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.
You have the right to receive a copy of this notice. You can download a PDF copy from this page, and you can ask for a paper copy at any time at either office or by calling 513-928-3339. When you begin care, we will ask you to sign an acknowledgment that you received or were offered a copy of this notice.
SOS Wellness LLC is required by law to maintain the privacy of your protected health information and to give you this notice of our legal duties and privacy practices. This notice covers care at our Middletown and Norwood offices and by telehealth. It also explains what this website, our AI chat and voice assistant, call recordings and cookies collect.
About SOS Wellness LLC
SOS Wellness LLC is a behavioral health organization founded by Dr. Irfan Ahmed Dahar. It holds CARF Preliminary Accreditation and is licensed by the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS). We operate locations in Middletown and Norwood, Ohio, and provide integrated mental health and substance use services to individuals and families in the Greater Cincinnati region.
Our services include psychiatry, therapy, addiction treatment, care coordination, and specialized programs for neurodivergent individuals.
As a covered entity under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and its implementing regulations (45 C.F.R. Parts 160 and 164), we are committed to protecting your privacy and safeguarding your protected health information (PHI).
What is protected health information (PHI)?
Protected health information (PHI) is any information we create or receive that relates to your past, present or future physical or mental health or condition, the provision of health care to you, or payment for your health care. PHI includes information that could identify you, such as:
- Your name, address, date of birth, Social Security number or other identifiers
- Your medical and mental health diagnoses, treatment records and clinical notes
- Prescription and medication records
- Insurance and billing information
- Electronic, written and oral communications containing health information
- Lab results, assessment scores and treatment plans
How we may use and disclose your PHI
We use and disclose your PHI for the following purposes without requiring your specific written authorization.
Treatment
We may use and disclose your PHI to provide, coordinate or manage your mental health and medical care. For example, your therapist may share information with your prescribing psychiatrist to coordinate your treatment plan, or we may share information with outside providers or specialists who are involved in your care.
Payment
We may use and disclose your PHI to obtain payment for services rendered. This includes submitting claims to insurance companies, Medicare, Medicaid or other payers, as well as activities related to billing, collection and insurance eligibility verification.
Health care operations
We may use and disclose your PHI for operational purposes necessary to run our practice, including:
- Quality assurance and improvement activities
- Staff training and supervision
- Compliance and accreditation activities (CARF, OhioMHAS)
- Business planning and administrative functions
- Legal and compliance reviews
As required by law
We will disclose your PHI when required by federal, state or local law, including court orders, subpoenas or other lawful processes.
Public health activities
We may disclose PHI to public health authorities authorized to receive reports of disease, injury or disability; to prevent or control disease, injury or disability; and to report child abuse or neglect.
Abuse, neglect and domestic violence
We may disclose PHI to government authorities authorized to receive reports of abuse, neglect or domestic violence. Ohio law requires us to report suspected child abuse or elder abuse to the appropriate authorities.
Health oversight activities
We may disclose PHI to health oversight agencies for activities authorized by law, including audits, investigations, inspections and licensure activities by agencies such as OhioMHAS and CARF.
Serious threats to health or safety
We may use or disclose PHI if we believe in good faith that it is necessary to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of you, another person or the public.
Coroners, medical examiners and funeral directors
We may disclose PHI to a coroner, medical examiner or funeral director as necessary for them to perform their duties.
Research
We may use or disclose PHI for research purposes, but only after a special approval process is followed to protect your privacy, including institutional review board or privacy board approval.
Specialized government functions
We may disclose PHI for military and veterans' activities, national security and intelligence activities, or to authorized federal officials for the protection of the President or other authorized persons.
Uses and disclosures requiring your authorization
The following uses and disclosures of your PHI require your written authorization:
- Most uses and disclosures of psychotherapy notes
- Uses and disclosures of PHI for marketing purposes
- Sales of PHI
- Most other uses and disclosures not described in this notice
You may revoke any authorization you give us at any time, in writing. Revocation will not affect any actions we have already taken in reliance on your prior authorization.
Special protections for certain information
Certain categories of health information receive heightened legal protection under federal and Ohio law. SOS Wellness applies strict safeguards to the following types of PHI.
Substance use disorder records
Information about your substance use disorder treatment is protected by 42 C.F.R. Part 2 (Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records) in addition to HIPAA. We may not disclose this information without your specific written consent, except in very limited circumstances such as a medical emergency, audit activities or a court order. This protection applies to any information that identifies you as having or receiving treatment for a substance use disorder; the full Part 2 patient notice appears later on this page.
