Notices

Dr. Johnson is fully retired from practice.

Your psychiatric records are held (digital form only—the original hardcopy will have been shredded) in the custodial care of SIS NW. Should you need a copy, you may contact SIS NW, Inc.: Phone 206.686.2821; Fax 206.686.2840; email roisupport@sisnwinc.com. The company’s representative will have you fill out and submit a HIPAA-compliant request form, which, if you like, you may download from this site (see below), fill out, and submit to SIS NW as your request in the first place. You will be charged on a per-page basis for your record (plus tax, and if you are requesting it in hardcopy form, postage) for this service; speak with a representative of SIS NW for details. The company suggests that you have a single digital copy sent to you directly, so that you may then decide which parts of the record you wish to deliver to whomever is asking you for records, and if another copy is needed you may produce it at no further expense. SIS NW delivers your record to you through its secure web portal (instructions will be sent to you) but it will also use secure email. Turn-around time is usually less than a week; if there is a problem with the request, SIS NW notifies you, and tells you how to correct it.

SOME ADVICE BEFORE YOU SUBMIT A REQUEST TO SIS NW FOR YOUR RECORD

Your right to confidentiality in psychiatric care is real, and it is important. If you are requesting on behalf of a doctor or other medical professional who is, or will be, charged with some aspect of your care, the continued confidentiality is protected by law (HIPAA). But if the requestor is not a medical professional, that is not the case, and such a party may not have your best interest in mind, or worse, may be deliberately working against your interest. The most common circumstances in this regard involve legal or insurance matters. Do not agree to release your psychiatric record on the request of an insurance company, say one that sells life-insurance, without very careful thought and some real argumentation over the request; look for a policy that would not make an issue of your psychiatric history. Be careful, too, when you are asked by a lawyer to submit your psychiatric record. The only authority with legal standing to demand your record is a judge, one acting through a court-order (in writing, which you should review with your own lawyer). If you are plaintiff or defendant in a suit, the lawyer(s) for the opposition will sometimes send you letters DEMANDING your record: do not be gullible; only a judge with a court-order may make a demand of this kind with actual legal force. If you have questions about what to do, speak with your own lawyer; also feel that you may call Dr Johnson for his point of view if you wish.