that keeps so many people from group support, and lets you be honest in a space that feels safe.

Employers & Insurers

If you reach NorthStar through an employer-sponsored benefit, your employer does not receive your intake information, your appointments, your medications, or your treatment plan. An employer or benefit administrator may help you learn that the benefit exists, but your individual health information is protected and is not shared back with them without your consent, except as permitted or required by law. Where we work with your health plan or insurer, we share only the information needed for payment and related healthcare operations.

When We May Share Information

There are limited situations in which the law permits or requires us to use or disclose your information without your authorization. These may include providing and coordinating your treatment, obtaining payment, supporting our healthcare operations, responding to a valid court order or legal requirement, reporting as required by public health or safety laws, and acting to prevent a serious and imminent threat to you or others. For substance use disorder records, the heightened protections of 42 CFR Part 2 apply, and we will only share those records as that law allows. Our Notice of Health Information Privacy Practices describes these situations in detail.

Your Rights & Choices

You have rights regarding your health information, including the right to access and obtain a copy of your records, to request corrections, to request restrictions and confidential communications, to receive an accounting of certain disclosures, and to be notified in the event of a breach. When you give us written consent to share your information, you may revoke that consent in writing at any time, except to the extent we have already acted on it. Our Notice of Health Information Privacy Practices explains how to exercise each of these rights.

Contact Us

If you have questions about confidentiality or want to exercise your privacy rights, contact NorthStar’s Senior Director of Compliance at info@northstarcare.com or 253-356-7477.