Who We
Are
At Catholic Healthcare West, we are committed to providing patients
and users of this Service authoritative and reliable health
information. To achieve our goal of providing online information
that is thorough, well-written, accurate, up-to-date, and unbiased,
we have developed a rigorous set of ethical and editorial standards
and processes.
This website, including all of its content,
look and feel, databases, domain name (collectively the "Service")
is owned and maintained by or for Catholic Healthcare West (CHW), a
California non-profit public benefit corporation, on behalf of
itself and its hospitals, research institutes, clinics, outreach
programs, wellness education programs, and home health agencies,
all of which are hereinafter collectively referred to as "CHW",
"we", "us", or "our". The term "you" or "your" refers to viewers or
users of this Service.
This document,
consisting of Part I, Part II, and Part III, is both an AGREEMENT
hereby entered into by you and CHW and also the policy of CHW in
making this Service available to you.
Part I - Services
Provided through this Website
This Part I describes how information provided through this Service
is selected, reviewed, and updated, and what the role of this
Service is in providing information. If you have any questions,
suggestions, or comments, please contact our Website Service
manager at webmaster@chw.edu
This Service
provides health information, not medical
advice
The information and online services we provide through this Service
are not meant to replace the advice and care you receive from your
physician or other health care professionals. The "My Health"
section of the Service is not reviewed or moderated by a healthcare
professional. Unless specifically stated otherwise, any chat rooms
or other message forum accessed via this Service are not moderated
by a healthcare professional, and any communications in such chat
rooms do not constitute medical advice and should not be relied
upon as such. Any medical information on any online
pre-registrations forms or referral forms which may be made make
available through this Service as a convenience to you is not be
reviewed by a healthcare provider until after your in-person
registration.
We hope that this information will help you
to be better able to participate with your health care providers in
making informed decisions about your care. Except where explicitly
stated otherwise, it is not intended as specific medical advice. It
is not a substitute for appropriate professional medical treatment
or diagnosis. The resources, data submission forms, and other means
of communication provided through this Service are for non-urgent
purposes only.
Do not attempt to access emergency care
through this Service. If you think you have a medical or
psychiatric emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest hospital.
What is a medical
or psychiatric emergency?
An emergency medical condition is a medical
or psychiatric condition that manifests itself by acute symptoms of
sufficient severity (including severe pain) such that you could
reasonably expect the absence of immediate medical attention to
result in any of the following:
serious jeopardy to your
health
serious impairment in your bodily
functions
serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or
part
Examples of symptoms that may be an emergency medical condition
include the following:
chest pain or pressure which may radiate to
the arms, neck, back, shoulder, jaw, arm, or
wrist
sudden onset of severe abdominal pain
severe shortness of breath
sudden decrease in or loss of
consciousness
sudden inability to talk or to move one side of the body, or sudden
slurred speech
severe, persistent bleeding that cannot be
stopped
major injuries such as gunshot or stab wounds or severe injuries
from a vehicle accident
If you think you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911
immediately! Do not attempt to access emergency care through this
Service.
If you are not sure what type of care you
need, please call your personal physician.
What is an urgent
symptom?
An urgent care need is one that requires
prompt medical attention, usually within 24 to 48 hours, but is not
an emergency medical condition. Examples of urgent care situations
include:
minor injuries
sore throats and upper respiratory
symptoms
earaches
coughs
backaches
frequent urination or burning sensation when
urinating
If you think you have an urgent symptom, please do not send a
message through this Service. Please call your local medical
facility or advice nurse.
Content selection
and credibility
Topics to be covered, their emphasis, and
placement on the site are determined by our Service content
team.
Whether produced by CHW or licensed from
outside sources, our site will contain health information that we
believe to be credible and up-to-date. We will not make claims of
therapeutic benefit without reasonable support. We encourage you to
submit any comments or concerns you have about any health
information Content on this Service by contacting our Web Service
manager at webmaster@chw.edu.
Where our health
information comes from
The health
information on this Service is either:
authored or produced by CHW staff and
physicians
licensed from reviewed and approved outside sources
Health
links
To provide you with
additional resources, this Service may contain hyperlinks to
non-CHW services. However, unless we state otherwise, providing an
external link does not imply its may be of benefit to you or that
it is formally endorsed by CHW. We will make reasonable efforts to
ascertain that linked sites abide by appropriate ethical standards
of conduct. While we do select the sites we link to with care, we
do not vouch for or assume responsibility for the material
contained on those sites.
