Privacy Policy

Children’s Specialized ABA (“Company”) is required by law to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of your health information and to provide you with notice of its legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your health information. This notice provides you with information about your rights and our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to the privacy of Protected Health Information (“PHI”). This notice also discusses the uses and disclosures we will make of your PHI. We must comply with the provisions of this notice as currently in effect, although we reserve the right to change the terms of this notice from time to time and to make the revised notice effective for all PHI we maintain. Please also respect the privacy of others you encounter in treatment. 

Children’s Specialized ABA collects health information about you and stores it in an electronic health record. This is your medical record. The medical record is the property of Children’s Specialized ABA, but the information in the medical record belongs to you. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) requires Children’s Specialized ABA to maintain the privacy of your medical record. HIPAA generally requires that any uses or disclosures of information in your medical record be limited to the minimum necessary to the purposes of the uses or disclosures. HIPAA also provides you certain rights with respect to the information in your medical record which are described below. 

As required by law, this notice provides you with information about your rights and our legal duties and privacy practices with respect to the privacy of PHI. This notice also discusses the uses and disclosures we will make of your PHI. We must comply with the provisions of this notice as currently in effect, although we reserve the right to change the terms of this notice from time to time and to make the revised notice effective for all PHI we maintain. 

Your Rights 

You have the right to:  

• Get a copy of your paper or electronic medical record 
• Correct your paper or electronic medical record 
• Request confidential communication 
• Ask us to limit the information we share 
• Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared your information 
• Get a copy of this privacy notice 
• Choose someone to act for you 
• File a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated 

Your Choices 

You have some choices in the way that we use and share information as we:  

• Tell family and friends about your condition 
• Provide disaster relief 
• Provide mental health care 
• Raise funds 

Our Uses and Disclosures 

We may use and share your information as we:  

• Treat you and coordinate your care 
• Avail you of certain healthcare items or services, including care management services  
• Run our organization  
• Bill for your services 
• Help with public health and safety issues 
• Do research, review or train 
• Comply with the law 
• Respond to organ and tissue donation requests 
• Work with a medical examiner or funeral director 
• Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests 
• Respond to lawsuits and legal actions 

Your Rights 

When it comes to your health information, you have certain rights. This section explains your rights and some of our responsibilities to help you. 

Get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record  

• You can ask to see or get an electronic or paper copy of your medical record and other health information we have about you. Ask us how to do this.  
• We will provide a copy or a summary of your health information, usually within 30 days of your request. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee. 

Ask us to correct your medical record 

• You can ask us to correct health information about you that you think is incorrect or incomplete. Ask us how to do this. 
• We may say “no” to your request, but we’ll tell you why in writing within 60 days. 

Request confidential communications 

• You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, home or office phone) or to send mail to a different address.  
• We will say “yes” to all reasonable requests. 

Ask us to limit what we use or share 

• You can ask us not to use or share certain health information for treatment, payment, or our operations. We are not required to agree to your request, and we may say “no” if it would affect your care. 
• If you pay for a service or health care item out-of-pocket in full, you can ask us not to share that information for the purpose of payment or our operations with your health insurer. We will say “yes” unless a law requires us to share that information. 

Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared information 

• You can ask for a list (accounting) of the times we’ve shared your health information for six years prior to the date you ask, who we shared it with, and why. 
• We will include all the disclosures except for those about treatment, payment, and health care operations, and certain other disclosures (such as any you asked us to make). We’ll provide one accounting a year for free but will charge a reasonable, cost-based fee if you ask for another one within 12 months. 

Get a copy of this privacy notice 

You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive the notice electronically. We will provide you with a paper copy promptly. 

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 your rights and make choices about your health information. 
• We will make sure the person has this authority and can act for you before we take any action. 

File a complaint if you feel your rights are violated 

• You can complain if you feel we have violated your rights by contacting us. 
• You can file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights by sending a letter to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting here.
• We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint. 

Your Choices 

For certain health information, you can tell us your choices about what we share. If you have a clear preference for how we share your information in the situations described below, talk to us. Tell us what you want us to do, and we will follow your instructions. 

Health professionals, using their best judgment, may disclose to a family member, other relative, close personal friends or any other person you identify, health information relevant to that person’s involvement in your care or payment related to your care. 

In these cases, you have both the right and choice to tell us to: 

• Share information with your family, close friends, or others involved in your care 
• Share information in a disaster relief situation 
• Include your information in a hospital directory 

If you are not able to tell us your preference, for example if you are unconscious, we may go ahead and share your information if we believe it is in your best interest. We may also share your information when needed to lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety. 

In these cases, we never share your information, unless you give us written permission: 

• Marketing purposes 
• Sale of your information  
• Most sharing of psychotherapy notes 

In the case of fundraising: 

• We may contact you for fundraising efforts, but you can tell us not to contact you again. 

Our Uses and Disclosures 

How do we typically use or share your health information?  

We typically use or share your health information in the following ways. 

Treat you and coordinate your care 

We can use your health information and share it with other professionals who are treating you or other people involved in coordinating your care 

Example: A doctor treating you for an injury asks another doctor about your overall health condition. 

Example: Provide appointment reminders for treatment or medical care. 

