Privacy Policy, Notice of Privacy Practices & Accessibility Statement

Last Updated: 18 May 2026

This Privacy Policy, Notice of Privacy Practices, and Accessibility Statement explains how Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness collects, uses, protects, and shares personal information and health information.

This notice applies to Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness, including our clinical offices, website, appointment systems, patient portal, telepsychiatry services, phone communications, email communications, SMS communications, and related administrative services.

Public Brand: Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness
Boca Raton Office: 4700 NW 2nd Avenue, Suite 101, Boca Raton, FL 33431
Coral Springs Office: 5401 N University Drive, Suite 103, Coral Springs, FL 33067
Phone: (561) 563-6262
Email: info@lotuspsychiatryandwellness.com

1. Our Privacy Commitment

Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness provides psychiatry, therapy, and wellness services in Florida. We understand that psychiatric and mental-health information is highly personal. We protect patient information with care, discretion, and legally required privacy safeguards.

We use health information to provide care, coordinate treatment, bill for services, manage our practice, communicate with patients, comply with law, and support patient safety.

We do not sell protected health information. We do not use patient health information for unrelated marketing without proper authorization when authorization is required by law.

2. Information We Collect

We may collect information directly from patients, parents or guardians, authorized representatives, referring providers, insurers, laboratories, pharmacies, hospitals, telehealth systems, appointment platforms, patient portals, and other permitted sources.

Health and Treatment Information

This may include:

• name, date of birth, address, phone number, and email address
• psychiatric symptoms, diagnoses, treatment history, and clinical notes
• medication history and medication-management information
• therapy, evaluation, and treatment-plan information
• lab results, pharmacogenomic testing information, or other health data when applicable
• medical history, mental-health history, family history, and social history
• information shared during in-person visits, telepsychiatry visits, phone calls, portal messages, or forms
• insurance, billing, payment, and claims information
• emergency-contact or authorized-representative information

Website and Digital Information

When you use our website, we may collect:

• contact-form information
• appointment-request information
• newsletter or subscription information
• SMS opt-in information
• device, browser, IP address, cookie, analytics, and usage information
• information submitted through third-party scheduling or patient-portal systems

Important: Do not submit urgent medical information, psychiatric emergencies, or highly sensitive clinical details through general website forms, email, or non-secure channels. For emergencies, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.

3. How We Use Health Information

We may use and share your health information for the following purposes.

Treatment

We may use and share your information to provide psychiatric evaluation, medication management, therapy, telepsychiatry, treatment planning, care coordination, prescriptions, referrals, lab coordination, or communication with other healthcare providers involved in your care.

Example: A clinician may review your medication history before making a treatment recommendation.

Payment

We may use and share your information to bill and collect payment from you, your health plan, or another responsible payer.

Example: We may send diagnosis or service information to your insurer when needed for payment or eligibility verification.

Healthcare Operations

We may use and share information to operate the practice, improve services, train staff, manage scheduling, support compliance, conduct quality review, maintain records, and manage administrative functions.

Example: We may review appointment workflows or patient records for internal quality and compliance purposes.

4. Uses and Disclosures Required or Allowed by Law

We may use or disclose health information when required or allowed by federal or Florida law, including for:

• public-health reporting
• reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence
• preventing or reducing a serious threat to health or safety
• health oversight activities
• workers’ compensation matters
• law-enforcement requests when legally permitted
• court orders, subpoenas, or legal proceedings when legally required
• medical examiner, coroner, or funeral-director needs when applicable
• compliance reviews by government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

We will limit disclosures to what is legally required or permitted.

5. Mental-Health Records and Psychotherapy Notes

Mental-health records receive strong privacy protection. Florida law also recognizes confidentiality protections for mental-health clinical records.

Psychotherapy notes, when created and kept separately from the medical record, receive special protection under HIPAA. Psychotherapy notes generally do not include medication-prescription information, medication monitoring, session start and stop times, treatment modalities, treatment frequency, test results, diagnosis summaries, functional status, symptoms, prognosis, treatment plan, or progress notes.

We generally need your written authorization before using or disclosing psychotherapy notes, except in limited situations allowed by law.

6. When Written Authorization Is Required

We will ask for written authorization when required by law, including for:

• most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes
• most marketing uses of protected health information
• any sale of protected health information
• sharing information with a person or organization when your written permission is legally required
• other uses or disclosures not permitted by HIPAA, Florida law, or this notice

You may revoke an authorization in writing at any time. Revocation does not affect actions already taken based on your earlier authorization.

7. Your HIPAA Privacy Rights

You have rights regarding your health information.

Right to Access Your Records

You may request an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and billing record. We will respond as required by law. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee when permitted.

Right to Request Corrections

You may request that we correct information in your medical record if you believe it is inaccurate or incomplete. We may deny the request in certain situations, but we will explain the decision in writing when required.