Mental health records
Your mental health records, including psychotherapy notes, are afforded additional protections under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 5122 and federal HIPAA regulations. Psychotherapy notes are kept separately from your general medical record and require separate authorization for disclosure in most circumstances.
HIV/AIDS-related information
Information related to HIV/AIDS testing, status and treatment is protected under Ohio Revised Code Section 3701.243 and requires your specific written consent for disclosure, except in narrow circumstances defined by law.
Genetic information
Genetic information is protected under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) and may not be used or disclosed for underwriting purposes by health plans.
Information about minors
The privacy rights of minor patients are governed by Ohio law regarding parental access to minor records. In certain circumstances, minors may have privacy rights independent of their parents, particularly regarding substance use treatment, mental health treatment sought independently, and reproductive health services.
Your rights regarding your PHI
You have the following rights with respect to your protected health information. To exercise any of these rights, please submit a written request to our Privacy Officer at the address listed under Contact information below.
Right to access your records
You have the right to inspect and receive a copy of PHI about you that is maintained in your designated record set, which includes your medical and billing records. We will respond to your request within 30 days.
We may charge a reasonable, cost-based fee for copies. We may deny access in limited circumstances, including psychotherapy notes and information compiled in anticipation of litigation.
Right to request an amendment
You have the right to request that we amend PHI about you that you believe is incorrect or incomplete. We may deny your request if we did not create the information, if the information is not part of your designated record set, or if the information is accurate and complete. We will respond within 60 days.
Right to an accounting of disclosures
You have the right to request an accounting of certain disclosures of your PHI that we have made in the past six years. This does not include disclosures for treatment, payment or health care operations, or disclosures you have authorized.
Right to request restrictions
You have the right to request restrictions on how we use or disclose your PHI for treatment, payment or health care operations. We are not required to agree to your request, with one exception: we must agree to restrict disclosure of PHI to a health plan for services you paid for out of pocket in full.
Right to request confidential communications
You have the right to request that we communicate with you about your health information in a specific way or at a specific location (for example, by calling only your cell phone or sending mail to a P.O. Box). We will accommodate reasonable requests.
Right to a paper copy of this notice
You have the right to receive a paper copy of this notice at any time, even if you have agreed to receive it electronically.
Right to notification of a breach
You have the right to be notified if a breach of your unsecured PHI occurs. We will notify you without unreasonable delay and no later than 60 days following discovery of the breach.
Our legal duties
SOS Wellness is required by HIPAA and Ohio law to:
- Maintain the privacy and security of your PHI
- Provide you with this Notice of Privacy Practices
- Follow the terms of the notice currently in effect
- Notify you promptly in the event of a breach of unsecured PHI
- Not use or disclose your PHI in a manner not described in this notice without your written authorization (with limited exceptions required by law)
We reserve the right to change the terms of this notice and to make the new notice provisions effective for all PHI we maintain. We will post the revised notice in our offices and on our website, and provide a copy upon request.
Safeguarding your health information
SOS Wellness maintains comprehensive administrative, physical and technical safeguards to protect your PHI in accordance with the HIPAA Security Rule (45 C.F.R. Part 164, Subparts A and C). Our safeguards include the following.
Administrative safeguards
- Designation of a Privacy Officer and Security Officer
- Workforce training on HIPAA and privacy practices
- Access controls limiting staff access to PHI on a need-to-know basis
- Regular risk analysis and risk management activities
- Policies and procedures for handling PHI
Physical safeguards
- Locked and secured facilities and storage areas
- Workstation use policies and screen locks
- Secure disposal of paper records containing PHI
- Access controls to facilities where PHI is stored or accessed
Technical safeguards
- Encrypted electronic health record (EHR) systems
- Secure, HIPAA-compliant telehealth platforms
- Audit controls to track access to electronic PHI
- Automatic logoff and unique user identification requirements
- Encrypted email communications for PHI transmission
Telehealth and digital services
SOS Wellness offers telehealth services via HIPAA-compliant video and audio platforms. The same privacy protections that apply to in-person services apply to all telehealth sessions. We will not record telehealth sessions without your explicit written consent, and your telehealth records are part of your designated record set and subject to all rights described in this notice.