When you do choose to link to an external
site, you will be clearly advised that you are exiting our
site.
External health-related Services to which we
provide a link must meet all of the following criteria:
The Service is provided by an organization
known to CHW
It offers relevant products, services, and/or health
information
The health information on this site meets our standards for
thoroughness, accuracy, relevance, and
timeliness
We reevaluate all external health-related Services to which we link
at least annually.
Classes
Information on health education or other classes will be updated
regularly. However, we urge you to call the telephone number
provided in order to make sure class information is up-to-date.
Updating our
policy
As the types of health and
medical information we produce and review undergo change, we will
update this policy. The date of the most recent update will be
clearly posted at the end of this policy. We encourage you to
periodically reread this policy, to see if there have been any
changes to our policies that may affect you.
Vendor
relationships
We will clearly disclose on the site any significant business
relationships between CHW and other organizations mentioned on our
site. We will make reasonable efforts to determine that companies
that provide health content or health-related services for this
Service abide by appropriate ethical standards of conduct.
Conflict-of-interest
policy
To keep our health
information as free from bias as possible, we require all CHW
authors, editors, message board moderators, and other content
contributors to this Service to disclose any potential conflicts of
interest they may have. Possible conflicts of interest include
financial relationships or other affiliations with businesses or
organizations that promote or sell products or services that are
the subjects of the health information being considered. If such
conflicts of interest exist, or if there would be a reasonable
perception by the public that a conflict of interest could exist,
the person would be excluded from contributing to that particular
topic.
Advertising
policy
This Service does not accept payment for advertising from any
source not affiliated with CHW.
Product sales
policy
Any information promoting a
product or service that is offered for sale via this Service will
be clearly identified as marketing information.
Part II - Privacy
Practices for this Service
This Part II of the policy describes how we protect your privacy as
a user of this Service; not as a patient. If you are a patient of a
CHW medical facility, you have other rights with respect to data
within a designated record set, which is a term defined under the
Health Insurance and Portability and Accountability Act of 1996
("HIPAA"). For a more complete description of a patient's rights
under HIPAA, please refer to the Joint Notice of Privacy Practices
of your specific CHW medical facility by clicking here.
Web Site Privacy
Statement
We do not sell or rent
personal information received through your use of this Service.
This Service has security measures in place
to help protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of
information under our control. These measures include encryption of
data using the Secure Socket Layer (SSL) system, and using a
secured messaging service when we send you personal information
electronically. Despite these measures, the confidentiality of any
communication or material transmitted to or from us via this
Service by Internet or e-mail cannot be guaranteed. At your
discretion, you may contact us at the mailing address or telephone
number listed under a particular CHW facility website herein. If
you have privacy or data security related questions, please feel
free to contact the office identified at the end of this
document.
Use of Data
Received in Pre-Registration or Referral
Forms
Should you submit information on a pre-registration form using this
Service, the data ("Data") therein may become part of a designated
record set that we create for you. However, such Data will not be
reviewed by a healthcare provider and will not be deemed part of
our designated record set unless and until you are registered in
person at our medical facility. Should you fail to be registered in
person at the CHW medical facility and date designated, we will
keep the Data for up to thirty (30) days and thereafter delete it
from our files.
Site Visitor
data
CHW routinely gathers data on activity at this Service site, such
as how many people visit the site, the pages they visit, where they
come from, how long they stay on the site, etc. The data is
collected on an aggregate, anonymous basis, which means that no
personally identifiable information is associated with the data.
This data helps us improve the Service for you, including it site
content and overall usage. The information is not shared with other
organizations for their independent use.
Collecting and
using personal information
Except as disclosed in this policy and the Joint Notice of Privacy
Practices, we do not collect any identifiable information about
visitors to this site.
1. Web
logs
We maintain standard web logs
that record data about all visitors and customers who use this site
and we store this information for a while. These logs may contain
the Internet domain from which you access the site (such as
aol.com, abc.org, etc.); the IP address which is automatically
assigned to your computer when you get on the Internet (a static IP
address may be identifiable as being connected to you, while a
dynamic address is usually not identifiable); the type of browser
and operating system you use; the date and time you visited the
site; the pages you viewed on the site; the address of the website
you linked from, if any. If you sign on to this Service to use its
secured features, our web logs will also contain an individual
identifier and show the services you have accessed.