Right to Request Confidential Communications

You may ask us to contact you in a specific way, such as at a certain phone number, mailing address, or email address. We will accommodate reasonable requests.

Right to Request Restrictions

You may ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations. We are not required to agree to every request, but we will review your request.

If you pay out of pocket in full for a healthcare service, you may ask us not to share information about that service with your health plan for payment or healthcare operations unless a law requires us to share it.

Right to an Accounting of Disclosures

You may request a list of certain disclosures of your health information for up to six years before your request. This list may not include disclosures for treatment, payment, healthcare operations, and certain other disclosures excluded by law.

Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice

You may ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically.

Right to Choose a Personal Representative

If another person has legal authority to act for you, such as a healthcare power of attorney, legal guardian, or authorized personal representative, that person may exercise your privacy rights. We may verify the person’s authority before taking action.

Right to File a Complaint

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

You may contact Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness at:

Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness
4700 NW 2nd Avenue, Suite 101
Boca Raton, FL 33431
Phone: (561) 563-6262
Email: info@lotuspsychiatryandwellness.com

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

We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

8. Florida Patient Privacy and Medical-Record Rights

Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness respects patient dignity, privacy, and confidentiality under Florida healthcare law.

Patients have the right to:

• be treated with courtesy and respect
• have privacy respected during care
• receive a prompt and reasonable response to questions and requests
• know who is providing medical services
• receive information about diagnosis, treatment, alternatives, risks, and prognosis when legally and clinically appropriate
• refuse treatment except as otherwise provided by law
• express grievances through the practice or appropriate licensing agency
• receive interpreter support when required and reasonably available
• receive a reasonable estimate of charges upon request before treatment when applicable

Patients are responsible for providing accurate health information, reporting changes in condition, asking questions when they do not understand care instructions, following agreed treatment plans, keeping appointments, notifying us when they cannot attend, and meeting financial responsibilities.

9. Telepsychiatry Privacy

Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness may provide telepsychiatry when clinically appropriate and legally permitted.

Telepsychiatry may include psychiatric evaluation, medication-management follow-up, therapy, consultation, monitoring, and related care using secure communication technology.

Telepsychiatry records are documented in the patient medical record according to the same standard used for in-person services. Records generated through telehealth are treated as confidential medical records.

Patients using telepsychiatry should:

• use a private location when possible
• avoid recording sessions unless written permission is obtained
• use a secure internet connection
• confirm their identity when requested
• provide their physical location during the visit if requested for safety or emergency planning
• understand that telehealth may not be appropriate for every clinical situation

If a psychiatric emergency occurs during or outside a telehealth visit, call 911, go to the nearest emergency room, or contact local crisis services.

10. SMS, Email, Phone, and Portal Communications

Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness may communicate with patients by phone, voicemail, email, SMS/text message, appointment reminders, patient portal messages, and other communication tools.

By providing your phone number and consenting to SMS communications, you may receive messages related to appointment scheduling, rescheduling, reminders, follow-up messages, account notifications, customer-care messages, and marketing information when permitted. Message frequency may vary. Message and data rates may apply. You may cancel SMS messages by texting STOP. For help, text HELP or contact us at info@lotuspsychiatryandwellness.com.

SMS and ordinary email may not be fully secure. Do not use SMS, email, or general contact forms for emergencies or highly sensitive clinical information unless specifically instructed by the practice through an approved secure process.

11. Website Forms, Cookies, Analytics, and Tracking Tools

Our website may use cookies, analytics tools, contact forms, scheduling links, patient-portal links, and other digital tools to operate the website, understand website usage, and support appointment requests.

We do not intentionally use website tools to collect sensitive clinical details unless a form or portal clearly asks for healthcare information for a permitted purpose.

If website tracking or analytics tools involve protected health information, we treat that information according to applicable HIPAA requirements and vendor obligations. Where required, we use appropriate agreements with vendors that create, receive, maintain, or transmit protected health information on our behalf.

You may be able to control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect website function.

12. Third-Party Services and Business Associates

Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness may use third-party vendors and service providers for:

• appointment scheduling
• patient portal services
• electronic health records
• telehealth technology
• billing and payment processing
• insurance verification
• pharmacy, lab, or testing coordination
• secure communications
• website hosting and maintenance
• analytics and administrative operations

When a vendor creates, receives, maintains, or transmits protected health information for us, HIPAA may require a written Business Associate Agreement. We require vendors to protect information as required by applicable law and contract.

13. Data Security

We use reasonable administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect personal information and protected health information.

These safeguards may include:

• access controls
• password-protected systems
• role-based access
• staff training
• secure recordkeeping procedures
• vendor review where appropriate
• physical office safeguards
• secure disposal procedures
• breach-response procedures

No website, email system, text system, telehealth platform, or electronic record system can be guaranteed 100% secure. We work to reduce risk and respond appropriately if a privacy or security incident occurs.