When communicating electronically (email, patient portal, secure messaging), we recommend using only our secure, HIPAA-compliant channels. Unencrypted email is not a secure means of transmitting PHI. If you choose to communicate with us via unencrypted email, you assume the risk of potential unauthorized disclosure.
Business associates
We may share your PHI with our business associates: third-party companies that perform services on our behalf, such as billing companies, electronic health record vendors, IT service providers, credentialing organizations, and the technology providers that host this website, operate our AI assistant and scheduling line, and store call recordings. Our business associates are required by law to enter into a business associate agreement with us and to protect your PHI with the same level of care we apply.
How to file a complaint
If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, or if you are dissatisfied with our privacy practices, you have the right to file a complaint. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint in good faith.
You may file a complaint with the SOS Wellness Privacy Officer. Submit your complaint in writing to Privacy Officer, SOS Wellness LLC, 6730 Roosevelt Ave, Suite 301, Middletown, OH 45005, or by email to kjarrell@sos-wellness.org. You can also call 513-928-3339.
You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (OCR), 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201. Call toll-free 1-800-368-1019 or TDD 1-800-537-7697, or visit www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/complaints.
Contact information and Privacy Officer
Privacy Officer: Kim Jarrell, Practice Administrator, SOS Wellness LLC. Phone 513-928-3339. Email kjarrell@sos-wellness.org.
Middletown location: 6730 Roosevelt Ave, Suite 301, Middletown, OH 45005.
Norwood location: 4411 Montgomery Road, Suite 201, Cincinnati, OH 45212.
General inquiries: inquiry@sos-wellness.org. Website: sos-wellness.org.
For questions about this notice or your privacy rights, contact our Privacy Officer. This notice is available in alternative formats on request, and free interpreter services are available; call 513-928-3339 (TTY: 711).
Confidentiality of substance use disorder records (42 CFR Part 2)
This section is the patient notice required by 42 C.F.R. 2.22 for the substance use disorder services that SOS Wellness LLC provides as a Part 2 program. The confidentiality of records that identify you as seeking or receiving substance use disorder diagnosis, treatment or referral for treatment from SOS Wellness is protected by federal law (42 U.S.C. 290dd-2) and federal regulations (42 C.F.R. Part 2), in addition to HIPAA.
You will be told about these protections when you are admitted to our substance use disorder services, and you will be given a copy of this notice at that time.
What this protection means
Generally, SOS Wellness may not tell anyone outside the practice that you attend the program, and may not disclose any information that identifies you as a person with a substance use disorder, unless one of the following applies:
- You consent in writing. A single written consent can cover all future uses and disclosures for treatment, payment and health care operations until you revoke it in writing; one example is sharing your treatment information with your primary care provider or your health plan.
- The disclosure is authorized by a court order issued under the special procedures in 42 C.F.R. Part 2. A subpoena alone is not enough: a court order must be accompanied by a subpoena or similar legal mandate, and where the law provides for it you will be given notice and an opportunity to be heard before the order is issued.
- The disclosure is made to medical personnel to the extent necessary to meet a bona fide medical emergency.
- The disclosure is made to qualified personnel for scientific research, audit or program evaluation, under the conditions the regulations require.
- The disclosure is otherwise permitted by 42 C.F.R. Part 2, for example to a qualified service organization that performs services for us under a written agreement to protect your records, or to a public health authority in a form that does not identify you.
Uses and disclosures not described in this notice will be made only with your written consent. You may revoke a consent at any time in writing, except to the extent we have already acted on it.
Additional protections
- Your records, and testimony that relays their contents, may not be used or disclosed against you in any civil, criminal, administrative or legislative proceeding by federal, state or local authorities unless you give specific written consent or a court orders it under 42 C.F.R. Part 2.
- Notes that your counselor keeps separately from your record to document a substance use disorder counseling session (SUD counseling notes) require your separate written consent before they can be disclosed.
- Every disclosure we make with your consent is accompanied by a written statement that the information is protected by federal law and may not be further disclosed except as the regulations permit.
- If you consent to a disclosure for treatment, payment or health care operations to a health care provider, health plan or other recipient covered by HIPAA, that recipient may further use or disclose your records as HIPAA permits, but still may not use them against you in a legal proceeding without your consent or a court order.
- Where another federal or state law prohibits or further limits a disclosure described in this notice, we follow the stricter law.
What Part 2 does not protect
- Information about a crime committed by a patient at the program or against any person who works for the program, or a threat to commit such a crime. We may report such a crime or threat to law enforcement.
