Confidentiality, Privacy, Scope of Practice and More
NATURE OF SERVICE
The Client acknowledges that services provided by [TOGETHER, LLC] ("Coach") constitute Health, Lifestyle, and Wellness Coaching integrated with Health Informatics guidance. The primary focus of these services is to facilitate health/lifestyle-promoting behavior modifications, assist with goal setting, and listen with compassion and empathy. We combine a thoughtful, human-centered approach with clear communication and reliable results. It’s not just what we do—it’s how we do it that sets us apart. The coaching services are informational and behavior in nature. They are intended to complement, not replace, licensed medical or psychological treatment, As a health coach, I do not diagnose, treat, or cure medical conditions.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Your trust is the foundation of our coaching relationship. All information shared during our health coaching sessions, including health history, personal challenges, goals, and session notes, will be held in the absolute strictest confidence. All communication is protected by standard professional ethics and consumer contract terms rather than traditional physician-patient privilege. We will keep everything you share confidential and it will only be broken as required by law or if there is a risk of harm to yourself or others.If deeper issues arise that are better suited for therapy we can help you with that support. If concerns arise outside the scope of coaching we will suggest a referral to an appropriate professional.
SECURITY/Data and Privacy
We use secure, end-to-end encrypted software like Practice Better to store records, protect messaging, and conduct video visits. To protect your sensitive data, this practice utilizes Practice Better, a secure, cloud-based practice management platform that employs advanced AES 256-bit encryption to protect communications, logs, and document storage. All video conversations, internal We use TLS 1.2 to encrypt your data both between your browser and our servers and between our servers and other internal networks.messaging, and completed intake forms live safely behind this secure portal. The following controls are in place: data masking, information deletion, data leakage prevention, labelling of information, classification of information, protection of records, and privacy and protection of PII/PHI.
CREDENTIALS & MULTIDISCIPLINARY DISTINCTION:
Client understands and acknowledges that while Coach is a Registered Nurse (RN) and holds a master’s degree in human services counseling (Pastoral) and Health Informatics, the services provided under this Agreement DO NOT constitute the practice of (a) Inpatient or ambulatory clinical nursing care; (b) Formal psycho therapeutic diagnosis or treatment of mental illnesses (including DSM-5/ICD-10 clinical disorders); (c) Medical diagnosis, primary medical care, or medical prescription services. Clinical nursing care is NOT PROVIDED (assessing symptoms, treating illness, administering clinical therapies).
DATA & WEARABLE INTERPRETATION:
Client acknowledges that biometric reviews (including Heart Rate Variability,continuous glucose trends, and sleep architectures) are utilized exclusively as educational, motivational, and lifestyle tracking metrics. They are NOT reviewed as real-time clinical diagnostics, emergency telemetry, or continuous clinical surveillance.
YOUR INFORMATION
We only collect information that you choose to give us through our forms. We do not use advertising trackers and do not share or sell your information. These intake forms are secured, end-to-end encrypted software using Practice Better to store records, protect messaging, and conduct video visits. And are stored on Amazon Web Services and Box.com to store your data in the cloud. Our core infrastructure is hosted using these two services. We have Business Associate Agreements (HIPAA BAA) and Data Processing Agreements which requires these providers to meet the highest level of security and privacy for storing personal health information. Practice Better have access controls, role-based authorization and IP whitelisting in place to restrict unauthorized access to cloud data. Both AWS and Box.com adhere to strict SSAE 18 auditing and reporting standards for managing access to data stored in their systems. Practice Better’s Trust Center is GDPR, HIPAA, PIPEDA, CASA Tier 2 and PHIPA compliant.
COLLABORATIVE MEDICAL CARE & EMERGENCIES:
Coaching services are intended to complement, not replace, the relationship between the Client and their primary care physician, specialist, or licensed psychotherapist. (a) Client agrees not to modify, discontinue, or initiate any prescribed medical treatment or medication with prior consultation with their prescribing provider. (b) In the event of a medical emergency or mental health crisis (including active suicidal or self-harm ideation), the Client agrees to immediately contact emergency services (911 in the U.S., dial the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (988), or present to the nearest emergency department. Coach does not provide emergency triage or crisis intervention services under this agreement.
WHAT DATA IS STORED USING AWS
Any documents you upload to Practice Better will be stored in AWS. Any generated PDFs for completed forms, archived notes and protocols will also be stored here.
We use Box.com to facilitate our "Document Preview" feature within the portal. This allows PDFs, Word Docs and other document types to be viewed directly from the website without having to install 3rd party extensions or download files to your computer.
