SWEETSER
Notice of Privacy Practices
Effective April 14, 2003, as revised February 16, 2026
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW HEALTH CARE INFORMATION ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED, YOUR RIGHTS WITH RESPECT TO YOUR HEALTH CARE INFORMATION INCLUDING HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION AND HOW TO FILE A COMPLAINT CONCERNING A VIOLATION OF THE PRIVACY OR SECURITY OF YOUR HEALTH CARE INFORMATION OR OF YOUR RIGHTS CONCERNING YOUR INFORMATION.
PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.
YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO A COPY OF THIS NOTICE (IN PAPER OR ELECTRONIC FORM) AND TO DISCUSS IT WITH SWEETSER’S PRIVACY OFFICER IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS (tel. 1-800-434-3000 or email info@sweetser.org)
Sweetser is required by law to maintain the privacy of your health care information, to provide you with a notice of Sweetser’s legal duties and privacy practices with respect to your health care information and to notify affected individuals if there should be a breach of unsecured health information held by Sweetser. Sweetser is required to follow the terms of the privacy notice in effect at any particular time, but Sweetser reserves the right to change its privacy practices at any time. Any change will apply to all health care information maintained by Sweetser and will be set forth in a new notice of privacy practices which will be available at your next visit following the change. At any time, you may obtain a copy of the notice of privacy practices currently in effect by requesting a copy in writing from Sweetser’s Privacy Officer at the address specified below. A copy of the notice in effect at any time is also available on Sweetser’s public website, sweetser.org.
Use and disclosure of your health care information
Sweetser may use your health care information for purposes of treatment, payment and health care operations. For example:
Your information may be used to assess your needs and develop an individualized service plan or to coordinate a referral to another health care provider.
Portions of your information may be submitted to a state agency, insurance carrier or other third-party payer to secure payment for services provided to you, unless you have arranged personally to pay in full all charges for services provided to you.
Your information may be used for operations of Sweetser related to health care activities, such as quality assurance, evaluation, training, audits and administration.
Sweetser may use your health care information to contact you to remind you of an appointment or to provide information about treatment alternatives or other health services or about Sweetser and our programs. We may also use it to contact you for fundraising purposes, but if we do so, you have the right to choose not to receive subsequent fundraising communications and we will offer you the option to do so.
Sweetser may disclose your health care information to another person or entity performing services on Sweetser’s behalf which require access to your information. That person or entity will have access to your information only to perform those services and must agree in writing to maintain the confidentiality of your information and to be subject to the federal HIPAA privacy rules.
Sweetser may disclose your health care information without your authorization as permitted or required by applicable law, including any of the following: to comply with public health statutes and rules; to provide pertinent information to a person authorized by law to act on your behalf such as a legal guardian, agent under a health care power of attorney or surrogate; to make any required reports of abuse or neglect; to comply with health care oversight activities of a government agency (such as licensing); to comply with a court order, search warrant or other lawful process; to assist law enforcement to identify or locate a suspect, fugitive or material witness; to report evidence of a crime committed on Sweetser’s premises; to allow approved research projects to be conducted; to provide information to a medical examiner in the event of your death; to avert a serious threat to your or anyone else’s health or safety; or to provide information for workers’ compensation purposes.
Sweetser participates in HealthInfoNet, a statewide health information exchange (HIE) designated by the State of Maine. The HIE is a secure computer system for health care providers to use to share your important health information to support treatment and continuity of care. As a participant, Sweetser makes available to the HIE the health care information of yourself and other Sweetser clients related to services you receive from Sweetser, which may include but is not limited to assessments, diagnoses, treatment plans, progress notes, crisis plans, test reports, medication evaluations and prescriptions. To ensure your health information is entered into the correct record, also included are your full name and birth date. The information is accessible to other participating providers to support treatment and healthcare operations. All information contained in the HIE is kept private and used in accordance with applicable state and federal laws and regulations. Under Maine law, because Sweetser is a licensed mental health agency, the HIE may only make information from your Sweetser health record available to other providers if you give permission for your mental health information to be made available (called “opting in”) or if there is an emergency involving either a serious threat to someone’s health or safety or an imminent risk of serious harm to you.
You may choose to “opt out” completely so that your health information is not made available in the HIE. Sweetser will still provide services to you if you do so. For more information about HealthInfoNet and your choices regarding participation, visit www.hinfonet.org or call toll-free 1-866-592-4352.
Except as described above, Sweetser will not use or disclose your health care information without your written authorization. Your written authorization will in any event be required for any use or disclosure of psychotherapy notes and for any use or disclosure of health care information which is for marketing purposes or which involves sale of your health care information. You may revoke any authorization at any time, in writing or verbally, by communicating the revocation to the clinician or caseworker principally responsible for your care, or to a supervisor or manager within the program from which you receive services, or to a member of Sweetser’s Client Records Department staff. Revocation will not, however, be effective with regard to actions already taken in reliance on your authorization.
Your privacy rights
You may request restrictions on the use or disclosure of your health care information, but Sweetser is not required to agree to any requested restriction. It is Sweetser’s policy not to agree to such a restriction unless Sweetser determines, in its sole discretion, that there is compelling need for the restriction and the restriction can feasibly be implemented. Sweetser will, however, agree not to disclose your health care information to a health plan in order to obtain payment for services provided to you if Sweetser has received payment in full for the services from you or someone acting on your behalf.
You may request that communications to you be given in a way which will help keep them confidential, for example, by using a particular address or telephone number to contact you. Sweetser will comply with such a request if it is reasonable and feasible.
To request restrictions or a confidential manner of communicating, you should submit a written request to the clinician or caseworker principally responsible for your care, or to a supervisor or manager within the program from which you receive services, or to a member of Sweetser’s Client Records Department staff.
