Rock Springs Communication Guidelines
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Contacting Us
Communication is very important in our work here at Rock Springs. We strive to be very responsive, but we do need to ask your help in understanding that most of us maintain very full schedules with clients and consultations.
We want to do everything we realistically can to maintain open and responsive communication while also maintaining the confidential space that is so very vital to our work together. With these principles in mind, we have developed the following guidelines and policies:
When you need to contact an independent practitioner at Rock Springs for any reason, these are the most effective ways to get in touch in a reasonable amount of time:
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By phone with your practitioner. You may leave messages on the voicemail, which is confidential. All practitioners have a lock-code on their phones.
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By office phone (404-721-7409) You may leave messages on the voicemail, which is treated as confidential once the message arrives at our office. When we cannot pick up your call directly, we do use a service to transcribe the message and then email it to us.
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By text message to your practitioner (see above) – please reserve for scheduling and appointment information only.
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By non-secure email. Our emails are listed on the website and on our business cards. If you wish to communicate with us by normal email or normal text message, please read the information below regarding Third Party Access to Communications regarding the potential confidentiality risks of doing so. We will verify with you in our first correspondence that you understand the benefits, risks, and limitations of confidentiality. Your reply and use of email acknowledge that you accept these limitations.
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By the contact page on the website (www.RockSprings.us).
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Please NOTE: If you are in an environment where you need or prefer secure email and text, please speak with your practitioner so that we can make arrangements.
If you need to send a file such as a PDF or other digital document, you may send it via fax to 404-524-4466 or attach it to an email to your practitioner.
We are sometimes asked to connect on social media. However, to protect YOUR confidentiality, we usually cannot accept connections.
Please speak with your practitioner about any concerns you have regarding my preferred communication methods.
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Response Times
We may not be able to respond to your messages and calls immediately. For voicemails and other messages, you can expect a response within one business day (weekends and holidays are excepted from this timeframe.) We may be able to reply more quickly than that but please be aware that this will not always be possible. Also, please be aware that there may be times when an individual practitioner is unable to receive or respond to message, when out of cellular range or out of town.
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Emergency Contact
If you are ever experiencing an emergency, including a mental health crisis, please call 9-1-1 or your local hospital and then afterwards call us to let us know how you are and if we can help. If you need to contact us about an emergency, the best method is by phone. If you cannot reach us by phone, please leave a voicemail and then follow up with a text message. However, please bear in mind that SMS (normal phone text messages) are not designed for emergency contact. SMS text messages occasionally get delayed and on rare occasions may be lost. So, please refrain from using SMS as your sole method of communicating with us during emergencies.
Disclosure Regarding Third-Party Access to Communications
Please know that if we use electronic communications methods, such as email, texting, online video, and possibly others, there are various technicians and administrators who maintain these services and may have access to the content of those communications. In some cases, these accesses are more likely than in others.
Of special consideration are work email addresses. If you use your work email to communicate with us, your employer may access our email communications. There may be similar issues involved in school email or other email accounts associated with organizations that you are affiliated with. Additionally, people with access to your computer, mobile phone, and/or other devices may also have access to your email and/or text messages. Please take a moment to contemplate the risks involved if any of these persons were to access the messages, we exchange with each other.
Please note: if you should ever need a secure email arrangement, please use our client portal at https://RockSprings.clientsecure.me