Notice of Privacy Practices

Notice of Privacy Practices

Effective date: November 9, 2026
Last updated: November 9, 2026

THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

Autism and Behavioral Spectrum LLC, doing business as AB Spectrum (“AB Spectrum,” “we,” “our,” or “us”), provides ABA therapy, speech therapy and autism evaluations at our clinics in St. Louis, Chesterfield, Florissant, St. Peters and Wright City, Missouri. This notice applies to the health information we create or receive about the children and families we serve at all of these clinics.

In this notice, “you” means the patient. Because most of our patients are children, a parent or legal guardian usually acts for the child and can use the rights described here on the child’s behalf.

If you have questions about this notice, contact our Privacy Officer (see Section 7).

1. Our Responsibilities

  • We are required by law to keep your protected health information (PHI) private and secure.
  • We are required to give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices, and to follow the notice that is currently in effect.
  • We will let you know promptly if a breach occurs that may have compromised the privacy or security of your unsecured PHI.
  • We will not use or share your information other than as described here unless you tell us in writing that we can. If you give us permission, you can change your mind at any time by telling us in writing.

2. How We Use and Share Your Health Information

We may use and share your health information without your written permission for the following purposes. The examples below do not list every use, but every use or disclosure we make without your permission will fall into one of these categories.

A. Treatment, Payment and Health Care Operations

  • Treatment. We use and share your information to provide and coordinate your care. For example, your Board Certified Behavior Analyst, behavior technicians and speech-language pathologist share information to plan and deliver therapy, and we may talk with your child’s pediatrician or other providers involved in care.
  • Payment. We use and share your information to bill and get paid by health plans and others. For example, we give your health plan information about the services we provide so it can approve and pay for them, including prior authorizations.
  • Health care operations. We use and share your information to run our practice, improve care and contact you when needed. For example, we review treatment records to check the quality of care, train staff, handle complaints, and work with auditors, lawyers and accreditation reviewers.
  • Appointment reminders and services. We may contact you to remind you about appointments or to tell you about treatment options and health-related services we offer.
  • Business associates. We may share information with companies that perform services for us, such as electronic records, billing, scheduling, communication and information technology vendors. They must sign agreements to protect your information.

B. People Involved in Your Care

Unless you object, we may share information with a family member, relative, close friend or other person you identify who is involved in your care or helps pay for it, limited to what is relevant to their involvement. We may also share information to notify them of your location or general condition, or with disaster relief organizations. If you are not present or able to agree or object, we may share information if we believe it is in your best interest, using our professional judgment.

C. Other Uses and Disclosures Allowed or Required by Law

  • As required by law, including when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services asks to review our compliance with federal privacy law.
  • Public health and safety, such as preventing disease, reporting adverse reactions to medications, or helping with product recalls.
  • Abuse, neglect or domestic violence. Our clinicians are mandated reporters under Missouri law and must report suspected child abuse or neglect to the appropriate authorities. We may also report suspected abuse, neglect or domestic violence involving adults as allowed or required by law.
  • Serious threats to health or safety. We may share information to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to a person or the public, but only with someone able to help prevent the threat.
  • Health oversight activities, such as audits, investigations, inspections and licensing by government agencies, including Medicaid and other benefit programs.
  • Lawsuits and legal actions. We may share information in response to a court or administrative order, or in response to a subpoena or other lawful request when the law’s conditions are met.
  • Law enforcement, for specific purposes allowed by law, such as complying with a warrant or court order, or identifying or locating a suspect, fugitive, material witness or missing person.
  • Coroners, medical examiners and funeral directors, when needed for their legal duties.
  • Organ and tissue donation requests.
  • Research, when the research has been approved through a process that protects your privacy, such as review by an institutional review board or privacy board.
  • Specialized government functions, such as military, veterans, national security, intelligence and protective services, when the law allows.
  • Workers’ compensation and similar programs, as the law allows.
  • Correctional institutions, if you are in custody, as the law allows.

D. Uses That Require Your Written Permission

We will ask for your written authorization before we:

  • use or share psychotherapy notes, except in limited cases allowed by law;
  • use or share your information for marketing purposes; or
  • sell your information.

