Privacy Policy
Effective Date: February 2026
BHAT Behavioral Health & Addiction Treatment Care ("BHAT Treatment," "we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting the privacy and security of all individuals who interact with our facility and website. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, share, and safeguard your personal information in connection with our services at 108 N Main St, Lake Elsinore, CA 92530, and through our website at bhattreatment.com.
By using our website or seeking services at our facility, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected] or (951) 614-3130.
1. Information We Collect
We collect personal information in several ways, including information you provide directly, information collected automatically when you use our website, and information received from third parties in connection with your care.
Information You Provide Directly
When you contact BHAT Treatment, submit a form on our website, or seek admission to our facility, you may provide us with:
- Full name, date of birth, and contact information (phone number, email address, mailing address)
- Insurance information and financial details relevant to payment for services
- Medical history, substance use history, mental health history, and related health information
- Emergency contact information and information about family members or support persons
- Government-issued identification and demographic information
- Employment information and other background details relevant to treatment planning
Information Collected Automatically
When you visit our website, we may automatically collect certain technical and usage information, including:
- IP address, browser type, and operating system
- Pages visited, time spent on pages, and referring URLs
- Device identifiers and general geographic location based on IP address
- Cookie and tracking data as described in our Cookies & Tracking section below
Information from Third Parties
We may receive information about you from referring healthcare providers, insurance companies, family members assisting with your admission, or other parties involved in coordinating your care.
2. How We Use Your Information
BHAT Treatment uses the information we collect for the following purposes:
- Treatment and Care: To assess your needs, develop individualized treatment plans, provide clinical services, and coordinate your care among our multidisciplinary team.
- Admissions and Intake: To process your application for admission, verify insurance coverage, and complete required intake documentation.
- Billing and Payment: To bill your insurance company or process direct payment for services rendered at our facility.
- Communications: To respond to your inquiries, send appointment reminders, and provide information about your treatment progress or discharge planning.
- Legal and Regulatory Compliance: To comply with applicable federal, state, and local laws, including mandatory reporting obligations and licensing requirements.
- Quality Improvement: To analyze service delivery, improve our treatment programs, conduct staff training, and maintain accreditation standards.
- Website Improvement: To understand how visitors use our website and make improvements to content and functionality.
- Safety: To protect the health and safety of patients, staff, and the public when legally permitted or required.
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes.
3. HIPAA Compliance
As a licensed addiction treatment and behavioral health facility, BHAT Treatment is a "covered entity" under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ("HIPAA") and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act ("HITECH"). We are required by law to maintain the privacy and security of your protected health information ("PHI").
42 CFR Part 2 — Substance Use Disorder Records
Because BHAT Treatment provides substance use disorder treatment, certain records related to your substance use disorder treatment are subject to additional federal confidentiality protections under 42 CFR Part 2. These regulations are stricter than general HIPAA requirements and prohibit us from disclosing your substance use disorder treatment records to any person or entity outside the program without your written consent, except in limited circumstances specified by law, including:
- A medical emergency that threatens your life and requires immediate intervention
- Audit or evaluation activities by authorized government agencies
- A valid court order that meets the requirements of 42 CFR Part 2
- To report suspected child abuse or neglect as required by California law
- Research activities that comply with applicable regulations and require no patient-identifying disclosure
Violations of 42 CFR Part 2 are subject to criminal penalties under federal law. We take these protections seriously and train all staff accordingly.
Security Measures
We implement administrative, physical, and technical safeguards to protect your PHI from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. These include access controls, encrypted electronic records systems, secure facility access, and regular staff training on privacy and security obligations.
4. Information Sharing and Disclosure
BHAT Treatment does not sell or share your personal information for commercial purposes. We may disclose your information only in the following circumstances:
Treatment, Payment, and Healthcare Operations
As permitted by HIPAA, we may disclose your PHI to other healthcare providers involved in your treatment (such as referring physicians, hospitals, or specialists), to your insurance company or other payer for billing purposes, and for our internal quality assurance and administrative operations.
With Your Written Authorization
For disclosures not otherwise permitted by law, we will obtain your written authorization before sharing your information. You have the right to revoke an authorization at any time, and we will honor such revocation going forward.
Service Providers
We may share information with trusted vendors and service providers who assist us in operating our facility and website, such as electronic health record platforms, billing services, and IT providers. These parties are contractually bound to protect your information and may not use it for any purpose other than providing services to us.
Legal Requirements
We may disclose information when required by law, such as in response to a valid subpoena, court order, or government investigation, or to report certain communicable diseases or suspected abuse or neglect as mandated by California law.
Emergency Situations
In a medical emergency, we may disclose necessary information to first responders or emergency medical personnel to protect your life or the life of another person.
5. Cookies & Tracking Technologies
Our website may use cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your browsing experience and understand how our website is used. A cookie is a small text file stored on your device by your web browser.
Types of Cookies We May Use
- Essential Cookies: Necessary for the website to function properly, such as maintaining session state. These cannot be disabled without affecting basic website functionality.
