Privacy Policy

psychological testing, assessment, school evaluation, Independent Educational Evaluations, IEE

The Pratt Center is not a covered entity under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) because insurance companies are not billed electronically by The Pratt Center; however, Dr. Pratt provides clients with a higher level of privacy than the HIPAA laws require.

Information shared with Dr. Pratt is generally confidential and may be legally privileged.

Dr. Pratt reserves the right to share all information with other staff and contractors of The Pratt Center (e.g., president, bookkeeper, accountant, testing technician, lawyer, etc.).

All employees at The Pratt Center receive training and an employee handbook regarding safeguarding of confidential information.

There are exceptions to confidentiality that are allowed or mandated by law, and these exceptions include, but are not limited to:

  • Suspected abuse of a child, elder or dependent adult

  • Danger to self or others

  • Grave disability

  • Childhood victim of a crime

  • Legal proceedings by court order

  • Investigation of criminal cases by law enforcement officials

  • Malpractice lawsuits or licensing complaints

  • Medicare audit, ethics complaints and licensing complaints

  • Disclosures required by the health department or other government agencies

  • There is generally no privilege in a legal case in which the client’s mental status is at issue, such as a disability determination

If an exception to confidentiality appears to apply, Dr. Pratt will inform the family. If Dr. Pratt determines that there is a probability of imminent physical injury by any clients to themselves or others, or there is a probability of immediate mental or emotional injury to the client(s), Dr. Pratt may disclose confidential mental health information to medical or law enforcement personnel. State and county health department guidelines and contact tracing may lead to disclosure of confidential information.

Medical records are generally available to parents of minors, legal guardians, adult clients and conservators as applicable, unless a law, regulation or court provides otherwise. In some cases, records may be withheld to protect the safety of the client.

The client may not copy psychological test protocols due to test security, and laws regarding trade secrets may apply. The Pratt Center is the owner of all materials created and/or used in providing services to clients. Materials may include paper charts, testing protocols, consent forms, developmental questionnaires, psychological testing reports, letters and other physical documents. Materials also include digital records, including but not limited to: emails, slides, audio files, voicemails, databases, reports and electronic chart notes.

Even with appropriate security, all electronic forms of data storage and communication have risks that may compromise confidentiality. Electronic communications might include emails, cell phone calls, voicemail messages, text messages, video calls and other forms of electronic communication.

Cloud-based storage of confidential information is used for psychological test scoring, appointment scheduling, calendaring, billing, bookkeeping, file sharing and other functions.

Separate companies safeguard client records, including but not limited to: google.com, zoom.com, paypal.com, dropbox.com, box.com, intuit.com, pearsonassessments.com, appointmentplus.com, etc. The Pratt Center does not control the security measures in place for any separate companies, and the family agrees to not hold The Pratt Center liable for damage related to a data breach of confidential information.

If a family opts to use social media in connection with The Pratt Center, that information may not be confidential. Twitter follows, Facebook likes, LinkedIn connections, Yelp reviews and other online activities are not confidential.

For more information about all of our policies, please read the consent for treatment form from our Download Forms Page.

If you have any questions about our policies, please email us at info@prattcenter.com.