Client Rights, Accessibility and Privacy - Mary A. Rackham Institute

MARI's Commitment to Diversity, Respect, Privacy, and Clients

Our commitment to diversity includes providing access to our resources to all people, including people with disabilities. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding the accessibility of this site, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page (in the footer) or email us at MARI-suggestions@umich.edu.

The Mary A. Rackham Institute (MARI), is a client-focused organization that strives to connect our mental health and language and literacy services with those who could benefit from them. We strive to present information to you as clearly as possible. Information may be presented in several formats, including text, video, images, and PDF.

We encourage you to contact us if you have any concerns regarding our accessibility.

Client Records Requests

Clients can request access to their MARI records at any time. The most efficient way to do so is through a MARI Patient Portal message. That means a client needs to log into the online system (more details can be found here: Client Resources and Guides) and send a message with their request. The client will receive a response regarding their request within 72 business hours acknowledging the request. In general, clients can expect to receive appointment summaries within two weeks from the request date. More comprehensive clinical reports (i.e., testing reports) may take longer, but will generally be sent within two weeks after the completion date of the report.

Clients Rights and Responsibility Overview and Downloads

Interpreter Services

MARI has critical documents available in a variety of languages and is continuing to make more available. Click here to learn more: Language Services.

MARI Outpatient Services Agreement

MARI requires all clients to review and acknowledge the patient services agreement before receiving care. To review before signing in our patient portal, see: MARI Outpatient Services Agreement (PDF).

MARI Privacy Policies

HIPAA - Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

MARI has always been committed to protecting our clients’ private health information — even before the Federal government created laws for the use and protection of health information by clinical providers. The Federal laws and related regulations come from the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). These are national rules we must follow to provide our clients with standard privacy protections.

For the full policy, see: MARI HIPAA Policy

Notice of Privacy Practices (NPP)

The NPP is available for viewing, downloading, and printing:

MARI NPP: English (PDF)
MARI NPP: Español (PDF)

Discrimination is Against the Law!

The Mary A. Rackham Institute (MARI) complies with applicable federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.

MARI provides free aids and services to people with disabilities and those whose primary language is not English to help communicate effectively while receiving care, such as:

Qualified sign language interpreters.
Written information in other formats (large print, audio, accessible electronic formats and other formats).
Free language services to people whose primary language is not English, including qualified language interpreters Information written in other languages.

If you need these services while at MARI, call (734) 615-7853.

If you believe that MARI has failed to provide these services or discriminated in another way on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability or sex, you can file a grievance with:

Patient Civil Rights Coordinator Michigan Medicine
Mail: 2901 Hubbard Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2435
Phone: (734) 936-6439
Fax: (734) 615-0979
Email: MichMed_patients_rights@med.umich.edu

You can file a grievance in person, by mail, fax, or email. If you need help filing a grievance, the Patient Civil Rights Coordinator is available to help you.

You can also file a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights. This can be done electronically, through the Office for Civil Rights Complaint Portal, available at https://ocrportal.hhs.gov/ocr/portal/lobby.jsf, by mail or phone at: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 200 Independence Avenue SW, Room 509F, HHH Building Washington, DC 20201 (800) 368-1019 or TDD at (800) 537-7607

Complaint forms are available at: http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/office/file/index.html.

Download, Print or View the Policy

The MARI anti-discrimination policy is available for viewing, download or printing: MARI Anti-Discrimination Notice (18 Languages)

Behavior Support and Management Policy

We are strongly committed to taking all necessary steps at the Mary A. Rackham Institute to promote and maintain a “safe and therapeutic environment.” Our leadership team and staff have a shared vision that emphasizes the importance of:

Safety for all (staff, clients, trainees, visitors).
Minimizing the use of restrictive or controlling behavior management interventions.
Providing the necessary training, support, and resources to ensure safety.

We understand that disruptive, unsafe or unpredictable behavior can occur. When it does, our goal is to prevent the escalation of such behaviors when possible and to be prepared to manage the behavior if necessary. Our staff attend the Nonviolent Crisis Intervention Training program, which teaches us to implement appropriate response procedures. These include strategies for de-escalating problem behaviors. We do not allow restrictive behavior management.

Our goal is to provide for the Care, Welfare, Safety, and Security of all those who are involved in a crisis situation.

To download or print a copy of this policy, see: MARI Behavior Support and Management Policy