The following is the Notice of Privacy Practices for Meridian Health. HIPAA is a federal law
that requires us to maintain the privacy of your protected health information and to provide you
with notice of our legal duties and privacy policies with respect to your protected health
information. We are required by law to abide by the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices.
The term “medical information” is synonymous with the terms “personal health information” and
“protected health information” for purposes of this Notice. It essentially means 1.) any
individually identifiable health information (either directly or indirectly identifiable), whether
oral or recorded in any form or medium, that is created or received by a health care provider
(me), health plan, or others and 2.) relates to the past, present, or future physical or mental health
or condition of any individual (you); the provision of health care (e.g., mental health) to an
individual (you); or the past, present or future payment for the provision of health care to an
individual (you).
Federal privacy rules (regulations) allow health care providers (the agency) who have a direct
treatment relationship with the patient (you) to use or disclose the patient’s personal health
information, without the patient’s written authorization, to carry out the health care provider’s
own treatment, payment, or health care operations. We may also disclose your protected health
information for the treatment activities of any health care provider. This too can be done without
your written authorization.
An example of a use or disclosure for treatment purposes: If we decide to consult with another
licensed health care provider about your condition, we would be permitted to use and disclose
your personal health information, which is otherwise confidential, in order to assist us in the
diagnosis or treatment of your mental health condition
Disclosures for treatment purposes are not limited to the minimum necessary standard because
physicians and other health care providers need access to the full record and/or full and complete
information in order to provider quality care. The word “treatment” includes, among other
things, the coordination and management of health care amount health care providers or by a
health care provider with a third party, consultations between health care providers, and referrals
of a patient for health care from one health care provider to another.
An example of a use or disclosure for payment purposes: If your health plan requests a copy of
your health recorders, or a portion thereof, in order to determine whether or not payment is
warranted under the terms of your policy or contract, we are permitted to use and disclose your
personal health information, including workers compensation.
An example of a use or disclosure for health care operations purposes: If your health plan
decides to audit our practice in order to review our competence and our performance, or to detect
possible fraud or abuse, your mental health records may be used or disclosed for those purposes.
PLEASE NOTE: We, or someone in the practice acting with agency authority, may contact
you to provide appointment reminders, discuss your account or payment purposes or
information about treatment alternatives or health-related benefits and services that may be of
interest to you. Your prior written authorization is not required for such contact.
We may be required or permitted to disclose your personal health information (e.g., your mental
health records) without your written authorization. The following circumstances are examples of
when such disclosures may or will be made:
• If disclosure is compelled by a court pursuant to an order of that court
• If disclosure is compelled by a board, commission, or administrative agency for
purposes of adjudication pursuant to its lawful authority
• If disclosure is compelled by a party to a proceeding before a court or administrative
agency pursuant to a subpoena, subpoena duces tecum (e.g., a subpoena for mental
health records), notice to appear, or any provision authorizing discovery in a
proceeding before a court or administrative agency
• If disclosure is compelled by a board, commission, or administrative agency pursuant
to an investigative subpoena issue pursuant to its lawful authority
• If disclosure is compelled by an arbitrator or arbitration panel, when arbitration is
lawfully requested by either party, pursuant to a subpoena duces tecum (e.g., a
subpoena for mental health recorders), or any other provision authorizing discovery in
a proceeding before an arbitrator or arbitration panel
• If disclosure is compelled by a search warrant lawfully issued to a governmental law
enforcement agency.
• If disclosure is compelled by the patient or the patient’s representative pursuant to
Nevada Code or by corresponding federal statues or regulations (e.g., the federal
Privacy Rule, which requires this notice)
• If disclosure is compelled by the Nevada Elder/Dependent Abuse and Neglect
Reporting Law (for example, if we have a reasonable suspicion of elder or dependent
adult abuse or neglect)
• If disclosure is compelled by the Nevada Child/Dependent Abuse and Neglect
Reporting Law (for example, if we have a reasonable suspicion of child abuse or
neglect)
• If disclosure is compelled or permitted by the fact that you are in such mental or
emotional condition as to be dangerous to yourself or to the person or property of
others, and if we determine that disclosure is necessary to prevent the threatened
danger a.k.a Duty to Warn.