- Analytics Cookies: Used to understand how visitors interact with our website, such as which pages are visited most often and how long visitors remain on the site. This information is aggregated and anonymized.
- Preference Cookies: Used to remember your settings and preferences to improve your experience on return visits.
Managing Cookies
You can control cookie settings through your web browser. Most browsers allow you to refuse new cookies, accept or decline cookies on a case-by-case basis, and delete existing cookies. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect your ability to use some features of our website.
Do Not Track
Some browsers include a "Do Not Track" (DNT) feature that signals to websites that you do not wish to be tracked. Our website currently does not respond to DNT signals, but we do not share browsing data for third-party advertising purposes.
6. Your Rights Under California Law (CCPA)
If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA") as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act ("CPRA") grants you certain rights regarding your personal information. Please note that much of the health information we collect as a healthcare provider is exempt from CCPA because it is protected under HIPAA or California's Confidentiality of Medical Information Act ("CMIA"). The rights described below apply to personal information not otherwise exempted.
Right to Know
You have the right to request that we disclose the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the categories of sources from which it was collected, the business or commercial purposes for collecting it, and the categories of third parties with whom it is shared.
Right to Delete
You have the right to request that we delete the personal information we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions, such as where the information is necessary to provide services you requested, to comply with a legal obligation, or to complete a transaction.
Right to Correct
You have the right to request that we correct inaccurate personal information we maintain about you.
Right to Opt-Out of Sale or Sharing
BHAT Treatment does not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising as defined by the CPRA. You therefore do not need to opt out of such activities.
Right to Non-Discrimination
We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA/CPRA rights. We will not deny you services, charge you different prices, or provide a different level of service because you exercised a privacy right.
How to Submit a Request
To exercise any of the rights described above, please contact us using the information in the Contact section of this policy. We will respond to a verifiable request within 45 days as required by law. We may ask you to verify your identity before processing your request.
7. Protected Health Information
Protected Health Information ("PHI") includes any individually identifiable health information we maintain or transmit in any form — electronic, paper, or oral — that relates to your past, present, or future physical or mental health condition, the provision of healthcare to you, or past, present, or future payment for healthcare.
Minimum Necessary Standard
When we use or disclose your PHI, we make reasonable efforts to use or disclose only the minimum amount of information necessary to accomplish the intended purpose. This standard applies to all routine disclosures and requests for PHI.
De-Identified Information
We may use and disclose health information that has been de-identified in accordance with HIPAA standards — meaning all identifying information has been removed — for research, quality improvement, or public health purposes without your authorization.
Business Associates
We may share PHI with our business associates, which are companies or individuals that perform certain functions or services on our behalf that require access to PHI. We are required by HIPAA to have written agreements with our business associates requiring them to protect the privacy and security of your PHI.
Data Retention
We retain patient records and related PHI for the minimum period required by California law and applicable federal regulations. Medical records for adults are typically retained for a minimum of seven years from the date of service or the date of last entry. Records for minors are retained until the patient reaches age 19 or for seven years, whichever is longer.
8. Patient Privacy Rights
As a patient of BHAT Treatment, you have the following rights with respect to your health information under HIPAA and California law:
- Right to Access: You have the right to inspect and receive a copy of your medical records and other information we maintain about you. We may charge a reasonable fee for copies as permitted by law.
- Right to Amend: If you believe information in your record is inaccurate or incomplete, you may request that we amend it. We may deny the request under certain circumstances but will document your request in your record.
- Right to an Accounting of Disclosures: You have the right to receive a list of certain disclosures we have made of your PHI during the prior six years (or shorter period if requested), excluding disclosures made for treatment, payment, or operations.
- Right to Request Restrictions: You have the right to ask us to restrict how we use or disclose your PHI. We are not required to agree to all requested restrictions, but if we do agree, we are bound by that agreement except in emergencies.
- Right to Confidential Communications: You have the right to request that we communicate with you about health matters in a specific way or at a specific location (for example, by mail only at a particular address).
- Right to a Paper Copy of This Notice: You have the right to receive a paper copy of our Notice of Privacy Practices upon request.
- Right to File a Complaint: If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you have the right to file a complaint with us or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact our Privacy Officer using the contact information below.
9. Contact Us About Privacy
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your rights, have concerns about how your information is being handled, or wish to file a privacy complaint, please contact us:
BHAT Behavioral Health & Addiction Treatment Care
You also have the right to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights:
- 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201
- Toll-free: 1-877-696-6775
- Website: hhs.gov/ocr/privacy
We will not take any retaliatory action against you for filing a complaint with us or with the HHS Office for Civil Rights.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or services. When we make material changes, we will update the effective date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of our website or services after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.
Your Privacy Matters to Us
At BHAT Treatment, we handle your personal and health information with the utmost care and discretion. Taking the step toward recovery is courageous, and you can trust that your confidentiality is protected throughout your journey with us.
(951) 614-3130