Notice of Privacy Practices

Effective date: July 13, 2026

This notice describes how medical information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully.

Your rights

When applicable, you may:

• Inspect or receive an electronic or paper copy of your health information, subject to limited exceptions
• Ask us to correct health information you believe is incorrect or incomplete
• Ask us to communicate with you in a particular way or at a particular place
• Ask us to limit certain uses or disclosures; we will consider requests and will comply when the law requires
• Receive an accounting of certain disclosures
• Receive a paper copy of this notice
• Choose someone to act for you when that person has legal authority
• File a complaint without retaliation

Your choices

For certain information, you may tell us your preferences about sharing with family, close friends, or others involved in your care or payment for care. If you cannot tell us your preference, we may act in your best interest when permitted by law. We will obtain written authorization for uses and disclosures that require it, including most uses of psychotherapy notes, most marketing, and a sale of protected health information.

How we may use and disclose health information

We may use or disclose health information as permitted by law for purposes such as:

• Treatment: providing services and coordinating care
• Payment: billing you or a health plan and obtaining payment
• Health care operations: quality review, training, licensing, compliance, and practice administration
• Public health and safety activities, including reporting suspected abuse or neglect and preventing a serious threat when legally permitted
• Responding to lawful oversight, workers’ compensation, law-enforcement, court, or administrative requests
• Working with medical examiners, funeral directors, or organ-procurement organizations when applicable
• Other uses or disclosures required or permitted by law

We will not use or disclose protected health information for a purpose prohibited by applicable federal privacy law. When legally required, we will obtain an attestation or other documentation before responding to a request.

Our responsibilities

• We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of protected health information when HIPAA applies
• We will notify affected individuals following a breach of unsecured protected health information as required by law
• We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in the notice currently in effect
• We will not use or share information other than as described here unless you authorize it in writing, and you may revoke an authorization prospectively

Changes to this notice

We may change the terms of this notice and apply the revised notice to health information we maintain. A current notice will be available from the practice and on this website when the practice chooses to publish it online.

Questions and complaints

Contact our privacy contact to ask questions, exercise a right, or file a complaint:

Prickly Pear TherapyPrickly Pear Therapy 1740 Grande Blvd SE Rio Rancho, NM 87124 (505) 808-9059 mchavez.pricklypear@gmail.com

You may also submit a complaint to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.