Privacy Policy
Privacy At Emerge Healing Center
Providing a safe and secure place for you or your loved one to undergo treatment is at the top of our to-do list. That’s why everything is confidential from the moment you speak to a member of our assessment team to the day you continue your recovery journey elsewhere.
Your privacy is our number one priority. Please take a moment to review how and when we store your data, and the steps we take to protect your privacy.
Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
Media
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
Cookies
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.
When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.
If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.
Embedded Content From Other Sites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Do We Retain Data?
If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.
For users who register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
Your Data Rights
Protected Health Information (PHI) Policy
Policy Statement
Emerge Healing Center is committed to protecting the privacy, confidentiality, and security of all Protected Health Information (PHI) in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), 42 CFR Part 2, and applicable Georgia state laws. PHI shall be used and disclosed only as permitted or required by law and solely for the purposes of treatment, payment, healthcare operations, or as otherwise authorized by the client.
Definition of PHI
Protected Health Information includes any individually identifiable health information—whether verbal, written, or electronic—related to a client’s physical health, mental health, substance use disorder treatment, payment for services, or identifying demographic data.
Access and Use of PHI
Access to PHI is limited to authorized workforce members who require the information to perform their job duties. Staff are trained upon hire and annually on HIPAA, confidentiality, and substance use disorder privacy protections. PHI is not shared with unauthorized individuals, including family members, without proper written consent from the client, except as permitted by law.
Safeguards
Emerge Healing Center implements administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect PHI, including secure storage of paper records, password-protected electronic health records (EHR), controlled access to facilities, and secure communication methods. Electronic PHI is protected in accordance with HIPAA Security Rule requirements.
Client Rights
Clients have the right to access, inspect, request amendments to, and obtain an accounting of disclosures of their PHI, as outlined in HIPAA regulations. Clients are informed of these rights through the Notice of Privacy Practices.
Disclosures and Breach Reporting
Any unauthorized use or disclosure of PHI must be reported immediately to the Privacy Officer. Confirmed breaches are addressed in accordance with HIPAA Breach Notification Rules and Georgia requirements, including client notification when applicable.
Compliance
Failure to comply with this policy may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination, and may carry civil or criminal penalties under federal and state law.