- Reports of suspected child abuse or neglect that state law requires us to make to the appropriate state or local authorities. Part 2 continues to apply to your original records, but the report itself is permitted.
Your rights under Part 2
- You may request restrictions on uses and disclosures of your records for treatment, payment or health care operations that you have consented to. We will consider every request, and we must agree to restrict disclosure to your health plan for a service you have paid for in full out of pocket.
- You may ask for an accounting of certain disclosures of your records as described under Your rights regarding your PHI above. The Part 2-specific accounting of disclosures made from an electronic record during the previous three years will be available once its federal compliance date takes effect.
- If we have disclosed your records to an intermediary, such as a health information exchange, with your consent, you may ask that intermediary for a list of the disclosures it has made of your records during the previous three years.
- You may obtain a paper or electronic copy of this notice at any time, and you may discuss it with our Privacy Officer.
- You may file a complaint with SOS Wellness and with the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We will not retaliate against you, and you cannot be required to waive your right to complain as a condition of treatment, payment, enrollment or eligibility for benefits.
- You will be notified if a breach of your unsecured substance use disorder records occurs.
Our duties under Part 2
We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your substance use disorder records, to give you this notice, to notify you of a breach of your unsecured records, and to follow the terms of the notice currently in effect. We reserve the right to change this notice and to apply the changes to records we already hold. A revised notice will be posted in our offices and on this website, and a copy will be provided on request or at your next visit.
Violations and complaints
Violation of the federal law and regulations by a program is a crime, and violations are subject to the civil and criminal penalties that apply under HIPAA. Suspected violations may be reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights (contact details under How to file a complaint above), and to the United States Attorney for the judicial district in which the violation occurs.
To complain to SOS Wellness, contact our Privacy Officer, Kim Jarrell, at 513-928-3339 or kjarrell@sos-wellness.org, or write to Privacy Officer, SOS Wellness LLC, 6730 Roosevelt Ave, Suite 301, Middletown, OH 45005. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint.
How to request a copy
You receive a copy of this notice when you are admitted to our substance use disorder services. You can ask for another paper or electronic copy at any time at either office or from the Privacy Officer, and you can download it from this page.
Website, chat, voice assistant, recordings and cookies
This section explains what this website collects and how it is handled. It applies to the public SOS Wellness website; information you share with your care team in person, by phone or through telehealth is covered by the sections above.
Appointments page
- The appointments page lets you explore care options by answering a few multiple-choice questions: who care is for, the kind of support you are looking for, whether you prefer an office visit or telehealth, and how you plan to pay. Your answers stay in your browser while you use the page and are not saved on our servers; they are cleared when you leave the page or start again.
- If you check current visit times, your browser sends only the provider, location, visit type and starting date you selected to our server, which looks up the practice's current schedule and returns the open times. This check accepts no name, contact, health or insurance information, and no appointment is reserved.
- Online booking, online benefits checks and online intake forms are not active. The website does not currently accept or store appointment requests, insurance details, intake answers or signatures, and our team confirms every appointment by phone at 513-928-3339. Before online booking is turned on, we will update this notice to explain what will be collected and how it will be protected.
Chat assistant
- The chat button on our pages opens an AI assistant, not a person, and it tells you so at the start of every conversation. It answers questions using published SOS Wellness information only. It cannot book or change appointments, verify insurance, reach your care team or access patient records, and it does not give diagnosis, medication or treatment advice.
- The assistant is not an emergency service. If you mention suicide, overdose or danger, it directs you to call or text 988, or 911 in an emergency, and to speak with a person.
- When conversation mode is on, the messages you type are sent to our server and then to CallSphere, the technology provider that operates the assistant for SOS Wellness, so that an AI model can generate a reply. When conversation mode is off, only a topic code or a reference to a published answer leaves your browser, never your typed text.
- Each conversation (your messages and the assistant's replies) is stored in encrypted form in SOS Wellness's own database for a limited period, currently 30 days, and is then deleted automatically. During that period, authorized SOS Wellness staff may review conversations to check the assistant's answers, improve the service and investigate problems; every staff view of a conversation is logged.
- You can rate a reply as helpful or not helpful, and that rating is stored with the conversation. The conversation shown in your browser is cleared after 10 minutes of inactivity or when you close the assistant, and you can copy it for your own records before then.
