Readability level of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act notices of privacy practices used by psychologists in clinical practice.

Obtaining informed consent from a client to participate in psychotherapy includes providing an understanding of what treatment or evaluation is going to take place with the psychologist, as well as what the psychologist may or may not do with the client's records. Psychologists have an obligation to communicate clearly with their clients regarding informed consent. In this investigation, 1 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Notice of Privacy Practices was solicited from a practicing psychologist in each state plus the District of Columbia. The authors then analyzed these forms using 2 measures of readability. A large majority (82%) of these forms were written at the ceiling reading level (12th grade), and almost the entire sample (94%) fell into the difficult range of reading ease. On the basis of the data obtained in this investigation, it is recommended that psychologists move to improve the readability of these documents and should do so to improve clinical practice, reduce liability, and follow ethical standards. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)