SoberPath Terms of Use

Please read these Terms of Use carefully ("Terms"). These Terms govern and apply to your access and use of the communication platform offered by TeleSaas, Inc., TeleSaas services are powering and available through the SoberPath Network (SoberPath Network LLC or the "Network") via the SoberPath website and SoberPath mobile apps ("App") (all hereinafter collectively," SoberPath" and the SoberPath "Service(s)") and any information, text, graphics, photos or other materials uploaded, downloaded or appearing on the Service (collectively referred to as "Content"). By accessing or using the Service, you agree to comply with and to be bound by all of the terms and conditions described in these Terms. If you do not agree to all of these terms and conditions, you are not authorized to use the Service. The terms "You", "Your," and "Yourself" refer to the individual user of the Service.

You hereby certify that you are (i) or are over the age of eighteen (18) or have the legal ability to consent to Therapy or have your Parent/Guardian consent to Therapy, and (ii) physically located or are a resident of the State or Country you have chosen as your current residency when creating your Account. You agree to provide "Contact Information" (your personal contact and/or a close family member/relation) to your Provider to act as an information source to be used in case of a mental health crisis or other emergency where knowledge of your location is crucial. You acknowledge that your ability to access and use the Service is conditioned upon the truthfulness of the information you provide regarding your age, residence and Contact Information and that the Providers you access ("Provider(s)") are relying upon this certification in order to interact with you and provide the Services.

Site Content

Other than the guidance and advice you receive directly by you from your licensed Provider, the other educational, graphics, research sources and other incidental information on the Site, the Content, should not be considered medical advice. You should always talk to an appropriately qualified health care professional for diagnosis and treatment, including information regarding which medications or treatment may be appropriate for you. None of the Content represents or warrants that any particular medication or treatment is safe, appropriate, or effective for you. SoberPath does not endorse any specific tests, medications, products or procedures.

Account Enrollment

To access the Services, you must first enroll to establish an individual user account ("Account"), by providing certain information. You agree that you will not create more than one Account, or create an Account for anyone other than yourself without first receiving permission from the other person. In exchange for your use of the Service and, if applicable, in order for providers to send notices to you, you agree to: (i)provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by our Account enrollment form (understanding you may use an anonymous user name or nickname after you provide certain personal and emergency Contact Information); and (ii) each time you log on, maintain and promptly update such Account information to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or SoberPath has reasonable grounds to suspect that such Account information is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, SoberPath reserves the right to transition your treatment to another Provider outside of SoberPath and refuse any future request(s) to use the SoberPath Services. You shall at all times remain responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your Account password and username (if any) and any other security information related to your Account. SoberPath will not be liable for any loss that you incur as a result of someone else accessing and using your Account, either with or without your knowledge.

Accounts Accessed through Employer Assistance Programs (EAP(s)) or other Network Benefit Programs

In addition to the registration described above, access to the Services through an EAP or an Employer sponsored benefit plan or other insurance backed plans may require you to provide additional registration information. This information is collected to confirm your eligibility with the EAP or network benefit administrator and is not shared with your Provider (who will collect your contact information separately). Further, your Employer or the Employer of the subscriber of your benefits will not be provided this information (you likely already gave them similar information in your employee file unless you are a family member of an eligible employee) and your employer will not be told you or your family member are using the Services unless such information is shared by you or part of a pre-arranged special program. Information collected under these circumstances will include but not be limited to:

This information is required to confirm program or benefit eligibility, your specific benefits, and to prevent insurance and benefit fraud.

Acceptable Use

You agree not to access or use the Service in an unlawful way or for an unlawful or illegitimate purpose or in any manner that contravenes these terms. You shall not post, use, store or transmit(i) a message or information under a false name; (ii) information that is unlawful, libelous, defamatory, obscene, fraudulent, predatory of minors, harassing, threatening or hateful to any person; or (iii) information that infringes or violates any of the intellectual property rights of others or the privacy or publicity rights of others. You shall not attempt to disrupt the operation of the Service by any method, including through use of viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, denial of service attacks, flooding or spamming. You shall not use the Service in any manner that could damage, disable or impair the Service. You shall not attempt to gain unauthorized access to any user accounts or computer systems or networks, through hacking, password mining or any other means. You shall not use any robot, scraper or other means to access the Service for any purpose. Neither SoberPath nor its affiliates are under any obligation to respond to messages posted on the Service. You are solely responsible for the information or material you post on the Service.

The following terms apply to any App accessed through or downloaded from any source (such as the Apple App Store or other similar platforms) where the App is made available (each such distribution platform an "App Provider"). You acknowledge and agree that:

These Terms are between you and SoberPath, and not with the App Provider, and that SoberPath (not the App Provider), is solely responsible for the App; and the App Provider has no obligation to furnish any maintenance and support services with respect to the App claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs or expenses attributable to any failure to conform to any warranty will be the sole responsibility of SoberPath.

