Patient Rights & Responsibilities

Santana Mental Health Services is committed to respectful, ethical, and clinically appropriate mental health care. This page summarizes common patient rights and responsibilities. It does not replace the full intake documents, consent forms, privacy notices, or financial agreements completed during care.

Patient Rights

Patients have the right to:

Receive respectful care

Patients have the right to be treated with dignity and respect by Santana Mental Health Services providers and staff.

Ask questions about care

Patients may ask questions about diagnosis, treatment options, risks, benefits, alternatives, and expected next steps. Santana Mental Health Services’ financial agreement states that patients should have an opportunity to ask questions about material risks, alternatives, and prognosis before allowing treatment to be performed.

Refuse proposed treatment

Patients may refuse consent to a proposed procedure or treatment before it is performed.

Privacy and confidentiality

Patients have the right to confidentiality in accordance with federal and state laws, including HIPAA and applicable Florida law. Santana Mental Health Services’ confidentiality agreement states that patient confidentiality will be respected and upheld under federal and state law.

Access medical records

Patients may request access to their own health care records. HHS states that HIPAA generally gives individuals the right to access a broad array of health information about themselves, including medical records, billing and payment records, insurance information, and other information used to make decisions about them.

Authorize release of information

Patients may authorize release of health information to another person or organization when a valid written request or HIPAA authorization is submitted.

Revoke certain authorizations

Patients may revoke certain authorizations in writing, except to the extent Santana Mental Health Services or another covered entity has already acted in reliance on the authorization.

Ask about billing or dispute a balance

Patients may contact Santana Mental Health Services to request clarification, make payment arrangements, update insurance information, or dispute a balance in writing before a scheduled card charge.

Patient Responsibilities

Patients are responsible for:

Providing accurate information

Patients should provide accurate personal, medical, psychiatric, medication, insurance, billing, and contact information.

Updating insurance and contact information

Patients are responsible for keeping phone number, email address, mailing address, insurance information, and payment card information current.

Participating in care

Patients should participate honestly in evaluation and treatment, ask questions when something is unclear, and follow agreed-upon treatment recommendations or discuss concerns with their provider.

Keeping appointments or cancelling in advance

Patients should attend scheduled appointments or cancel according to Santana Mental Health Services’ cancellation policy. Missed appointments or late cancellations may result in fees that insurance may not cover.

Understanding insurance benefits

Patients are responsible for understanding their own insurance benefits, coverage limitations, deductible, copayments, coinsurance, authorization requirements, referral requirements, exclusions, and changes or termination of coverage.

Paying patient responsibility balances

Patients are responsible for balances not paid by insurance, including copayments, deductibles, coinsurance, denied claims, non-covered services, missed appointment fees, late-cancellation fees, returned-payment fees, and other patient responsibility balances.

Using emergency services when needed

Santana Mental Health Services is not an emergency service. If you are in immediate danger, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. For mental health crisis support, call or text 988.

This page is provided for general patient information and does not replace Santana Mental Health Services’ full intake forms, consent forms, privacy notices, financial agreements, or applicable law. If there is any conflict between this page and the signed patient forms, the signed forms and applicable law control. Patients may contact Santana Mental Health Services with questions.