NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES
Mountain View Speech Services LLC
Effective Date: October 5, 2026

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.

About this practice

Mountain View Speech Services LLC is a solo speech-language pathology practice owned and operated by Megan Heath, M.S., CCC-SLP. All services are provided remotely by secure video to clients located in Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii.

Megan Heath serves as the Privacy Officer for this practice. Contact information appears at the end of this notice.

Protected health information (referred to here as "your information") means information that identifies you and relates to your health, the care you receive, or payment for that care.

Our responsibilities

We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your information; provide you with this notice describing our legal duties and privacy practices; follow the terms of the notice currently in effect; and notify you promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.

How we may use and share your information without your written authorization

For treatment. We use your information to provide speech-language pathology services and to coordinate your care with other providers. For example, with your knowledge we may discuss a child's progress with their pediatrician, or exchange information with a psychologist who referred the child for an evaluation.

For payment. We use your information to bill and collect payment for services. For example, if you use insurance, we may send your insurer information about services provided in order to obtain authorization or payment. Clients who pay privately are billed directly.

For health care operations. We use your information to run the practice and maintain quality of care. For example, we may review records to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment approaches, or consult with a professional liability insurer or attorney about a question that arises in practice.

To people involved in your care. We may share information with a family member, guardian, or other person you identify as involved in your care or payment for your care. For a minor client, this ordinarily means the parent or legal guardian who consented to services. If you object, we will not share your information in this way except where the law permits or requires it.

Appointment reminders and practice communications. We may contact you by telephone, text message, or email to confirm appointments, send reminders, follow up on treatment, or discuss billing. You may ask us to use a particular method or to contact you at a particular number or address, and we will accommodate reasonable requests.

To our business associates. We use outside services that require access to your information in order to function — our electronic health record and scheduling system, our video platform, and our payment processor. Each of these is bound by a written business associate agreement requiring them to protect your information to the same standard we do.

When required or permitted by law. We may use or share your information without your authorization for: public health activities, including reporting communicable disease; reports of suspected child abuse or neglect, as Megan Heath is a mandated reporter in Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii; reports of suspected abuse, neglect, or exploitation of a vulnerable adult; health oversight activities such as a licensing board investigation or audit; judicial and administrative proceedings, in response to a court order, subpoena, or similar lawful process; law enforcement purposes as permitted or required by law; to prevent a serious and imminent threat to health or safety; workers' compensation claims as authorized by law; specialized government functions including military and national security activities; and coroners, medical examiners, and funeral directors as permitted by law.

Disclosures to schools

Many of our clients are school-age children who also receive services through their school district. We will not share your child's information with their school, IEP team, early intervention program, or any school district employee without your separate written authorization, except where the law requires it.

You may grant that authorization at any time, limit what it covers, and revoke it in writing for future disclosures. Choosing not to authorize school disclosure does not affect the services we provide.

Uses and disclosures that require your written authorization

Any use or sharing of your information not described in this notice will be made only with your written authorization. This includes marketing communications, any sale of your information, and use of your information in research.

You may revoke an authorization in writing at any time. Revoking it stops future disclosures but does not undo disclosures already made in reliance on it.

We do not sell your information, use it for marketing or fundraising, or disclose it to third parties for their own purposes.

Your rights

To see and receive a copy of your records. You may inspect and obtain a copy of your clinical record, including evaluation reports and session notes. Request this in writing. We will respond within 30 days and may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for copies. If your record is maintained electronically, you may ask for an electronic copy, and you may ask us to send a copy directly to a person you name.

To request a correction. If you believe information in your record is incorrect or incomplete, you may ask us in writing to amend it. We may deny the request in certain circumstances, and if we do we will explain why in writing. You may then submit a statement of disagreement, which becomes part of your record.

To request confidential communications. You may ask us to contact you in a specific way, or at a specific address or phone number. We will accommodate reasonable requests and will not ask you to explain why.

To request restrictions. You may ask us to limit how we use or share your information. We are not required to agree to every such request. However, if you pay for a service in full, out of pocket, and ask us not to share information about that service with your health plan, we are required to agree.

To receive a list of disclosures. You may request a list of certain disclosures we have made of your information in the six years before your request. This list does not include disclosures made for treatment, payment, or health care operations, or disclosures you authorized. The first list in any twelve-month period is free.

To receive a paper copy of this notice. You may request a paper copy at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically.

To be notified of a breach. We will notify you if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information.

To choose someone to act for you. If you have given someone medical power of attorney, or if someone is your legal guardian, that person can exercise these rights on your behalf. We will verify their authority before acting.

Minors

For clients under the age of majority, a parent or legal guardian generally exercises these rights on the child's behalf and may access the child's record.

There are exceptions. Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii each allow minors of certain ages to consent independently to certain kinds of care. Where a minor has lawfully consented to their own care, the minor controls the information relating to that care, and we will not release it to a parent or guardian without the minor's permission except where the law requires it.

Where legal custody is shared, we rely on the representation of the parent or guardian who consented to services that they have authority under the custody arrangement to do so. We may ask for documentation.

How long we keep your records

We retain clinical records for the period required by the laws of the state in which services were provided. Records of minors are retained longer than records of adults. After the retention period ends, records are destroyed securely.

State law

Some state laws give you greater protection than federal law does. Where the law of Washington, Oregon, or Hawaii is more protective of your information than HIPAA, we follow the more protective requirement.

Complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may complain to us, to the federal government, or to both. We will not retaliate against you in any way for filing a complaint.

To this practice:
Megan Heath, M.S., CCC-SLP — Privacy Officer
megan@mountainviewspeechservices.com
(971) 337-0772

To the federal government:
Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20201
1-877-696-6775
www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints/

Changes to this notice

We may change the terms of this notice at any time, and any change will apply to information we already hold as well as to information we receive in the future. The current version will always be available at mountainviewspeechservices.com and will be provided to you on request. The effective date appears at the top of this notice.