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Bluestone Clinical PLLC
Effective Date: July 17, 2026

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED, HOW YOU CAN ACCESS THIS INFORMATION, AND YOUR RIGHTS REGARDING YOUR INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

Privacy Contact

Dolly Skricka, LCSW, Privacy Officer
Bluestone Clinical PLLC
Phone: 860-746-2416
Email: dolly@bluestoneclinical.com
Fax: 860-781-9321
Website: www.bluestoneclinical.com

You may request a paper or electronic copy of this Notice or contact the Privacy Officer with questions.

Who This Notice Applies To

This Notice applies to protected health information created, received, maintained, or transmitted by Bluestone Clinical PLLC in connection with psychotherapy, assessment, consultation, billing, care coordination, and related healthcare services.

Bluestone Clinical provides telehealth services to eligible clients located in Connecticut, Florida, and Texas.

When services are scheduled, billed, documented, or administered through an outside platform such as Headway or Alma, additional privacy notices and policies may apply.

Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your health information.

Obtain a Copy of Your Record

You may ask to inspect or receive an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information maintained by Bluestone Clinical.

A copy or summary will generally be provided within 30 days of receiving your request. A reasonable, cost-based fee may apply when permitted by law.

Certain information, including psychotherapy notes, may be excluded from access when allowed by federal or state law.

Request a Correction

You may ask Bluestone Clinical to correct information that you believe is inaccurate or incomplete.

The request may be denied in certain circumstances, but you will receive an explanation in writing. You may submit a written statement of disagreement.

Request Confidential Communications

You may request that Bluestone Clinical contact you in a particular way or at a particular location, such as only by email, only by telephone, or at a specific address.

Reasonable requests will be accommodated.

Request Restrictions

You may ask Bluestone Clinical not to use or disclose certain information for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations.

Bluestone Clinical is not always required to agree to the request, particularly when the restriction could interfere with treatment or legal responsibilities.

When you pay for a service completely out of pocket, you may ask that information about that service not be disclosed to your health insurer for payment or healthcare operations. Bluestone Clinical will honor that request unless disclosure is required by law.

Receive an Accounting of Disclosures

You may request a list of certain disclosures of your health information made during the six years before your request.

This list generally does not include disclosures made for treatment, payment, healthcare operations, disclosures you authorized, or certain disclosures permitted by law.

One accounting will be provided without charge during a 12-month period. A reasonable fee may apply to additional requests.

Obtain a Copy of This Notice

You may request a paper copy of this Notice at any time, even if you previously agreed to receive it electronically.

Choose a Personal Representative

A person with legal authority to act on your behalf, such as a healthcare agent, legal guardian, or person holding an applicable power of attorney, may exercise your privacy rights.

Bluestone Clinical will verify that the person has appropriate authority before taking action.

File a Complaint

You may file a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated.

To file a complaint with Bluestone Clinical, contact:

Dolly Skricka, LCSW, Privacy Officer
Phone: 860-746-2416
Email: dolly@bluestoneclinical.com

You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights.

Bluestone Clinical will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

Your Choices

In certain circumstances, you may tell Bluestone Clinical how you want your information shared.

These circumstances may include:

• Communicating with family members, friends, caregivers, or others involved in your care

• Providing information in connection with disaster-relief efforts

• Sharing information with another person you identify

• Using or disclosing psychotherapy notes

• Using information for marketing

• Selling protected health information

Bluestone Clinical does not sell protected health information.

Written authorization will generally be obtained before psychotherapy notes are used or disclosed for purposes not otherwise permitted by law.

You may revoke an authorization in writing at any time. Revocation will not affect information already disclosed in reliance on the authorization.

How Bluestone Clinical May Use and Disclose Information

Treatment

Your information may be used or shared to provide, coordinate, or manage your care.

For example, information may be shared with another healthcare professional involved in your treatment when legally permitted and clinically appropriate.

Payment

Your information may be used or disclosed to obtain payment for services.

This may include:

• Verifying insurance eligibility and benefits

• Submitting claims

• Responding to requests from an insurer

• Processing client financial responsibility

• Conducting billing and collection activities permitted by law

Healthcare Operations

Your information may be used or disclosed to operate the practice and improve care.

Healthcare operations may include:

• Quality review

• Clinical consultation

• Credentialing

• Compliance activities

• Auditing

• Recordkeeping

• Business planning

• Responding to complaints

• Administrative and technical support

Information used for consultation will be limited to what is reasonably necessary. Identifying information will be omitted when feasible.

Business Associates

Bluestone Clinical may use vendors or service providers that perform functions involving protected health information.