If you download the App, such as a stand-alone software product or a browser plugin, you agree that from time to time, the software may require that you download upgrades, updates and additional features we publish in order to improve, enhance, and further develop the software, Service, or App. The Service may change from time to time and/or SoberPath may stop (permanently or temporarily) providing the Service (or features within the Service), possibly without prior notice to you.

Payment

Any payment you make for the use of the Services is used to compensate SoberPath for its software development, overhead, administrative services and other corporate costs and fees, including transaction fees for credit card usage.

The SoberPath Network Providers practicing through the Platform also compensate for the use of the SoberPath technology and for administrative fees. Part of your payment for the use of the Services, accounted for separately, is remitted to the Provider for the direct clinical services provided to you. SoberPath does not participate, split, or take a percentage of this payment to the Provider. Regardless of any payments made, SoberPath does not hold itself out as your direct provider of therapy services as that is the role of your licensed, network accredited Provider. You agree to pay all fees and charges associated with your Account on a timely basis in accordance with the fee schedule, and the terms and rates published by SoberPath from time to time. Such fees and charges (including any taxes and late fees, as applicable) may be charged to the credit card you provided during the initial setup of your Account. You agree to maintain valid credit card information in your Account. By providing SoberPath with credit card information you authorize SoberPath to bill and charge your credit card.

If you access the Services through a EAP or an Employer sponsored benefit plan or other insurance backed plan, your payment will be arranged by a third party "Payor" which is a third party that administers or insures the benefit program you are a member of through your employer. In this instance, you may still be responsible for co-payment or payment for additional services which are explained in your benefit program.

If you are accessing SoberPath provided Psychiatry Services, then you may interface with our prescription provider who will provide you with separate payment information.

Providers

SoberPath does not directly employ the Providers matched through the Service. SoberPath created a modern, digital health network of nationwide digitally trained and accredited Providers. The SoberPath Network only works with independent, licensed, insured and vetted professional Providers. SoberPath has business relationships with many of the largest Healthcare Plans in the Country and as such, SoberPath enforces "NCQA" standards. The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the United States that works to improve health-care quality through the administration of evidence-based standards, measures, programs, and accreditation. The National Committee for Quality Assurance operates on a formula of measure, analyze, and improve and it aims to build consensus across the industry by working with policymakers, employers, doctors, and patients, as well as health plans. The result is that the SoberPath Network employs the highest accreditation standard in the US, one widely used by most healthcare organizations.

In order to receive approval to practice using the SoberPath Network, the applying Provider must be found to be in compliance with the policies and procedures of Talk Space, National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), Managed Behavioral Healthcare Organization (MBHO) standards, federal and state guidelines, and must receive written approval from SoberPath. This verification process includes, but is not limited to:

Verification of licensure. The practitioner holds a valid, current license to practice which is verified directly from the state license agency.

Verification of DEA or CDS certificate for participating Network psychiatrists who can prescribe to Clients under the SoberPath collaborative care referral program.

Verification of proper education and degree.

Verification of board certification for practitioners that state they are board certified.

Verification of a minimum of five years work history and confirmation that the Provider can practice independently at the highest applicable state level of licensure.

Verification of malpractice insurance. A copy of the current malpractice coverage that shows the dates and amounts of coverage obtained from the malpractice insurance carrier or the practitioner.

Verification of malpractice history. This is completed by collecting five years of history of malpractice settlements from the malpractice carrier or through query to National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB).

Verification of any applicable specialized training. Written verification is needed for the completion of any specialized training the practitioner has received from the school or training program that provided the training.

Verification of any Medicare and Medicaid sanctions.

Your relationship with the Provider is strictly with the Provider. SoberPath is not involved in the Provider-patient relationship and does not interfere, validate or control the Provider's treatment unless advocating on behalf of You when following up on a particular complaint. SoberPath has created a national accredited network and employs the most advanced data science available to offer the SoberPath Network Provider the best digital tools to practice SoberPath conducts constant Network quality assurance checks using advanced analytical tools to study such critical issues as Provider availability, response times, and the number and duration of therapeutic interactions. All that stated, You are always advised to exercise a high level of care and caution in the use of SoberPath Network of Providers as you would making any mental health or medical decision. You should never disregard, avoid, or delay obtaining medical advice from your primary doctor or other qualified healthcare Provider or by using or combining SoberPath with traditional face-to-face appointments; solely because of information you saw on the SoberPath site or advice you received through a SoberPath Network Provider. SoberPath supports a holistic approach to mental health and the choices You have to create the best therapeutic journey that matches your individual needs.

