EFFECTIVE DATE: _February 6, 2004_

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.

UNDERSTANDING YOUR HEALTH RECORD/INFORMATION

Each time you visit a hospital, physician, dentist, or other healthcare provider, which includes substance and alcohol abuse a record of your visit is made. Typically, this record contains your symptoms, examination and test results, diagnoses, treatment, and a plan for future care or treatment. This information often referred to as your health, or substance and alcohol abuse record serves as a basis for planning your care and treatment and serves as a means of communication among the many health professionals who contribute to your care. Understanding what is in your record and how your health information is used helps you to ensure its accuracy, better understand who, what, when, where, and why others may be allowed access to your health information. This effort is being made to assist you in making informed decisions before authorizing the disclosure of your medical information to others.

YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION RIGHTS

Unless otherwise required by law, your health record is the physical property of the healthcare practitioner or facility that compiled it. However, you have certain rights with respect to the information. You have the right to:

1. Receive a copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices from us upon enrollment or upon request.
2. Request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your protected health information for treatment, payment and health care operation. With this in mind, please discuss any restriction you wish to request with your substance/alcohol abuse provider. However, we reserve the right not to agree to the requested restriction if the provider believes this would not be in your best interest. Other than activity that has already occurred, you may revoke any further authorizations to use or disclosure of your health information. You may request a restriction by sending a letter to: Attn: Privacy Officer, John E. Hickey, Tuerk House, Inc. P.O. Box 31419, Baltimore, Maryland 21216
3. Request to receive communications of protected health information in confidence. You may also request communications of your health information by alternative means or to alternative locations. We will advise you if any such request is not feasible for our office to accommodate.
4. Inspect and obtain a copy of the protected health information contained in your medical and billing records and in any other Practice records used by us to make decisions about you. This can be done by appointment only. A copying charge may apply to obtain a copy of any portion of your medical record. Additionally, a fee will apply to inspect your records, if such inspection is requested. (Under federal law. However, you may not inspect or copy the following records: psychotherapy notes; information compiled in reasonable anticipation of, or use in, a civil, criminal, or administrative action or proceeding, and health circumstances) a decision to deny access may be reviewable. Please contact our Privacy Officer if you have any questions about access to your medical record.
5. Request an amendment to your protected health information. However, we may deny your request for an amendment, if we determine that the protected health information or record that is the subject of the request:

· Was not created by us, unless you provide a reasonable basis to believe that the originator of the protected health information is no longer available to act on the requested amendment;
· Is not a part of your medical or billing records;
· Is not available for inspection as set forth above; or
· Is accurate and complete.

In any event, any agreed upon amendment will be included as an addition to, and not a replacement of, already existing records. If your request for amendment is denied, you have the right to file a statement of disagreement with us and we may prepare a rebuttal to your statement and will provide you with a copy of any such rebuttal.

HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED

This organization may use and/or disclose your medical information for the following purposes:

Treatment: We may use and disclose protected health information in the provision, coordination, or management of your health care, including consultations between health care from one health care provider to another.

Payment: We may use and disclose protected health information to obtain reimbursement for the health care provided to you, including determinations of eligibility and coverage and other utilization review activities.

Regular Healthcare Operations: We may use and disclose protected health information to support functions of our practice related to treatment and payment, such as quality assurance activities, case management, receiving and responding to patient complaints, physician reviews, compliance programs, audits, business planning, development, management and administrative activities.

Appointment Reminders: We may use and disclose protected health information to contact you to provide appointment reminders.

Treatment Alternative: We may and disclose protected health information to contact you to
provide appointment reminders.

Health-Related Benefits and Services: We may use and disclose protected health information
to tell you about health-related benefits, services, or medical education classes that may be of
interest to you.

Individuals involved in Your Care or Payment for Your Care: Unless you object, we may
disclose your protected health information to your family or friends or any other
individual identified by you when they are involved in your care or the payment for your care.
We will only disclose the protected health information directly relevant to their involvement in your
care or payment. We may also disclose your protected health information to notify a person
responsible for your care (or to identify such person) of your location, general condition or
death.

