Notice of Privacy Practices

Bright Star Behavioral Health Services

Effective Date: August 17, 2026

Your Information. Your Rights. Our Responsibilities.

This notice describes how medical information about you (or your child) may be used and disclosed, and how you can get access to this information. Please review it carefully.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

  • Get a copy of your paper or electronic treatment record
  • Correct your treatment 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 we use and share information, including whether we:

  • Tell family and friends about your (or your child’s) condition or involvement in care
  • Provide mental/behavioral health care information to those involved in care
  • Market our services or sell your information — we never do this without your written permission, and we do not sell personal information
  • Raise funds using your information — we do not conduct fundraising using client information

Our Uses and Disclosures

We may use and share your information as we:

  • Treat you (provide, coordinate, and manage ABA therapy and related care)
  • Run our organization (including staff training, quality assessment, and compliance)
  • Bill for your services
  • Help with public health and safety issues, including reporting suspected child abuse or neglect, as required by California law and our duties as mandatory reporters
  • Comply with the law
  • Respond to health oversight requests (e.g., audits or licensure reviews by regulatory or accrediting bodies such as the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, insurance auditors, or state licensing authorities)
  • Address workers’ compensation, law enforcement, and other government requests
  • Respond to lawsuits, subpoenas, or other legal proceedings

Your Rights, In Detail

Get an electronic or paper copy of your treatment record You can ask to see or get a copy of your (or your child’s) treatment record and other health information we have. We will provide this, usually within 30 days, and may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee.

Ask us to correct your treatment record You can ask us to correct information you believe is incorrect or incomplete. We may say no, but we will explain why in writing within 60 days.

Request confidential communications You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, a specific phone number) or send mail to a different address. We will accommodate 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 operations. We are not required to agree, but must comply with your request if you paid out-of-pocket in full for a specific service and are asking us not to share that information with your health insurer for payment or operations purposes.

Get a list of those with whom we’ve shared your information You can request an accounting of disclosures we’ve made over the past six years, excluding disclosures for treatment, payment, and healthcare operations, and certain other excepted categories. The first accounting each year is free.

Get a paper copy of this notice You can request a paper copy at any time, even if you’ve agreed to receive it electronically.

Choose someone to act for you If someone has authority to act as your personal representative — such as a parent or legal guardian for a minor client, or someone with medical power of attorney — that person can exercise these rights on your behalf. We will verify this authority before acting on their instructions. For minor clients, a parent or legal guardian generally acts as personal representative, except where California law provides a minor with an independent right to consent to certain services and, correspondingly, affords added confidentiality protections regarding related records.

File a complaint if you feel your rights are violated See “Complaints,” below.

Record Retention

We retain treatment and billing records for the following minimum periods, consistent with applicable California and federal recordkeeping requirements:

  • Treatment records for adult clients are retained for a minimum of ten (10) years from the date of the most recent entry.
  • Treatment records for minor clients are retained for a minimum of ten (10) years from the date of the most recent entry, or until three (3) years after the client reaches the age of majority, whichever is later.
  • Billing and payment records are retained for a minimum of seven (7) years after the close of the calendar year in which the associated service was billed or paid.

At the end of the applicable retention period, records are securely destroyed in a manner that protects client privacy.

Business Associates

We may share your information with third-party vendors (“Business Associates”) who perform services on our behalf involving access to PHI, such as billing or practice management software providers. Business Associates are contractually required to safeguard your information to the same standard we do.

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 in this notice unless you tell us we can in writing. If you tell us we can, you may change your mind at any time by letting us know in writing.

Changes to This Notice

We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you. The new notice will be available upon request, in our office, and on our website.

Complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file a complaint with:

Bright Star Behavioral Health Services 11400 W. Olympic Blvd., Suite 200 Los Angeles, CA 90064 Phone: (310) 925-5113 Or through our Contact page: https://brightstarbhs.com/contact/

You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, by writing to 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201, calling 1-877-696-6775, or visiting https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/filing-a-complaint/index.html.

We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

Contact for Questions

For questions about this Notice or to exercise any of the rights described above, please contact us through our Contact page (https://brightstarbhs.com/contact/) or by phone at (310) 925-5113.

This Notice is effective as of August 17, 2026. A prior version of this Notice, if any, is superseded by this version.