These organizations may include electronic health-record providers, telehealth services, billing services, payment processors, secure communication services, insurance-administration platforms, cloud-storage providers, and technical-support vendors.

When required, Bluestone Clinical enters into Business Associate Agreements requiring these organizations to appropriately safeguard protected health information.

​Spruce 

Bluestone Clinical uses Spruce Health as a communication and practice-management service provider. Spruce may create, receive, maintain, or transmit protected health information on behalf of Bluestone Clinical to support telephone, voicemail, fax, secure messaging, text messaging, email, telehealth, and related administrative functions. Spruce is required to safeguard protected health information in accordance with its Business Associate Agreement with Bluestone Clinical.

Headway and Alma

Bluestone Clinical participates in insurance and administrative arrangements through Headway and Alma.

Alma

Alma may collect, process, maintain, or transmit protected health information on behalf of Bluestone Clinical to facilitate services such as intake paperwork, insurance eligibility, claims administration, billing, assessments, documentation, and secure client communication.

For these functions, Alma generally operates as a business associate or administrative service provider. This Bluestone Clinical Notice explains how Bluestone Clinical uses and discloses your protected health information.

Alma also maintains its own privacy notice governing non-HIPAA information collected directly through Alma’s public website or other services.

Headway

When your care is provided or administered through Headway, Headway-affiliated professional entities and administrative organizations may create, receive, maintain, or transmit your protected health information for treatment, payment, healthcare operations, billing, compliance, technical support, and related functions.

Headway maintains a separate HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices that may apply to care furnished through the Headway network. Headway also maintains a separate consumer privacy policy for information that is not governed by HIPAA.

This Notice does not replace a Headway notice that separately applies to your care.

You may receive or acknowledge privacy and billing forms through the Headway or Alma platform before services begin. You may request paper copies from Bluestone Clinical at any time.

Other Uses and Disclosures Permitted or Required by Law

Bluestone Clinical may use or disclose health information without written authorization when federal or state law permits or requires it, including for the following purposes:

• Preventing or reducing a serious and imminent threat to health or safety

• Reporting suspected child abuse, elder abuse, neglect, exploitation, or domestic violence

• Public-health activities

• Health-oversight activities

• Responding to lawful court orders, subpoenas, or administrative proceedings

• Workers’ compensation matters

• Certain law-enforcement requests

• Reporting adverse medication or product events

• Coroner, medical examiner, or funeral-director functions

• Research that satisfies applicable legal safeguards

• Compliance investigations and audits

• Other disclosures required by law

Only the minimum information reasonably necessary will be disclosed when the minimum-necessary rule applies.

Mental-Health Records and State Law

Mental-health records may receive protections beyond those provided by HIPAA.

Bluestone Clinical follows applicable Connecticut, Florida, and Texas confidentiality laws when those laws provide greater protection than federal law.

Written authorization may be required before certain mental-health information is released, except when disclosure is permitted or required for treatment, payment, safety, mandatory reporting, judicial proceedings, or another lawful purpose.

Substance-Use-Disorder Records

To the extent Bluestone Clinical receives or maintains substance-use-disorder patient records protected by 42 C.F.R. Part 2, those records will not be used or disclosed in a civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative investigation or proceeding against you without:

1. Your specific written consent; or

2. A qualifying court order accompanied by a subpoena or similar legal requirement.

Additional federal restrictions may apply to the redisclosure and use of these records.

Email, Text Messages, and Electronic Communication

Email and ordinary text messaging may have privacy and security risks. Messages may be misdirected, intercepted, accessed by others, or stored on devices outside Bluestone Clinical’s control.

When available, clients should use secure platform messaging for clinical or confidential communication.

Emails, text messages, portal messages, and responses may become part of the clinical record when relevant to treatment or administration.

Electronic communication is not continuously monitored and should not be used for emergencies.

Call 911 or 988, or go to the nearest emergency department, when immediate assistance is needed.

Bluestone Clinical’s Responsibilities

Bluestone Clinical is required to:

• Maintain the privacy and security of protected health information

• Provide this Notice of legal duties and privacy practices

• Follow the terms of the Notice currently in effect

• Notify affected individuals when a breach of unsecured protected health information may have compromised their privacy or security

• Limit uses and disclosures to those permitted by law

• Obtain written authorization when required

Bluestone Clinical will not use or disclose your information in a way that is not described in this Notice unless you provide written authorization.

Changes to This Notice

Bluestone Clinical may revise this Notice and make the revised terms effective for all health information maintained by the practice, including information created or received before the revision.

The current Notice will be available on the Bluestone Clinical website and upon request.

The effective date will appear at the beginning of the Notice.