Example: Tell you about or recommend possible treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you 

Example: Coordinate care with your family or friends or any other individual identified by you to the extent directly related to such person’s involvement in your care or the payment for your care (for example, we may use or disclose your PHI to notify, or assist in the notification of, a family member, a personal representative, or another person responsible for your care, of your location, or general condition.) If you are not available, we will determine whether a disclosure to your family or friends is in your best interest, taking into account the circumstances and based upon our professional judgment. 

Avail you of certain healthcare items or services, including care management services  

Example: We can use or share health information, including PHI, and disclose it to employees/independent contractors,  as the we may select, and other providers, including providers affiliated with the Company, Children’s Specialized Hospital and RWJBarnabas, and their agents, in connection with your care, including without limitation, to determine whether you are an appropriate candidate for other healthcare, educational or social services and to obtain payment for the same. 

Run our organization 

We can use and share your health information to run our practice, improve your care, and contact you when necessary. 

Example: We use health information about you to manage your treatment and services, such as quality assurance activities, case management, receiving and responding to patient comments and complaints, provider reviews, compliance programs, audits, business planning, development, management and administrative activities, or for evaluating the performance of our staff when caring for you. 

Example: There may be some services provided in our Company through contracts with Business Associates. Examples may include therapy services, laboratory tests, supplies, and audit services. When these services are contracted, we may disclose some or all your health information to our Business Associate so they can perform the business we’ve asked them to do. To protect your health information, we require the Business Associate to safeguard your information  

Text Messaging (SMS Communication)

We may communicate with you by text message (SMS) as an optional service-related or marketing communication feature. Participation in SMS messaging is voluntary and requires your consent.

Types of Messages

Text messages may include appointment reminders, administrative or service-related updates, informational messages, and marketing or promotional communications. Marketing messages will only be sent with your separate written authorization, as required by law. Marketing may send up to four messages per month, unless opted out.

Use of Information

We do not include sensitive protected health information (PHI) in SMS messages. Standard text messages are inherently unsecured, unencrypted and may be subject to interception. Text messaging is not used for urgent or emergency matters.

Message Frequency
Message frequency varies depending on your interaction with our services.

Opt-Out and Help
You may opt out of receiving SMS messages at any time by replying STOP.
For help, reply HELP or contact us using the information listed in this Notice.

Rates and Carrier Disclaimer

Message and data rates may apply.
Carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages.

Privacy and Third Parties

SMS communications are delivered through third-party service providers with whom we have a signed Business Associate Agreement (BAA), contractually requiring them to safeguard information and comply with applicable privacy and security standards. We do not share SMS opt-in information with third parties for their own marketing purposes. All message history is securely stored and retained within the secure vendor platform.

Bill for your services 

We can use and share your health information to bill and get payment from health plans or other entities.  

Example: We give information about you to your health insurance plan so it will pay for your services.  

Help with public health and safety issues 

We can share health information about you for certain situations such as:  

• Preventing disease 
• Helping with product recalls 
• Reporting adverse reactions to medications 
• Reporting suspected abuse, neglect, or domestic violence 
• Preventing or reducing a serious threat to anyone’s health or safety 

Do research, review or train 

We can use or share your information for health research. For example, we may combine or de-identify PHI about many patients to decide what additional services we should offer, what services are not needed, and whether certain new treatments are effective, subject to applicable law. 

Comply with the law 

We will share information about you if state or federal laws require it, including with the Department of Health and Human Services if it wants to see that we’re complying with federal privacy law. 

Respond to organ and tissue donation requests 

We can share health information about you with organ procurement organizations. 

Work with a medical examiner or funeral director 

We can share health information with a coroner, medical examiner, or funeral director when an individual dies. 

Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests 

We can use or share health information about you: 

• For workers’ compensation claims 
• For law enforcement purposes or with a law enforcement official 
• With health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law 
• For special government functions such as military, national security, and presidential protective services 

Respond to lawsuits and legal actions 

We can share health information about you in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena. 

‍How else can we use or share your health information?  

We are allowed or required to share your information in other ways – usually in ways that contribute to the public good, such as public health and research. We have to meet many conditions in the law before we can share your information for these purposes. For more information see here. 

Note: incidental uses and disclosures of PHI sometimes occur and are not considered to be a violation of your rights. Incidental uses and disclosures are by-products of otherwise permitted uses or disclosures which are limited in nature and cannot be reasonably prevented. 

Our Responsibilities 

• We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information.  
• We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your information. 
• We must follow the duties and privacy practices described in this notice and give you a copy of it.  
• We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time. Let us know in writing if you change your mind.  

For more information see here.

 

Miscellaneous 

• Children’s Specialized ABA reserves the right to amend this Notice of Privacy Practices at any time in the future, and to make the new provisions effective for all information that it maintains, including information that was created or received prior to the date of such amendment. Until amendment is made, Children’s Specialized ABA is required by law to comply with this Notice. Should our privacy practices change, we will provide all current and future patients with a copy of the revised Notice of Privacy Practices 
• This policy is effective October 28, 2025
• If you have any questions regarding the privacy of your records, please contact our Compliance Officer at Compliance@childrens-aba.org 

Children’s Specialized ABA 

ATTN: Compliance Officer 

175 Belgrove Dr 

Kearny, NJ 07032 

 

RWJBarnabas and Children’s Specialized Hospital Notice of Privacy Practices may also apply. For more information, see here.