Any other use or sharing not described in this notice will be made only with your written authorization. You may revoke an authorization at any time in writing, except to the extent we have already acted on it.

E. Stricter Laws and Special Records

More protective laws. When Missouri law or another federal law gives certain information, such as HIV-related information, more protection than HIPAA, we follow the more protective law.

Substance use disorder records. We are not a substance use disorder treatment program. If we receive records that are protected by federal law at 42 CFR Part 2 from such a program, we will handle them as that law requires. Records protected by Part 2, or testimony about their content, will not be used or shared in any civil, criminal, administrative or legislative proceeding against you unless you give written consent, or a court issues an order after you have been given notice and a chance to be heard, as the law requires. A court order authorizing use or disclosure must be accompanied by a subpoena or similar legal requirement before the records can be compelled.

Redisclosure. Information we share as allowed by this notice may be shared again by the person who receives it and may no longer be protected by federal privacy law, unless another law prevents it.

3. Your Rights

You have the following rights regarding your health information. To use any of these rights, contact our Privacy Officer (see Section 7). We may ask you to make your request in writing.

  • Get a copy of your health and billing records. You can ask to see or get a paper or electronic copy of your medical and billing records and other health information we keep about you, and ask us to send a copy to another person you choose. We will respond within 30 days, which may be extended once by up to 30 more days if we tell you why. We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee. In limited cases we may deny your request, and you may have a right to have the denial reviewed.
  • Ask us to correct your records. You can ask us to correct health information you think is incorrect or incomplete. We will respond within 60 days, which may be extended once by up to 30 days. If we say no, we will tell you why in writing, and you may submit a statement of disagreement.
  • Request confidential communications. You can ask us to contact you in a specific way (for example, by mobile phone instead of home phone) or at a different address. We will say yes to all reasonable requests and will not ask why.
  • Ask us to limit what we use or share. You can ask us not to use or share certain information for treatment, payment or our operations, or with people involved in your care. We are not required to agree, 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 with your health plan for payment or our operations, and we will say yes unless a law requires us to share it.
  • Get a list of those with whom we have shared information. You can ask for a list (an accounting) of the times we have shared your information for up to six years before the date you ask, who we shared it with and why. The list will not include disclosures for treatment, payment and health care operations and certain other disclosures, such as those you asked us to make. We will provide one accounting a year for free and may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for additional requests within 12 months. We will respond within 60 days, which may be extended once by up to 30 days.
  • Get a copy of this notice. You can ask for a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you agreed to receive it electronically. It is also posted on our website at https://www.abspectrum.org/notice-of-privacy-practices/.
  • Choose someone to act for you. A parent or legal guardian of a minor child, or a person with medical power of attorney or legal guardianship, can usually exercise your rights and make choices about your health information. We will confirm the person has this authority before we act.
  • Be notified of a breach. You have the right to be notified if there is a breach of your unsecured health information.
  • File a complaint if you believe your privacy rights have been violated (see Section 5).

4. Changes to This Notice

We can change the terms of this notice, and the changes will apply to all information we have about you, including information we created or received before the change. If we make a material change, we will update the effective date, post the new notice at our clinics and on our website, and make it available on request.

5. Complaints

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you can file a complaint with us by contacting our Privacy Officer (see Section 7).

You can also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights:

  • Online: www.hhs.gov/ocr/complaints
  • By mail: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201
  • By phone: 1-877-696-6775

We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.

6. Website and Text Messages

How we handle information you submit through our website and our text messaging program is also described in our website Privacy Policy, Terms and Conditions and Mobile Terms and Conditions. If those documents and this notice ever conflict about your protected health information, this notice controls.

7. Contact Our Privacy Officer

For questions about this notice, to use any of your rights, or to file a complaint, contact:

Privacy Officer
Autism and Behavioral Spectrum LLC (AB Spectrum)
14733 Clayton Road, Ballwin, MO 63011
Email: info@abspectrum.org
Phone: (314) 339-7732