Notice of Privacy Practices

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Tranquility Wellness, PLLC
Effective Date: October 1, 2026

Last updated: 10/12/2026

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This Notice describes how your medical information may be used and disclosed, how we protect your information, and how you can access it. Please review it carefully.

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This notice applies to health information maintained by Tranquility Wellness, PLLC, including care provided in person and by telehealth. We follow HIPAA and other applicable privacy laws. When another applicable law provides greater confidentiality protections, we follow those protections.

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Your Rights

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You have the right to:

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Access your medical record
You may request to inspect or receive a paper or electronic copy of your medical and billing records. Submit a signed, dated written request identifying the records and preferred format to our privacy contact. We will provide the requested format when readily producible or agree with you on an available format. We will respond to your request within 30 days, or sooner when required by applicable law. For records governed by Virginia law, we will comply with Virginia's 30-day response requirement. Any extension will be taken only where permitted by applicable law and explained to you in writing. Copies may carry a reasonable, cost-based fee permitted by law; inspection is free. A separate disclosure authorization is not required simply to obtain your own records. Certain information, including separately maintained psychotherapy notes, may be excluded from access. If we deny or limit access to your records, we will explain the reason in writing and inform you of any available review and complaint rights. When District of Columbia law applies, you may have the right to designate an independent mental health professional to review information withheld from you under the applicable mental health confidentiality law.

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Ask us to correct your record
You may request an amendment to your records in writing and explain why you believe information is inaccurate or incomplete. We generally respond within 60 days under HIPAA, subject to any legally permitted extension. If we deny your request, we will explain why and how you may submit a statement of disagreement. For mental health records governed by District of Columbia law, you may also submit a written amendment within 15 days after accessing your records, subject to the procedures and protections provided by applicable DC law.

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Request confidential communication or limits on sharing
You may ask us to contact you by a particular method or at a different address. We will accommodate reasonable requests. You may also request limits on uses or disclosures for treatment, payment, or operations. We generally do not have to agree, except where the law requires it, including the DC protection described below. If you pay for an item or service out of pocket in full and ask us not to disclose information about it to your health plan for payment or operations, we must honor that request unless disclosure is required by law.

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If you pay for a service in full out-of-pocket, you may ask us not to share information about that service with your health insurer for payment or healthcare operations. We will honor the request unless disclosure is required by law.

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Obtain an accounting and a copy of this notice

You may request a list of certain disclosures made during the six years before your request. It excludes treatment, payment, operations, authorized disclosures, and other legally excluded disclosures. One accounting in a 12-month period is free. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for additional requests after advance notice and an opportunity to withdraw or modify the request. You may request a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you received it electronically.

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How We Use & Share Your Information

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The following descriptions are subject to the additional protections on the next page. HIPAA permission alone does not override more restrictive applicable law.

 

Treatment

We use information to evaluate your concerns, prescribe and monitor medication, develop treatment plans, and coordinate care. Where permitted by applicable law, we may share information with another treating professional, such as your primary care clinician. We obtain written authorization when required.

 

Payment

We may use and disclose information to submit claims, verify benefits, obtain payment, or address billing matters, as permitted by applicable law. For example, an insurance claim may include your diagnosis and services received. Special confidentiality requirements and approved restrictions still apply.

 

Practice operations

We may use and disclose information for activities such as quality improvement, compliance, auditing, and practice administration. Service providers who handle protected information on our behalf must meet applicable confidentiality and business associate requirements. We may contact you about appointments, treatment alternatives, or health-related services within legal limits.

 

People involved in your care

Where applicable law permits, we may share relevant information with a person you identify as involved in your care or payment, with your agreement or an opportunity to object. If you cannot express a preference, limited sharing may be permitted based on professional judgment and your best interests. We obtain written authorization where required by mental-health confidentiality law. Naming someone as an emergency contact does not, by itself, authorize unrestricted access to your records. A legally authorized personal representative may exercise your rights; we verify the scope of that authority and apply any legal exceptions.

