Shaunak Parikh, MS, RN, PMHNP-BC, is the Owner and Founder of Parikh Mental Health Services, PLLC, dedicated to providing exceptional mental health care. He is an ANCC Board Certified Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, with over a decade of experience providing compassionate evidence-based support for individual struggling with conditions such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, ADHD, Bipolar disorder, Schizophrenia and various other mental health Conditions. Mr. Parikh has honed his skills by providing care and practicing across various settings, including inpatient and outpatient care, ensuring high-quality treatment for his patients. As a strong advocate for Telehealth, he brings over 8 years of experience in delivering accessible mental health support through Virtual care. Mr Parikh provides care and mental health services to individuals above the age of 18 and over. Mr Parikh has 3 BS Degrees in Chemistry, Psychology and Nursing, respectively. Mr Parikh received his BS degree in Psychology and Nursing from Nazareth College of Rochester. Mr Parikh received his MS Degree (Psychiatric and mental health nurse practitioner) from Hunter College (City University of New York). Mr Parikh provided Nursing care and did his clinical rotations for NP school at one of the leading university hospital in the country, New york Presbyterian Hospital: The University hospital of Columbia and Cornell.
**Privacy Practices Notice**
This Privacy Practices Notice ("Notice") explains how Parikh Mental Health Services, PLLC ("we/us/our") may use and disclose your Protected Health Information ("PHI") for treatment, payment, operations, and other specific purposes. 1. **Our Responsibility**: We are legally obligated to inform you about our responsibilities and privacy practices regarding your PHI. This notice outlines how we utilize and share your PHI for treatment, payment, operations, and other lawful activities, as well as your rights to access and manage your PHI. "PHI" refers to any identifying information related to your past, present, or future physical or mental health and associated healthcare. We are dedicated to following this Notice and may update it as necessary. Any updates will apply to all PHI we possess and will be at our office, on our website, or upon request during your next appointment We are committed to safeguarding your PHI and will notify you in the event of a breach of your unsecured. **Use and Disclosure of Your PHI** We may and disclose your PHI for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations without obtaining your consent. Examples of permissible uses include: ****: Your PHI may be utilized to provide, coordinate, or manage your healthcare with other providers involved in your care. **Payment**: We may use your PHI to facilitate for healthcare services you receive from us or other providers, including sharing with your health insurance for coverage determination and processing. **Healthcare Operations**: Your PHI may be used for our business activities, such as quality assessment, employee training,, and auditing. **Business Associates**: may share your PHI with third-party "business associates" who provide services for our practice, ensuring they are also bound to protect your PHI. **Treatment Alternatives**: We may disclose your PHI to inform you about treatment alternatives and health-related benefits that may interest you. You can request our office to stop sending you such materials. **Disclosures to You**: We may share your PHI and use it to contact you regarding appointment reminders or information about alternatives and health benefits. **Disclosures to Your Personal Representative**: We may share PHI with someone authorized under state law to make healthcare decisions on your behalf including representatives for deceased individuals. **Incidental Disclosures**: Incidental disclosures may occur and are permissible under HIPAA, such as when someone accidentally overhears a conversation about your treatment. Other authorized and required uses and disclosures may occur without your consent, including: - **Required By Law**: We may disclose your PHI as required by law, including to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for compliance review. - **Public Health**: We may share PHI public health purposes with authorized entities, such as for disease prevention. - **Communicable Diseases**: We may disclose PHI to individuals who may have been exposed to a communicable disease. - **Health Oversight**: We may provide your PHI to health oversight for authorized activities, such as audits and investigations. - **Abuse or Neglect**: We may share PHI with authorities authorized to receive reports of child abuse or neglect. - **Food and Drug Administration**: We may disclose PHI as required by the FDA for product quality, safety, or effectiveness. - **Legal Proceedings**: Your PHI may be disclosed in response to court orders or legal processes. - **Law Enforcement**: We may share PHI for law enforcement purposes under specific conditions. - **Coroners, Funeral Directors, and Organ**: We may provide PHI for identification or other legally authorized duties. - **Research**: We may disclose your PHI to researchers with approved protocols ensuring privacy. - **Limited Data Set**: We may use or disclose PHI in a limited data set for research or healthcare operations. - **To Avert a Serious Threat to Health Safety**: We may disclose PHI to prevent serious and imminent threats to health or safety. - **Military Activity and National Security**: We may disclose PHI of Armed Forces personnel as required by military authorities or for national security purposes. - **Workers’ Comp**: We may disclose PHI to comply with workers' compensation laws. - **Inmates**: We may use or disclose PHI if you are an inmate and your provider created or received your PHI during care.
**Other Permitted & Required Uses/Disclosures that require providing you opportunity to agree or object**: We may use and disclose your PHI in specific situations, allowing you the chance to agree or object. If you are unable to agree or object, we may use our professional judgment to determine if the disclosure is in your best interest. **Others Involved in Your Health Care or Payment**: Unless object, we may disclose your PHI to family members, relatives, close friends, or others you identify, directly relating to their involvement in your healthcare. If you cannot agree or object, we may disclose information if we believe it is in your best interest based on our professional judgment. Additionally, we may use or disclose PHI to notify or assist in notifying family members or responsible individuals about location, general condition, or death. Lastly, we may share your PHI with authorized entities for disaster relief efforts and to coordinate with family or individuals involved in your care. If you are a minor receiving treatment for specific conditions, we will comply with state law confidentiality requirements, which may require the minor’s consent for PHI disclosure to the minor’s parent or guardian.