Intellectual Property

All of the content available on or through the Service is the property of SoberPath or its licensors and is protected by copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret and other intellectual property law. You agree not to reproduce, retransmit, distribute, disseminate, sell, publish, broadcast, or circulate the content received through the Service to any third party. All software and accompanying documentation made available for download from the Service is the copyrighted work of SoberPath or its licensors. Any copy made of information obtained through the Service must include all applicable copyright notices.

"SoberPath" is a copyrighted terms. All rights reserved. Subject to the terms of this Agreement, SoberPath hereby grants you a limited, revocable, non transferable and non-exclusive license to use the software, network facilities, content and documentation on and in the Service to the extent, and only to the extent, necessary to access and use the Service.

The license granted herein does not permit you to, and you agree not to: (i) modify, translate, reverse engineer, disassemble, decompile or create derivative works of the Service or allow a third party, whether directly or indirectly (including, but not limited to the direct or indirect use of wizards, agents, bots, or other utilities), to modify, translate, reverse engineer, disassemble, decompile or create derivative works of the Service; or (ii) transfer, distribute, sell, lease, rent, disclose or provide access to the Service to any third party or use the Service to provide service bureau, time sharing or other services to third parties.

Disclaimers

Limitations of Liability

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the limitations above may not apply to you.

Hyperlinks

Any link (including a hyperlink, button or referral device of any kind) used in the Service is provided for your use and convenience. The appearance of a link does not constitute an endorsement, recommendation or certification by SoberPath, nor should the presence of a link in any way be construed as a suggestion that any third party website has any relationship to SoberPath. SoberPath does not endorse the content on any third-party websites. SoberPath is not responsible for the content of linked third-party websites or third-party advertisements, and does not make any representations regarding its content or accuracy. SoberPath does not knowingly link to websites that may infringe on valid and existing trademarks, service marks, copyrights or patents. Your use of third-party websites is at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of use for such websites.

International Use and The GDPR

The SoberPath Platform advises both its Client/Users and practicing Platform Providers to be aware of and respect and comply with the local laws of any international based Client. SoberPath is cognizant and respects the formal promulgation of the existing European Union (EU) data privacy regulations. The General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 is a regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the European Union and the European Economic Area. It also addresses the export of personal data outside the EU and EEA and is commonly referred to as "GDPR." SoberPath has always respected our Client's Privacy (see our Privacy Policy) and we were already a HIPAA certified platform following stringent data privacy rules.

The basic tenants of the promulgated GDPR regulations include, but are not limited to the following:

Disclosure when you sell, transfer or third party marketing of User's data: As outlined in this Terms of Use, SoberPath does not sell or transfer Client data and any marketing efforts are focused solely on internal information updates to our registered Clients.

Access to collected data: At SoberPath, you already have the ability to access your shared data (Your personal information, your emergency contact information and all your interactions with your Providers) and use it as you wish.

Clear Consent: At SoberPath our Terms of Use are clear on what consent we seek with regards to your data and prior to your engagement with your Provider, you review and agree to a further "informed consent" process.

Security: At SoberPath we have encrypted our data from day one and has always been stored all Private Health Information with full HIPAA compliance and in an anonymized form as required by the GDPR.

Notice/Audit: At SoberPath, we will provide our Clients notice of any data breach and we employ a full time security Officer, as well as engaging a third party security firm to periodically audit both or code and technology security as well as our HIPAA policies and procedures around data security.

Finally, dependent of your EU country or origin, the GDPR takes into account what was previously termed the right "to forget" or request deletion of your data once you cease using a particular application or site. This particular tenant of the GDPR may conflict with applicable medical records retention laws. In the United States, this requires at least seven years of retention, which is common around the world and is sometime up to ten years or more in certain countries. So, unlike some data platforms, SoberPath cannot erase private health data directly upon a Client's request, as it may be considered essential for other medical file retention purposes. Applicable individual country medical retention laws are generally considered an acceptable exception to the GDPR regulations regarding the right to deletion of certain data.

Termination

SoberPath may suspend or terminate your access to the Service at any time, for any reason or for no reason at all. SoberPath has the right (but not the obligation) to refuse to provide access to the Service to any person, agency or organization at any time, for any reason or for no reason at all, in our sole discretion. SoberPath reserves the right to change, suspend, or discontinue all or part of the Service, temporarily or permanently, without prior notice.