14. Breach Notification

If a breach of unsecured protected health information or confidential personal information occurs, Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness will investigate and provide notices as required by HIPAA, Florida law, and other applicable requirements.

Depending on the facts, required notices may include notice to affected individuals, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Florida Department of Legal Affairs, media outlets, consumer reporting agencies, or other parties when required by law.

15. Children, Adolescents, Parents, Guardians, and Personal Representatives

Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness provides psychiatric and wellness care for children, adolescents, and adults.

Parents, guardians, and legal representatives may have rights to access or direct a minor patient’s health information, subject to HIPAA, Florida law, clinical safety rules, and specific confidentiality protections that may apply to certain services.

For adolescent patients, privacy can be clinically important. We follow applicable law while encouraging appropriate family involvement when it supports safe and effective care.

16. Reproductive, Pregnancy, Substance-Use, and Other Sensitive Information

Some categories of health information may receive additional protection under federal or Florida law. This may include reproductive health information, pregnancy-related information, HIV-related information, substance-use-disorder information, genetic information, psychotherapy notes, and certain mental-health records.

If special protections apply, Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness will use and disclose that information only as permitted or required by law.

Compliance note for internal review: If Lotus operates a dedicated substance-use-disorder treatment program subject to 42 CFR Part 2, this page must be expanded with Part 2-specific notice language before publication.

17. Research, Publications, and De-Identified Information

Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness may use health information for research only when permitted by law and applicable ethical or authorization requirements.

We may use or disclose de-identified information when identifiers have been removed according to applicable legal standards and the information no longer identifies a patient.

We will not publish patient-identifiable case information, testimonials, images, or stories without appropriate written authorization when required.

18. Marketing, Newsletters, and Educational Content

Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness may send educational content, service updates, newsletters, appointment-related messages, and practice announcements when permitted and when you have provided appropriate contact information or consent.

You may unsubscribe from marketing emails by using the unsubscribe option or contacting us. You may opt out of SMS messages by texting STOP.

We will not use protected health information for marketing in a way that requires authorization unless we have your written authorization.

19. Payment Information

If you make a payment, payment information may be processed by a payment processor or financial institution. We do not intentionally store full credit-card details on our website unless a secure payment system requires temporary processing for payment completion.

Billing records may contain protected health information and are handled according to HIPAA and applicable Florida law.

20. Data Retention and Disposal

Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness retains medical, billing, administrative, and communication records as required by federal law, Florida law, professional requirements, payer requirements, and legitimate business needs.

When records are no longer required to be retained, we dispose of them using reasonable measures designed to protect confidentiality.

21. ADA, Accessibility, and Non-Discrimination

Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness is committed to providing respectful, accessible, and non-discriminatory care.

We do not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, color, national origin, age, sex, religion, source of payment, or any other category protected by applicable law.

Patients may request reasonable assistance or accommodation related to:

• appointment access
• communication needs
• mobility needs
• forms or paperwork
• telehealth access
• interpreter needs when applicable
• website accessibility concerns

To request assistance, contact:

Phone: (561) 563-6262
Email: info@lotuspsychiatryandwellness.com

22. Service Animals and Emotional Support Animals

Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness follows applicable ADA service-animal rules.

Under the ADA, a service animal is generally a dog that is individually trained to perform a task directly related to a person’s disability. Emotional support, comfort, or companionship alone does not make an animal a service animal under the ADA.

Service animals are generally allowed in patient-accessible areas unless an exception applies under law, such as a direct threat, lack of control, or other legally recognized reason.

Patients seeking Emotional Support Animal documentation should discuss clinical appropriateness, documentation requirements, and legal limits with their provider.

23. Website Accessibility Statement

We aim to make our website accessible and usable for patients, caregivers, and visitors. If you have difficulty using any part of the website, contact us and describe the issue, the page involved, and the assistive technology or device you are using if you are comfortable sharing that information.

We will make reasonable efforts to address accessibility barriers and provide the information in another format when appropriate.

24. Links to Third-Party Websites

Our website may link to third-party websites, including patient portals, appointment platforms, payment systems, maps, social media, educational resources, or partner tools.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices, security, content, or accessibility of third-party websites that we do not control. Review the privacy policy and terms of any third-party site before submitting information.

25. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The updated version will be posted on this page with a new “Last Updated” date.

If we make material changes to our privacy practices, we will update this notice as required by law.

26. Contact Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness

For privacy questions, record requests, accessibility requests, SMS opt-out help, or complaints, contact:

Lotus Psychiatry & Wellness
4700 NW 2nd Avenue, Suite 101
Boca Raton, FL 33431

Additional Office
5401 N University Drive, Suite 103
Coral Springs, FL 33067

Phone: (561) 563-6262
Email: info@lotuspsychiatryandwellness.com

For urgent medical or psychiatric emergencies, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room.