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.
Effective date: May 1, 2026
What this notice covers
I'm Janice LaFountaine, MS, LMFT, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist serving clients across Washington and Idaho. Privacy isn't just a legal requirement in my practice — it's foundational to the work itself. You can't do real therapy without real trust, and trust requires knowing your information is handled with care.
This notice explains what I keep, how I use it, and what you have the right to ask of me. If anything here raises a question, please just ask. My contact information is at the bottom of this page.
Information I keep about you
Therapy records. When we work together, I keep notes and other records related to your care. These are held securely as protected health information (PHI). I maintain records for ten years after we finish working together, then destroy them in a way that preserves your confidentiality.
Session documentation — Upheal. I use Upheal, an AI-assisted session notes platform, so I can stay fully present with you rather than divided between you and a notepad. Upheal handles protected health information on my behalf as a Business Associate under HIPAA. I have signed a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with Upheal, which holds them to the same Privacy Rule and Security Rule standards I follow. Your electronic protected health information (ePHI) is protected through administrative, physical, and technical safeguards. You can read more about Upheal's privacy practices at upheal.io/privacy.
Electronic health records and billing — Valant. I use Valant as my electronic health record (EHR) and practice management system. Valant stores your clinical records, manages scheduling, and handles billing and insurance-related functions. Valant operates as a Business Associate under HIPAA, and I have signed a BAA with them. You can review their privacy practices at valant.io/privacy-policy.
Telehealth sessions — Google Meet. Video sessions are conducted through Google Meet, hosted within a Google Workspace account that includes a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with Google. This means your session data is handled in a HIPAA-compliant environment. Your session uses an encrypted connection. You're responsible for choosing a private location on your end. If technology fails, we can switch to phone or reschedule.
Information you provide on this website. If you reach out through the contact form on collaboratingwellness.com, I receive what you share — your name, email, phone, and message. I use that only to respond to you and, if we begin working together, to schedule and communicate.
How I use and share your information
There are three standard purposes under which I may use or share your information:
- Treatment: coordinating your care, including with other providers when you've authorized that
- Payment: billing for services
- Operations: keeping records and maintaining the quality of care I provide
Outside of those purposes, I won't share your information without your written authorization. The only exceptions are situations where the law requires or permits disclosure — and I want you to know what those are:
- Reporting suspected child, elder, or dependent adult abuse
- Reporting when a client makes a serious, credible threat of violence toward a specific person
- Reporting when a client is in imminent danger of harming themselves or others
- Responding to a court order or subpoena — I will notify you when possible
For anything beyond these, I will ask for your written authorization first. You can revoke that authorization in writing at any time.
Your rights
These are your rights regarding your information. I want you to actually use them — they exist for a reason.
- Access. You can request a copy of your records. A written request is required. In some circumstances I may provide a treatment summary rather than the full record, and there are narrow situations where I'm permitted to decline — but those are the exception, not the rule.
- Amendment. If you believe something in your record is inaccurate or incomplete, you can ask me to amend it.
- Accounting of disclosures. You can ask for a list of certain disclosures I've made of your information.
- Restrictions. You can ask me to limit how I use or share your information for treatment, payment, or operations purposes. I'm not always required to agree, but I'll take your request seriously and work with you on it.
- Confidential communications. You can ask me to communicate with you in a specific way — by phone only, for example, rather than by email.
- Paper copy of this notice. Even though this notice lives on the website, you can request a printed copy at any time.
To exercise any of these rights, reach out using the contact information at the bottom of this page.
My commitments to you
Beyond what the law requires, protecting your privacy is something I take personally. Formally, I am required to:
- Maintain the privacy of your protected health information
- Provide you with this notice and abide by its current terms
- Notify you if a breach affects your unsecured PHI
In practice, that means you can expect me to handle what you share with the same care I'd want extended to someone I love.
Communication between sessions
For scheduling, billing, and administrative needs, I may reach out by phone, email, or text — with your permission. Email and text aren't fully secure channels, so please keep that in mind when deciding what to include in those messages. Anything clinically significant is better saved for our sessions.
I don't accept friend or follow requests from current or former clients on social media. This isn't personal — it's one of the ways I protect your confidentiality and keep our therapeutic relationship intact.
Website privacy
The collaboratingwellness.com website uses a small set of tools:
- Microsoft Clarity — anonymized behavioral analytics that show me how visitors move through the site (clicks, scrolls, navigation). This helps me make the site easier to use. Clarity doesn't capture identifying information, and I don't connect site analytics to therapy records.
- Aimy IndexNow — when I publish or update an article, the site notifies search engines so new content gets indexed promptly. This is a server-to-server process; no visitor information is involved.
The site does not use third-party advertising trackers.
Questions about privacy
The simplest path is always to just ask me directly.
Janice LaFountaine, MS, LMFT
Email:
Phone: 509-720-7119
How to file a complaint
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you're welcome to come to me first — I'd rather work it out directly. You also have the right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, without any retaliation from me:
- Online: ocr.hhs.gov/hipaa
- Phone: 1-800-368-1019 (TDD: 1-800-537-7697)
- Mail: Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20201
Updates to this notice
I may update this notice when my practices change. The effective date at the top always reflects the current version, and the most current version is always available at collaboratingwellness.com/privacy-policy.
Last updated: May 1, 2026