Privacy

You affirmatively consent to the fact that SoberPath's Clinical Oversight Personnel will, as needed, review your particular "Session Transcripts" or "Rooms" in a HIPAA/HITECH approved de-identified form for the following purposes:

During your on-boarding and during the Provider matching process to ascertain you are able to successfully engage with the Provider. This access to only de-identified information may be accomplished using a SoberPath on-boarding specialist and not a Provider;

To review your complaint about a particular issue/instance that your report about your Provider or about a particular language intention with your Provider;

For your safety concerns or complaints of unethical Provider practices;

To transition you to a new Provider or if your account is non responsive or inactive for an extended period of time; or

To address raised quality assurance concern(s) that may apply to an individual Provider, a state-wide compliance issue or a national network issue.

You consent to SoberPath using "Meta Data" and other search terms to scan only HIPAA ‘Safe Harbor" de-identified transcripts to search for trends and patterns that may affect the quality of the Services provided to you or the practices of the Providers. If your particular complaint requires a review of Session Transcripts in the original form, you consent to a SoberPath Licensed Oversight Provider accessing your account only to respond to your particular complaint or raised issue.

You Consent to SoberPath recording your calls to Customer Service to assure Quality Assurance.

You affirmatively grant SoberPath permission to have your Provider periodically provide non-content based clinical assessments of your progress to SoberPath. You understand that SoberPath provides the Providers with clinical assessment tools that serve to provide information on your mental health and well-being; and that results can be seen by your Provider to discuss with you.

All de-identified data, meta-data and research data collected by SoberPath through your use of the Services remains the sole property of SoberPath. SoberPath may share some or all of this research data with third parties in connection with joint or outside research, analytics, or similar purposes. Research data is used in non identifiable aggregate form, that is, as a statistical measure, but not in a manner that would identify you personally. You shall not request that SoberPath remove or delete any of such data.

You agree that the email username you provide can be used by SoberPath to send you marketing offers from SoberPath.

You acknowledge that SoberPath must store all personal data as required by law, typically for no less than seven (7) years, and may not delete such medical records data, even upon your direct request.

Special Programs

From time to time SoberPath offers free programs to its Clients. These include, but are not limited to topics related sexual assault LGTB issues, PTSD and other specific issues. These programs are limited to a certain number of individuals and chosen conditions for which you may not qualify. Your participation in these programs is voluntary and separate agreements and waiver forms may be required.

SoberPath participates in research studies with select universities. You may be offered the opportunity to participate in these studies. These studies may include separate agreement forms, waivers and confidentiality terms that you will have to review and accept separate from these Terms.

Gift Cards

Gift cards are available for purchase to be used solely towards the use of the Service ("Gift Card"). A Gift Card is not a credit or debit card and has no implied warranties. A Gift Card is not redeemable for cash unless required by law and cannot be used to make payments on any charge account. Gift Cards cannot be used to buy other Gift Cards. Gift Cards are not valid or redeemable after the expiration date associated with the Gift Card. SoberPath reserves the right to deactivate or reject any Gift Card issued or procured, directly or indirectly, in connection with fraudulent actions, unless prohibited by law.

Lost or stolen Gift Cards can only be replaced upon presentation of original sales receipt for any remaining balance. It will be void if altered or defaced.

SoberPath is not responsible for emailed Gift Cards that do not reach their intended recipient for any reason. Bounced email is not monitored.

Disputes

Any dispute or claim relating in any way to your use of the SoberPath Service will be resolved by binding confidential arbitration, rather than in court. The Federal Arbitration Act and federal arbitration law apply to these Terms.

There is no judge or jury in arbitration, and court review of an arbitration award is limited. However, an arbitrator can award on an individual basis the same damages and relief as a court (including injunctive and declaratory relief or statutory damages), and must interpret these Terms as a court would.

It is agreed that any dispute resolution proceedings will be conducted only on an individual basis and not in a class, consolidated or representative action. If for any reason a claim proceeds in court rather than in arbitration, SoberPath and you each waive any right to a jury trial. It is further agreed that you may not bring suit in court to enjoin infringement or other misuse of intellectual property rights.

General

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, without regard to any conflict of laws rules or principles. You agree to submit to the venue and jurisdiction of the New York courts in the cases that arbitration is not successful or is assigned or appealed to a civil court. SoberPath's failure to enforce any right or provision of these Terms will not be considered a waiver of those rights. If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable by a court, the remaining provisions of these Terms will remain in effect. Notices required to be given to you by SoberPath may be delivered by electronic mail to the address provided during the creation of your Account. These Terms constitute the entire Agreement between SoberPath and yourself regarding the Service, and supersede and replace any prior agreements you and SoberPath might have regarding the Service. SoberPath may revise these Terms from time to time without notice to you. By continuing to access or use our Service after those revisions become effective, you agree to be bound by the revised terms. We encourage you to read the stems periodically.