• If disclosure is compelled or permitted by the fact that you tell us of a serious threat
(imminent) of physical violence to be committed by you against a reasonable
identifiable victim or victims a.k.a Duty to Warn.
• If disclosure is compelled or permitted, in the event of your death, to the coroner in
order to determine the cause of your death
• Couples/Families- If you and your partner or family members decide to have some
individual sessions as part of your couples or family therapy, what you say in those
sessions will be considered to be a part of the couples/family therapy and can and
probably will be discussed in sessions either with your partner or other family
members. Do not tell us anything you wish kept private. We will remind you of this
policy before beginning such individual sessions.
• Minor/Guardianship- When we are conducting therapy with a minor (someone who is
younger than 18 years old or who is still asking parents to e involved in treatment due to
being 18 but still in high school and living with parents), the minor has limited rights of
confidentiality.
• Other- Exemptions to this consent may be granted under NRS 129.030 for a life threatening emergency or a serious health hazard, or in other situations as specified in the
statute where a minor has been living apart from parents; treatment for emancipated
minors with court supporting documents.
If disclosure is required or permitted to a health oversight agency for oversight activities
authorized by law, including but not limited to, audits, criminal or civil investigations, or
licensure or disciplinary actions.
If disclosure is compelled by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to investigate or
determine my compliance with privacy requirements under the federal regulations (the Privacy
Rule).
If disclosure is otherwise specifically required by law.
PLEASE NOTE: The above list is not an exhaustive list but informs you of most circumstances
when disclosures without your authorization may be made. Other uses and disclosures will
generally (but not always) be made only with your written authorization, even though federal
privacy regulations or state law may allow additional uses or disclosures without your written
authorization. Uses or disclosures made with your written authorization will be limited in scope
to the information specified in the authorization form, which must identify the information “in a
specific and meaningful fashion.” You may revoke your written authorization at any time,
provided that the revocation is in writing and except to the extent that we have acted in reliance
on your written authorization. Your right to revoke an authorization is also limited if the
authorization was obtained as a condition of obtaining insurance coverage of you.
If Nevada law protects your confidentiality or privacy more than the federal “Privacy Rule”
does, or if Nevada law gives you greater rights than the federal rule does with respect to
access to your records, we will abide by Nevada law.
In general, uses or disclosures by the agency of your personal health information (without your
authorization) will be limited to the minimum necessary to accomplish the intended purpose of
the use or disclosure. Similarly, when we request your personal health information from another
health care provider, health plan or health care clearinghouse, we will try to limit the information
requested to the minimum necessary to accomplish the intended purpose of the request. As
mentioned above, in the section dealing with uses or disclosures for treatment purposes, the
“minimum necessary” standard does not apply to disclosures to or requests by a health care
provider for treatment purposes because health care providers need complete access to
information to provide quality care.
You have the right to request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of protected health
information about you, such as those necessary to carry out treatment, payment, or health care
operations. We are not required to agree to your requested restriction. If we do agree, we will
maintain a written record of the agreed upon restriction.
You have the right to receive confidential communications of protected health information from
us by alternative means or at alternative locations.
You have the right to inspect and copy protected health information about you by making a
specific request to do so in writing. This right to inspect and copy is not absolute-in other words,
we are permitted to deny access for specific reasons. For instances, you do not have this right of
access with respect to my “psychotherapy notes.” The term “psychotherapy notes” means notes
recorded (in any medium) by a health care provider who is a mental health professional
documenting or analyzing the contents of conversations during a private counseling session or a
group, joint, or family counseling session and that are separated from the rest of the individual’s
medical (includes mental health) record. The term excludes medication prescription and
monitoring, counseling session start and stop times, the modalities and frequencies of treatment
furnished, result of clinical tests, and any summary of the following items: diagnosis, functional
status, the treatment plan, symptoms, prognosis, and progress to date.
