Privacy Policy for Open Sky Mental Health Inc.

Effective Date: February 20, 2025

At Open Sky Mental Health Inc., we believe it is important for you to understand how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information, as well as how you can manage the information we collect from you. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your information in compliance with Alberta’s Health Information Act (HIA) and Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA).

This Privacy Policy applies to your use of our website, https://www.openskymentalhealth.com (the “Website”), our practice software OWL Practice, platforms, webpages, and any information and content relating to the foregoing. This includes, without limitation, HTML, software, code, data, text, documents, images, photographs, videos, icons, and designs (collectively, the “Content”), and all associated services, including any therapy-related services (together with the Website and the Content, the “Services”).

Who We Are

Our organization, Open Sky Mental Health, is a solo practice and is run by one registered psychologist, Leanne Floden.

1. Collection of Personal and Health Information

Personal and health information is about an identifiable individual and includes an individual’s personal characteristics (e.g. gender, age, education and training, family circumstances); health (e.g. health history, health conditions, health services received); or activities and views (e.g. occupation or profession, ideas and concerns expressed by an individual). Personal information is different from business information, which is not protected by privacy legislation.

The types of information we may collect include:

Personal identification information (e.g., name, address, date of birth, contact details).
Health information relevant to your care (e.g., medical history, psychological assessments, treatment plans).
Insurance or billing details for payment purposes.

We only collect information necessary to:

Provide psychological services.
Comply with legal or regulatory obligations.

2. Use of Personal and Health Information

Your information is used to:

Deliver psychological assessments, treatments, and consultations.
Communicate with you about appointments, services, or treatment plans.
Process payments and manage billing.
Fulfill reporting obligations required by law.
Improve our business practices.
Respond to binding demands from law enforcement, regulatory authorities or other third parties.
Defend, protect, or enforce our rights or applicable terms of service.
To prevent fraud or the recurrence of fraud.

We will not use your information for purposes unrelated to your care without your explicit consent.

Analytics

We may use third-party service providers to monitor and analyze the use of our Website, such as Google Analytics. Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic. Google uses the data collected to track and monitor the use of the Website This data is shared with other Google services. Google may use the collected data to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network. You can opt-out of having your activity on the Website available to Google Analytics by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. For more information on the privacy practices of Google, please visit the Google Privacy Terms webpage: https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en

3. Disclosure of Information

Your information may be shared in the following situations:

With your consent: We will obtain your written or verbal consent before sharing information with other healthcare providers, insurance companies, or other parties.

Legal obligations: Information may be disclosed without your consent in specific situations required by law, such as:

Reporting abuse, neglect, or threats of harm.
Complying with any applicable legal obligation.
Preventing imminent harm to you or others.
Reporting relevant information to insurance providers or collection agencies as required.

We will ensure disclosures comply with applicable laws and are limited to what is necessary for the stated purpose. In no event will we sell or rent your personal information.

Please note that we use the accounting services of PM Chrabaszcz Professional Corporation, and/or other accountant(s) from time to time. While most payments allow for your therapist to redact your name before the accountant views any records, the same service cannot be guaranteed for e-transfers. If you choose to use e-transfer(s) for payment, our accountant(s) may see your name.

We will ensure you are expressly notified of and consent to any additional disclosures of your personal information that we reasonably deemed warranted pertaining to treatment of your mental health (if applicable).
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We disclose non-personal information to third parties as reasonably necessary to meet our business needs. We do not disclose your personal information to third parties for their own direct marketing purposes without your consent.

4. Protection of Information

We employ strict safeguards to protect your information, including:

Secure physical storage of paper records.
Encrypted electronic storage and communication.
Limiting access to authorized personnel only.
Regular reviews of privacy and security practices.
All members of XYZ are trained to collect, use, and disclose personal information only as necessary to fulfill their duties and in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

All electronic files that we generate are stored in a secure and encrypted database offered by a company called OWL Practice, which provides practice management software for health and wellness. OWL Practice holds your data in Canada and more information can be found here.

Limits to the Protection of Private Information

Limits to the protection of private information include legally mandated disclosure to: Children’s Services, authorities responsible to protect seniors and other vulnerable populations from abuse, the College of Alberta Psychologists which regulate the health profession, court orders to release information such as warrants for a file in a criminal or legal case, or subpoenas.

5. Retention of Information

We retain your information for as long as required to fulfill the purposes outlined in this policy or as required by law (a minimum of 10 years), or by the standards provided through The College of Alberta Psychologists. Once no longer needed, records are securely destroyed in compliance with applicable standards. The College of Alberta Psychologists also requires us to retain our client records.

6. Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal and health information:

Access: You may request access to your records by submitting a written request. We will respond within the timeframes required by law.
Correction: If you believe your information is inaccurate or incomplete, you may request a correction.
Withdrawal of Consent: You may withdraw consent for the collection, use, or disclosure of your information, subject to legal or contractual obligations.

To exercise these rights, please contact us using the details below.

7. Questions or Concerns

If you have questions or concerns about our privacy practices or believe your privacy rights have been violated, please contact us at:

Open Sky Mental Health

961842 Avenue NW, Suite 104

Edmonton, Alberta T6E 5Y4

780-433-5598

leanne@openskymental health.com

If your concern is not resolved to your satisfaction, you may contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta:

Website: www.oipc.ab.ca
Phone: 1-888-878-4044

Updates to this Policy

The date on which the Privacy Policy was last amended is indicated above. We reserve the right to change our Privacy Policy from time to time. If we choose to amend this Privacy Policy, we will revise the “last updated” date at the top of this policy when we post the updated version. We will display a prominent notice that the Privacy Policy has been amended on our website for a period of thirty (30) days. The amended Privacy Policy is effective when posted. Your use of the Services after we have made changes to our Privacy Policy will mean that you have accepted those changes.

Acknowledgment

By engaging our services, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to the terms outlined in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy, please do not use the Services. If you do not understand, or if you have questions about, this Privacy Policy, please contact us before using, or continuing to use, the Services.