Will Alcohol Treatment Centers in New Jersey Keep My Information Private?

The decision to seek alcohol treatment is complicated. If you are like nearly all people, you have many concerns and more than a few questions when trying to decided whether to seek assistance from a New Jersey alcohol treatment center. Understandably, privacy is important to you. Consequently, you may wonder whether alcohol treatment centers in New Jersey keep your information private. The quick answer to this question is “yes.” With that said, there are some exceptions to this general rule.

General Patient Privacy Rules and Federal Law

Without embarking on an in-depth legal discourse, understand that there is federal law on the books that protects your privacy as a participant in a recovery program offered by an alcohol treatment center. In addition, there are some regulations in place in New Jersey that also restrict disclosure of participant information. Thus, unless an exception to these protections discussed in a moment exist, your information is private when you are a participant in a New Jersey alcohol treatment program.

Court-Ordered Alcohol

In some cases, a court will order a defendant in a criminal cases to participate in an alcohol treatment program. In other situations, a New Jersey court might order alcohol treatment in a divorce case in which child custody is at issue. Moreover, alcohol treatment can be ordered in a case involving child neglect. A person entering into an alcohol treatment center under these types of conditions faces an exception to information privacy. A program participant agrees for the release of certain information to the court and anyone designated by the court to receive this information.

Information Sharing with Other Professionals

Situations can also exist when other professionals not associated with a treatment, including a personal care physician or therapist, may have a need for information about your alcohol treatment. If that is the case, you can authorize the release of information related to your participation in an alcohol treatment program to specific professionals. If you think you’re at a juncture in your life at which entering alcohol treatment makes sense for you, contact a rehab center today at 833-610-1174 to obtain answers to any questions you have about privacy and other issues. When you make the decision to obtain treatment, you typically can commence a program promptly.