You have the right to amend protected health information in our records by making a request to
do so in a writing that providers a reason to support the requested amendment. This right to
amend is not absolute-in other words, we are permitted to deny the requested for specific
reasons. For instance, we do not have to account for disclosures made to carry out our own
treatment, payment, or health care operations. We also do not have to account for disclosures of
protected health information that are made with your written authorization, since you have a
right to receive a copy of any such authorization you might sign.
PLEASE NOTE: In order to avoid confusion or misunderstanding, we ask that if you wish to
exercise any of the rights enumerated above, that you put your request in writing and deliver
or send the writing to our agency. If you wish to learn more detailed information about any of
the above rights, or their limitations, please let us know. We are willing to discuss any of these
matters with you. As mentioned elsewhere in this document, Darcie Krivac is the Privacy
Officer of this practice.
Our Duties as an Agency: We are required by law to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of
your personal health information. This notice is intended to let you know of our legal duties,
your rights, and our privacy practices with respect to such information. We are required to abide
by the terms of the notice currently in effect. We reserve the right to change the terms of this
notice and/or our
privacy practices and to make the changes effective for all protected health information that we
maintain, even if it was created or received prior to the effective date of the notice revision. If
we make a revision to this notice, we will make the notice available at the office upon request or
after the effective date and we will post the revised notice in a clear and prominent location.
As the Privacy Officer of this practice, we have a duty to develop, implement, and adopt clear
privacy policies and procedures for the practice and we have done so. We are the individuals
who are responsible for assuring that these privacy policies and procedures are followed not only
by us, but by any employees or contractors that work for us or that may work for us in the
future. We have trained or will train any employees that may work for us so that they understand
our privacy policies and procedures. In general, patient records, and information about patients,
are treated as confidential in our practice and are released to no one without the written
authorization of the patient, except as indicated in this notice or except as may be otherwise
permitted by law. Patient recorders are kept secured so that they are not readily available to
those who do not need them.
If you are unhappy with Meridian Health, we hope you will discuss it with us so that we can
respond to your concerns. We will take such constructive criticism seriously, and with care and
respect. Please reach out to Katie Nolin at knolin@meridianhealthnv.com, Mirit Sloves
at msloves@meridianhealthnv.com or our Privacy Officer Darcie Krivac
at dkrivac@meridianhealthnv.com
If you believe your privacy rights may have been violated either by Meridian Health and its
employees you may file a complaint with Darcie by simply providing her with a written
document that specifies the manner in which you believe the violation occurred, the approximate
date of such occurrence, and any details that you believe will be helpful to her. The practice
telephone number is (775) 737-9001. We will not retaliate against you in any way for filing a
complaint with our agency or with the Secretary. Complaints may also be filed with the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services.
A complaint to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services must be
submitted in writing and can be sent to the following:
Office for Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
50 United Nations Plaza-Room 322
San Francisco, CA 94102
If you need or desire further information related to this Notice or its contents, or if you have any
questions about this Notice or its contents, please feel free to contact us. As the Contact person
for this practice, Darcie will do her best to answer your questions and to provide you with
additional information.
This notice first became effective on June 1, 2016, and last revised on March 11, 2025
Meridian Health reserves the right to change the terms of this notice and to make the new notice
provisions effective for all PHI that it maintains. If this should take place Meridian Health will
provide you with a revised notice by positing a revised copy in a prominent place in the waiting
room and making a revised copy available on request via your patient portal or physical copy.
Client Name: ______________________________________________________
Client/Client Representative Signature: _________________________________
Date: ___________________________
Revised 3.1.2025