 

Other legally permitted or required disclosures

We may disclose information, within applicable legal limits, for public-health reporting, medication safety, suspected abuse or neglect, or prevention of serious threats to health or safety. We may disclose information for legally authorized oversight, research with required safeguards, workers’ compensation, organ donation, medical examiner or funeral director functions, and special government functions. We may also disclose information when required by law, including to HHS for privacy compliance review. We comply with the conditions and limits that apply to each disclosure.

 

Requests from law enforcement, courts, or parties to a legal proceeding are evaluated under applicable confidentiality laws. A request or subpoena does not automatically authorize release of all psychiatric records. We disclose only when the applicable authorization, court-order, notice, or other legal requirements have been met. Part 2 records have additional protections described below.

 

Uses requiring written authorization

We obtain your written authorization for uses or disclosures not otherwise permitted or required by applicable law. Most uses or disclosures of separately maintained psychotherapy notes, marketing uses requiring authorization, and disclosures constituting a sale of protected health information require authorization. You may revoke an authorization in writing through our privacy contact. Revocation does not undo actions already taken in reliance on it or other legally recognized exceptions.

 

Fundraising

If we use health information for fundraising communications, you may opt out of further communications. If Part 2-protected records would be used, we provide clear advance notice and an opportunity to choose not to receive those communications. Your choice will not affect treatment or payment.

 

Additional confidentiality protections

 

Virginia health records and HIV test results

When Virginia law applies, Code of Virginia § 32.1-127.1:03 protects health records and limits disclosure and redisclosure. It permits disclosures for specified purposes, including care, reimbursement, practice operations, and legally authorized reporting. Written authorization is required when no legal exception applies. Most disclosures of separately maintained psychotherapy notes require written authorization, subject to limited statutory exceptions. Virginia law also protects access to records and permits you to specifically request the audit trail of additions, deletions, or revisions to your health record.

 

Under Code of Virginia § 32.1-36.1, HIV test results are confidential and may be released only to persons or entities permitted or authorized under applicable federal or state law. We comply with required public-health reporting and obtain authorization where the applicable law requires it.

 

District of Columbia mental health information

When DC law applies, the Mental Health Information Act, D.C. Code §§ 7-1201.01 through 7-1207.02, adds protections for mental health information. We obtain written authorization unless a specific legal exception permits or requires disclosure. Authorizations and redisclosures must satisfy applicable DC requirements.

 

Our privacy practices permit disclosures under D.C. Code § 7-1203.01(b): we may share mental health information with another health care provider when and to the extent necessary for diagnosis, evaluation, treatment, case management, quality assessment and improvement, or rehabilitation. This permission does not include separately maintained counseling notes that DC law calls “progress notes.” Routine medication monitoring, test results, and treatment summaries are not automatically included in that special category.

 

You may request that your mental health information not be disclosed under § 7-1203.01(b). Contact our privacy contact to make this request. We will honor it for disclosures under that provision. The request does not prevent disclosures authorized under another applicable provision of DC law, including legally permitted emergency disclosures. We follow DC’s additional authorization, redisclosure, and disclosure-notice requirements where applicable.

 

Substance use disorder records

Some substance use disorder records are protected by 42 CFR Part 2. When we maintain records subject to Part 2, we follow its consent and other disclosure requirements. Not every mention of alcohol or substance use in a psychiatric record is automatically a Part 2 record.

 

Part 2-protected records cannot be used or disclosed in civil, criminal, administrative, or legislative investigations or proceedings against you without your written consent or a qualifying court order and subpoena. Consent for use in such proceedings must meet the separate requirements of Part 2. The general disclosure categories in this notice do not override these protections.

 

Our duties and changes to this notice

We must protect your health information, provide this notice, and follow its terms. We will notify you without unreasonable delay as required by law if a breach of unsecured protected health information occurs. We may revise this notice and apply revised practices to information we already maintain, to the extent permitted by law. We will make the current Notice of Privacy Practices available on our website, at our office, and upon request. If we materially revise this notice, we will make the revised notice available and provide it to patients as required by applicable law.

 

Questions and complaints

For questions or a privacy complaint, contact our Privacy Officer using the phone or email on the first page. You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC 20201; 1-877-696-6775; www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/index.html. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.