You have the right:
to receive an accounting of any disclosures of your health care information apart from ones which you authorized or which were made for treatment, payment or health care operations;
to inspect and copy your health care information;
to amend your health care information; and
to receive a paper copy of this Notice of Privacy Practices.
To exercise any of the above rights, please submit your request in writing to Sweetser’s Privacy Officer at the address below. You may also contact the Privacy Officer to obtain further information about Sweetser’s privacy policies and practices.
Substance Use Disorder Information
Information that identifies you as being diagnosed with a substance use disorder, having a substance use disorder or being referred for treatment for a substance use disorder has special protection under federal law. Use or disclosure of this kind of information generally requires your written consent. Your written consent would be required, for example, to disclose this kind of information even to your spouse or other close relative or to your attorney representing you in a legal matter. You may provide a single consent for all future uses and disclosures of this information for purposes of treatment, payment and health care operations. Information so disclosed for treatment, payment or health care operations to an entity subject to the federal HIPAA privacy rule may be further disclosed to the extent allowed by the HIPAA privacy rule. If you provide consent for these or other purposes, you may subsequently revoke the consent but any revocation will not apply to any uses or disclosures occurring prior to the revocation.
The circumstances in which uses or disclosures of your substance use disorder information may occur without your written consent are more limited than those listed above for other types of health care information and include the following circumstances.
- Your information may be communicated to or among and may be used by Sweetser personnel in connection with their duties arising out of the provision to you of diagnosis, treatment or referral.
- Your information may be disclosed to medical personnel to meet a medical emergency in which your prior written consent cannot be obtained or when Sweetser’s office may be closed during a declared state of emergency.
- Your information may be disclosed to those conducting approved research provided that applicable requirements for informed consent or waiver of informed consent have been met.
- Your information may be disclosed in connection with a management audit, financial audit or program evaluation.
- Your information may be disclosed for public health purposes provided that it has been de-identified.
- Your information may be disclosed pursuant to a valid court order.
- Records, or testimony relaying the content of such records, shall not be used or disclosed in any civil, administrative, criminal, or legislative proceedings against you unless based on specific written consent or a court order.
- Records shall only be used or disclosed based on a court order after notice and an opportunity to be heard is provided to you or to the holder of the record where required by federal law.
- A court order authorizing use or disclosure must be accompanied by a subpoena or other similar legal mandate compelling disclosure before the record is used or disclosed.
- Your information may be disclosed to provide pertinent information to a person authorized by law to act on your behalf such as a legal guardian, agent under a health care power of attorney or surrogate only if you have been adjudicated to be incapacitated for reasons other than insufficient age.
- Absent an adjudication of incapacity, if a medical condition prevents you from knowing or taking action on your own behalf, your information may be disclosed only to obtain payment for services.
- Your information may be disclosed to provide information to a medical examiner in the event of your death.
- Your information may be used or disclosed for fundraising purposes only if you have first been provided with a clear and conspicuous opportunity to elect not to receive fundraising communications.
- Your information may be disclosed to report suspected abuse or neglect as required by law.
- Your information may be reported to law enforcement if directly related to your commission of a crime on Sweetser’s premises or against Sweetser personnel or a threat to commit such a crime.
- Your information may be disclosed to a qualified service organization which performs services for Sweetser that require access to your information provided that the organization agrees in writing to maintain the confidentiality of your information and to be subject to the federal Part 2 rules.
With respect to your substance use disorder information, you are entitled to the privacy rights set out above and to these additional privacy rights:
- You have the right to an accounting of disclosures which were made with your consent and, in the case of disclosures made through Sweetser’s electronic health record, disclosures which were made for purposed of treatment, payment or health care operations.
- You have the right to an accounting of disclosures made by an intermediary such as a health information exchange.
Information and Complaints
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may complain to Sweetser or to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. To file a complaint with Sweetser, please submit your complaint in writing to Sweetser’s Compliance Officer at the address below. A complaint form will be supplied on request but is not required. Nobody is permitted to retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
To exercise rights or obtain information: To file a complaint with Sweetser:
Privacy Officer Compliance Officer
Sweetser Sweetser
50 Moody Street 50 Moody Street
Saco, ME 04072 Saco, ME 04072
(207) 294-4400
To file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office for Civil Rights, US Dept. of Health & Human Services
200 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, D.C. 20201
Phone: 1-877-696-6775
Sweetser SMS/Text Messaging Terms and Conditions
Welcome to Sweetser’s SMS/Text Messaging service. By opting in or providing your mobile number, you agree to the following terms and conditions:
- Program Purpose
Sweetser uses SMS messaging to provide important updates, appointment reminders, and operational alerts related to our services.
- Consent
By submitting your mobile number or opting in, you consent to receive SMS messages from Sweetser. Consent is not a condition of receiving other services unless required for your role.
- Message Frequency
Messages will be sent as needed. Frequency may vary depending on service requirements or operational needs.
- Costs
Standard message and data rates may apply. Please check with your mobile carrier for details.
- Opt-Out
You may opt out at any time by replying STOP to any message. For programs where participation is required (e.g., staff alerts), contact your supervisor to update your contact information.
- Help
For assistance, reply HELP or contact us at:
Email: ishelpdesk@sweetser.org
Phone: 800-434-3000
- Privacy
Sweetser collects your phone number and message history solely to provide SMS services. We do not sell or share your information for marketing purposes. For more details, please review our #.
- Liability
Sweetser and mobile carriers are not responsible for delayed or undelivered messages.
- Changes to Terms
We may update these Terms and Conditions at any time. Continued use of the SMS service constitutes acceptance of any changes.
- Governing Law
These Terms and Conditions are governed by the laws of the State of Maine.