- Please do not share names, dates of birth, insurance numbers, symptoms, diagnoses, medications or other personal or health details in chat. The assistant will never ask for them, and chat conversations are not part of your medical record. For personal questions, call 513-928-3339.
Voice assistant and call recording
- The phone icon in the chat window starts a spoken conversation with the same AI assistant through your browser. A visible notice that voice conversations are recorded and stored securely by SOS Wellness appears before the conversation starts, beside the phone button and on the voice screen, and your browser asks permission to use your microphone. The voice assistant is not a telehealth visit, and your clinical telehealth sessions are never recorded without your written consent.
- During the conversation your audio streams in real time to the AI service so that it can reply, and the window shows "Recording this conversation" the whole time. Each conversation is limited to 5 minutes, you can mute your microphone at any time, and ending the conversation stops your microphone immediately. Spoken replies also appear as text captions in the chat window on your device.
- Both sides of the conversation are recorded and stored, encrypted, in a private cloud storage account dedicated to SOS Wellness, with an encryption key dedicated to SOS Wellness. Recordings cannot be reached from the website or by link; access is limited to the systems and authorized personnel that operate the service on SOS Wellness's behalf, and recordings are kept under SOS Wellness's retention schedule, currently no longer than one year, and then deleted. After the conversation ends, the window tells you whether the recording was saved, partially saved or could not be saved.
- Calls to our 24/7 scheduling line at 417-394-8781 are answered by an AI assistant and may be recorded. Recordings from that line are stored and protected in the same way.
What not to share with the assistant
- Your name together with health details, your date of birth, Social Security number, insurance or member numbers, or payment card details.
- Symptoms, diagnoses, medications, treatment history, or anything about another person's care.
- Anything that cannot wait. If you need help now, call or text 988, or call 911 in an emergency; for anything about your care, call our office at 513-928-3339.
Cookies and browser storage
- This website uses no advertising trackers, analytics cookies, social media plug-ins, embedded maps or third-party fonts. Pages load only from our own servers, plus a secure connection to the voice service when you start a voice conversation. We do not sell visitor data or share it for advertising.
- We use only essential cookies. A staff sign-in cookie is set only when an SOS Wellness staff member signs in to the administration area; it is never set for visitors and expires after 8 hours. A voice-conversation cookie is set only when you start a recorded voice conversation; it holds a random identifier that lets your browser check the status of your recording, contains no personal information, and expires after 24 hours.
- If you use the accessibility settings on this site (text size, contrast, spacing, motion and similar options), your choices are saved in your own browser's storage so that they persist on your device. They are never sent to us.
Security logs
- To operate and protect the website, our servers and hosting providers may process short-lived technical logs, such as the time of a request, the page requested and the network address it came from. These logs are used to run the site, limit abuse and investigate security incidents, not to identify or profile visitors. Our abuse limits store only one-way hashed identifiers, and we do not write chat messages, audio or recordings to application logs.
Email and links to other sites
- Email addresses on this site (inquiry@sos-wellness.org and billing@sos-wellness.org) reach ordinary email, which is not a secure channel for health information. Please call before sending anything sensitive so that our office can offer a secure option.
- This site links to other organizations' websites, such as CARF, OhioMHAS, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, insurers and our technology provider. Their privacy practices apply when you visit them.
Questions or complaints
If you have a question about this notice, want to exercise a right described in it, or believe your privacy rights have been violated, contact our Privacy Officer, Kim Jarrell, Practice Administrator, at 513-928-3339 (TTY: 711) or kjarrell@sos-wellness.org. You can also write to Privacy Officer, SOS Wellness LLC, 6730 Roosevelt Ave, Suite 301, Middletown, OH 45005. You may also file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, using the contact details under How to file a complaint above.
We will not retaliate against you, deny you care, or treat you differently in any way for asking a question, exercising your rights, or filing a complaint with us or with a government agency. You will never be asked to give up your right to complain as a condition of treatment, payment, enrollment or eligibility for benefits.
Effective date and revisions
This Notice of Privacy Practices is effective January 1, 2024, and was last revised in 2025. We reserve the right to change this notice and to apply the revised notice to all PHI we maintain about you. If we make a material change to our privacy practices, we will post the revised notice in our offices and on our website, and provide you with a copy upon your next visit or upon request.
The 42 C.F.R. Part 2 patient notice and the website, chat, voice assistant, recordings and cookies sections of this page were added in October 2026 and are pending SOS Wellness approval. Their effective date will be shown here once SOS Wellness approves them.