Business Associates: There may be some services provided in our organization through
contracts with Business Associates. Examples include physician services in the emergency
department and radiology, certain laboratory tests, and a copy service we use when making
copies of your health record. When these services are contracted, we may disclose some or all of
our health information to our Business Associate so that they can perform the job we have asked
them to do. To protect your health information, however, we require the Business Associate to
appropriately safeguard your information.

Organ and Tissue Donation: If you are an organ donor, we may release medical information to
organizations that handle organ procurement or organ, eye or tissue transplantation or to an
organ donation bank, as necessary to facilitate organ or tissue donation and transplantation.

Worker’s Compensation: We may release protected health information about you for programs
that provide benefits for work related injuries or illness.

Communicable Diseases: We may disclose protected health information to notify a person who
may have been exposed to a disease or may be at risk for contracting or spreading a disease or
condition.

Health Oversight Activities: We may disclose protected health information to federal or state
agencies that oversee our activities.

Law Enforcement: We may disclose protected health information as required by law or in
response to a valid judge ordered subpoena. For example in cases of victims of abuse or
domestic violence: to identify or locate a suspect, fugitive, material witness, or missing person;
related to other law enforcement purposes.

Military and Veterans: If you are a member of the armed forces, we may release protected
health information about you as required by military command authorities.

Lawsuits and Disputes: We may disclose protected health information about you in response to
a court or administrative order. We may also disclose medical information about you in response
to a subpoena, discovery request, or other lawful process.

Inmates: If you are an inmate of a correctional institution or under the custody of a law
enforcement official, we may release protected health information about you to the correctional
institution or law enforcement official. An inmate does not have the right to the Notice of Privacy
Practices.

Abuse or Neglect: We may disclose protected health information to notify the appropriate
government authority if we believe a patient has been the victim of abuse, neglect or domestic
violence. We will only make this disclosure if you agree or when required or authorized by law.

Corners, Medical Examiner, and Funeral Directors: We may release protected health
information to a coroner or medical examiner. This may be necessary to identify a deceased
person or determine the cause of death. We may also release protected health information about
patients to funeral directors as necessary to carry out their duties.

Public Health Risks: We may disclose your protected health information for public health
activities and purposes to a public health authority that is permitted by law to collect or receive the
information. The disclosure will be made for the purpose such as controlling disease, injury or
disability.

Serious Threats: As permitted by applicable law and standards of ethical conduct, we may use
and disclose protected health information if we, in good faith, believe that the use or disclosure is
necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person
or the public.

Food and Drug Administration (FDA): As required by law, we may disclose to the FDA health
information relative to adverse events with respect to food, supplements, product and product
defects, or post marketing surveillance information to enable product recalls, repairs, or
replacement.

OUR RESPONSIBILITIES

We are required to maintain the privacy of your health information. In addition, we are required to
provide you with a notice of our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to information we
collect and maintain about you. We must abide by the terms of this notice. We reserve the right to
change our practices and to make the new provisions effective for all the protected health
information we maintain. If our information practices change, a revised notice will be mailed to
the address you have supplied upon request. If we maintain a Web site that provides information
about our patient services or benefits, the new notice will be posted on that Web site. Your health
information will not be used or disclosed without your written authorization, except as described in
this notice. Except as noted above, you may revoke your authorization in writing at any time.

FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO REPORT A PROBLEM

If you have questions about this notice or would like additional information, you may contact our
Privacy Officer, at the telephone or address below. If you believe that your privacy rights have
been violated, you have the right to file a complaint with the Privacy Officer at Tuerk House, Inc.
or with the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. We will take no
retaliatory action against you if you make such complaints.

· The contact information for both is included below

U.S Department of Health and Human Services
Office of the Secretary
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C.20201
Tel: (202) 619-0257
Toll Free: 1-877-696-6775
http;//www.hhs.gov/contacts

Privacy Officer
John E. Hickey
Tuerk House, Inc.
P.O. Box 31419
Baltimore, MD. 21216
Tel: (410) 233-0684 Ext. 116
www.tuerkhouse.com

NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES AVAILABILITY

This notice will be prominently posted in the office where registration occurs. You will be provided a hard copy, at the time we first deliver services to you. Thereafter, you may obtain a copy upon request, and the notice will be maintained on the organization’s Web site (if applicable Web site exists) for downloading.