​
**Uses and Disclosures of PHI that Require Your Written Authorization**:
**Psychotherapy Notes**: Psychotherapy notes are notes from your counseling sessions that are kept separate from your medical record. We will not use or disclose psychotherapy notes about you without your written authorization, except the author of the notes may use them for treating you, and we may use or disclose the psychotherapy notes for our own training purposes, to defend ourselves in a legal action or other proceeding brought by you, for certain oversight activities regarding the author of the notes, to a medical examiner, for certain research purposes, or as otherwise permitted or required by HIPAA. **Other Uses and Disclosures**: Other uses and disclosures of your PHI not described in this Notice, including disclosures for certain marketing purposes and disclosures made in exchange for payment on behalf of the recipient of such information, will be made only with your written authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time. If you revoke your authorization, we will no longer use or disclose your PHI for the reasons covered by your written authorization. Please understand that we cannot take back any disclosures already made with your authorization. **HIV/AIDS, Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse**: In certain situations, federal and state laws may provide special protections for specific types of protected health information. Before we share this type of PHI, we may require your written permission. Examples of PHI that may be specially protected include PHI involving HIV/AIDS, mental health, developmental disabilities, or substance abuse. We may refuse to share these special types of PHI or may contact you if written permission is needed to disclose the information. **For Alcohol and Drug Abuse Patients**: The confidentiality of records related to alcohol and drug abuse patients maintained by us is protected by federal law and regulations. Generally, Parikh Mental Health Services, PLLC may not disclose to anyone outside of the practice that a patient attends the program or disclose information identifying a patient as an alcohol or drug abuser unless (1) the patient consents in writing (2) the disclosure is allowed by a court order; or (3) disclosure is made to medical personnel in a medical emergency or to qualified personnel for research, audit, or program evaluation. Federal law does not protect any information about (1) a crime committed by a patient either at Par Mental Health Services, PLLC or against any other person who works for the program or about any threat to commit such a crime; or (2) suspected child abuse or neglect from being reported under state law to appropriate authorities. Violations of federal law and regulations by our practice are considered a crime. Suspected violations may be reported to appropriate authorities in accordance with federal regulations. See 42 U.S.C. 290dd-3 and 42 U.S.C. 290ee-3 for Federal laws and 42 CFR part 2 for more information.
​
​
​
​
**YOUR RIGHTS**
​
You have the right to review and obtain a copy, either in paper or electronic form, of certain protected health information (PHI) we hold about you, as long as we still have that information. This includes your medical and billing records, as well as other documents related to your care. Please note that federal law excludes some records from this right, such as psychotherapy notes and information collected for legal proceedings. In limited circumstances, we may deny your request to inspect or copy your PHI, and will provide written notice explaining the reason for the denial and your rights to request a review of our decision. To request access to your medical information, please submit a written request to the Privacy Officer; a reasonable fee may apply for copying records. For inquiries regarding access to your medical records, please contact our Privacy Officer. You have the right to request restrictions on the use or disclosure of your PHI for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations, and to ask that certain parts of your PHI not be shared with family members or friends involved in your care. While we are obligated to honor your requested restrictions, we must comply with limitations on disclosures your insurance plan for services you paid for out of pocket. If we accept a restriction, we cannot use or disclose your PHI in violation of that restriction unless it is necessary for emergency treatment, required by law, or made to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for HIPAA compliance assessments. Please submit requests for restrictions in writing to the Privacy Officer, detailing the requested restriction, the PHI involved, and the individuals to whom the restriction should apply. You have the right to request confidential communications from us through alternative means or locations, such as at work instead of home. Please submit your request in writing to the Privacy Officer, specifying your preferred contact method (e.g., alternative address or phone number). We will accommodate reasonable requests and may ask for information on how payment will be handled, but we will require an explanation for your request. You may also have the right to request amendments your PHI. To do so, submit your request in writing to the Privacy Officer, including the reason for your request. In some cases, we may deny your request and will provide the reason for the denial in writing. You have the right to file a statement of disagreement with us, and we may prepare a rebuttal to your statement, providing you with a copy. Please contact our Privacy Officer for any questions regarding amendments to your medical record. You have the right to receive an accounting of certain disclosures of your PHI that we have made for up to six years prior to your request. This right excludes disclosures made for treatment, payment, or healthcare operations purposes, as well as disclosures made to you, to others with your express authorization, to family members or friends involved in your care, and for specific notification purposes (including national security, law enforcement, or correctional facilities). This right is subject to certain exceptions, restrictions, and limitations. Submit requests for an of disclosures in writing to the Privacy Officer. We will provide one accounting per year for free, but may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for additional requests within a 12-month period.You also have the right to obtain a paper copy of this notice from us. upon request, even if you have agreed to accept this notice electronically. Please contact the Privacy Officer to request a paper copy of this notice. If you have any other questions about our privacy practices or wish to file a complaint, you may do so by contacting Shaunak Parikh, PMHNP-BC. Please mail or email at Info@Parikhmhs.com