Boston Counseling Therapy

Client Bill of Rights

Thrive Counseling: Client Bill of Rights

Your Rights as a Client
Federal and state law provide for specific patient rights. At Thrive Counseling, we recognize our responsibility to respect these rights as well as to inform you of them. The following summarizes both federal law and the Massachusetts Patients’ Bill of Rights.
• You have the right to obtain the name and specialty of the doctor or other person responsible for your care.
• You have a right to confidentiality of all records and communications concerning your medical history and treatment to the extent provided by law.
• You have the right to participate in the development and implementation of your plan of care.
• You have a right to a prompt response to all reasonable requests.
• You have a right to request and receive an explanation of the relationship, if any, of Thrive Counseling and your care provider to any other health care facility or educational institution, insofar as any such relates to your care.
• You have a right to obtain a copy of any rules or regulations of Thrive Counseling which may apply to your conduct as a client.
• You have a right upon request to inspect your medical records, request an amendment to, or receive an accounting of disclosures regarding personal health information, and for a reasonable fee, receive a copy of your record.
• You have a right to refuse to participate as a research subject.
• You have a right to personal dignity and, to the extent reasonably possible, to privacy during treatment and other care.
• You have the right to have your cultural, psychosocial, spiritual, and personal values, beliefs, and preferences respected.
• You have a right to informed consent to the extent provided by law.
• You have a right to request and receive an itemized explanation of your bill.
• You have the right to file a grievance with Thrive Counseling if you have concerns regarding your care and treatment. In addition, you have the right to file a grievance with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Division of Health Care Quality (617-753-8000), 99 Chauncy Street, 2nd Floor, Boston, MA 02111.

You have the right:

To safe, considerate and respectful care, provided in a manner consistent with your beliefs.
To expect that all communications and records pertaining to your care will be treated as confidential to the extent permitted by law.
To know the mental health professional responsible for coordinating your care.
To receive complete information about diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis, in terms that are easily understood (alternatively, it will be given to a legally authorized representative).
To receive information necessary for you to give informed consent prior to any treatment, including any potential risks or benefits, and any alternatives.
To receive appropriate assessment and treatment, and to refuse treatment.
To expect that a medical summary be sent to your referring care provider.

Benefits

Individuals have the right to be provided information from the purchasing entity (such as employer or union or public purchaser) and the insurance/third party payer describing the nature and extent of their mental health and substance abuse treatment benefits. This information should include details on procedures to obtain access to services, on utilization management procedures, and on appeal rights. The information should be presented clearly in writing with language that the individual can understand.

Professional Expertise

Individuals have the right to receive full information from the potential treating professional about that professional’s knowledge, skills, preparation, experience, and credentials. Individuals have the right to be informed about the options available for treatment interventions and the effectiveness of the recommended treatment.

Contractual Limitations

Individuals have the right to be informed by the treating professional of any arrangements, restrictions, and/or covenants established between third party payer and the treating professional that could interfere with or influence treatment recommendations. Individuals have the right to be informed of the nature of information that may be disclosed for the purposes of paying benefits.

Appeals and Grievances

Individuals have the right to receive information about the methods they can use to submit complaints or grievances regarding provision of care by the treating professional to that profession’s regulatory board and to the professional association.

Individuals have the right to be provided information about the procedures they can use to appeal benefit utilization decisions to the third party payer systems, to the employer or purchasing entity, and to external regulatory entities.

Confidentiality

Individuals have the right to be guaranteed the protection of the confidentiality of their relationship with their mental health and substance abuse professional, except when laws or ethics dictate otherwise. Any disclosure to another party will be time limited and made with the full written, informed consent of the individuals. Individuals shall not be required to disclose confidential, privileged or other information other than: diagnosis, prognosis, type of treatment, time and length of treatment, and cost.

Entities receiving information for the purposes of benefits determination, public agencies receiving information for health care planning, or any other organization with legitimate right to information will maintain clinical information in confidence with the same rigor and be subject to the same penalties for violation as is the direct provider of care.

Information technology will be used for transmission, storage, or data management only with methodologies that remove individual identifying information and assure the protection of the individual’s privacy. Information should not be transferred, sold or otherwise utilized.

Choice

Individuals have the right to choose any duly licensed/certified professional for mental health and substance abuse services. Individuals have the right to receive full information regarding the education and training of professionals, treatment options (including risks and benefits), and cost implications to make an informed choice regarding the selection of care deemed appropriate by individual and professional.

Determination of Treatment

Recommendations regarding mental health and substance abuse treatment shall be made only by a duly licensed/certified professional in conjunction with the individual and his or her family as appropriate. Treatment decisions should not be made by third party payers. The individual has the right to make final decisions regarding treatment.

Parity

Individuals have the right to receive benefits for mental health and substance abuse treatment on the same basis as they do for any other illnesses, with the same provisions, co-payments, lifetime benefits, and catastrophic coverage in both insurance and self-funded/self-insured health plans.

Discrimination

Individuals who use mental health and substance abuse benefits shall not be penalized when seeking other health insurance or disability, life or any other insurance benefit.

Benefit Usage

The individual is entitled to the entire scope of the benefits within the benefit plan that will address his or her clinical needs.

Benefit Design

Whenever both federal and state law and/or regulations are applicable, the professional and all payers shall use whichever affords the individual the greatest level of protection and access.

Treatment Review

To assure that treatment review processes are fair and valid, individuals have the right to be guaranteed that any review of their mental health and substance abuse treatment shall involve a professional having the training, credentials and licensure required to provide the treatment in the jurisdiction in which it will be provided. The reviewer should have no financial interest in the decision and is subject to the section on confidentiality.

Accountability

Treating professionals may be held accountable and liable to individuals for any injury caused by gross incompetence or negligence on the part of the professional. The treating professional has the obligation to advocate for and document necessity of care and to advise the individual of options if payment authorization is denied.

Payers and other third parties may be held accountable and liable to individuals for any injury caused by gross incompetence or negligence or by their clinically unjustified decisions.

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