All web logs are stored securely, and may
only be accessed by CHW employees or designees on a need-to-know
basis for a specific purpose. CHW uses web log information to help
us design our site, to identify popular features, to resolve user,
hardware, and software problems, and to make the site more useful
to visitors.
2. Internet
cookies
We may place Internet
"cookies" on the computer hard drives of visitors to this Service
site. Information we obtain from cookies helps us to tailor our
site to be more helpful and efficient for you. The cookie consists
of a unique identifier that does not contain information about you
or your health history. We use two types of cookies, "session"
cookies and "persistent" cookies.
A session cookie is temporary, and expires
after you end a session and close your web browser. We use session
cookies to help customize your experience on our site, maintain
your signed-on status as you navigate through our features, and to
track your "click path" through our web pages.
Persistent cookies remain on your hard drive
after you've exited from our site, and we use them for several
reasons. For instance, when you give us permission to "remember" a
feature about you when asked by the web site, such as your nearest
CHW medical facility, we place a persistent cookie on your hard
drive so that the next time you visit us, we won't have to ask you
that information again. If you've given us permission to e-mail you
with information about your CHW health care services, or for other
reasons, we may place a persistent cookie on your hard drive that
will let us know when you come back to visit our site. We sometimes
use this type of persistent cookie with a "web beacon" (see below).
Persistent cookies will not contain any personal information about
you such as a Catholic Healthcare West Health/Medical Record
number.
You may have software on your computer that
will allow you to decline or deactivate Internet cookies, but if
you do so, some features of this site may not work properly for
you. For instructions on how to remove cookies from your hard
drive, go to your browser's help file for detailed instructions and
browser updates available from the browser licensor. In addition,
further information regarding cookies may be available on other
websites or from your Internet service provider. Netscape and
Internet Explorer are two common browsers.
3. Web
beacons
We may also occasionally use "web beacons" (also known as "clear
gifs," "web bugs, " "1-pixel gifs," etc.) that allow us to collect
non-personal information about your response to our e-mail
communications, and for other purposes. Web beacons are tiny
images, placed on a Web page or e-mail, that can tell us if you've
gone to a particular area on our Service site. For example, if
you've given us permission to send you e-mails, we may send you an
e-mail urging you to use a certain feature of this Service. If you
do respond to that e-mail and use that feature, the web beacon will
tell us that our e-mail communication with you has been successful.
We do not collect any personal health information with a web
beacon, and do not link web beacons with any other personal health
information you've given us.
Since Web beacons are used in conjunction
with persistent cookies (described above), if you set your browser
to decline or deactivate cookies, Web beacons cannot function.
4.
E-mails
We may use a third-party
vendor to help us manage some of our e-mail communications with
you. While we may supply this vendor with e-mail addresses of those
we wish them to contact, your e-mail address is never used for any
purpose other than to communicate with you on our behalf. When you
click on a link in an e-mail, you may temporarily be redirected
through one of the vendor's servers (although this process will be
invisible to you) which will register that you've clicked on that
link, and have visited our Service site. CHW never shares any
information, other than your e-mail address, with our third-party
e-mail vendor, which does not share these e-mail addresses with
anyone else.
Even if you have given us permission to send
e-mails to you, you may revoke that permission at any time by
following the "unsubscribe" information at the bottom of each such
e-mail.
5. Evaluation and
research
We will periodically ask
users to complete surveys asking about their experiences with
features of the Web site. Our surveys ask visitors for demographic
information such as age, gender, and education, but will not
request in such surveys that users provide specific information
about any medical condition. We use survey information for research
and quality improvement purposes, including helping CHW to improve
information and services offered through this Service. In addition,
users giving feedback may be individually contacted for follow-up
due to concerns raised during the course of such evaluation.
Demographic information and web log data may be stored for future
research and evaluation.
6. Messages and
transactions
Comments or questions
sent to us using e-mail or secure messaging forms will be shared
with CHW staff and health care professionals who are most able to
address your concerns. We will archive your messages once we have
made our best effort to provide you with a complete and
satisfactory response. However, they will not become part of your
medical record or a designated record set unless and until you are
seen and examined in person by a CHW healthcare professional.
When you use a service on the secure section
of this Web site to interact directly with Catholic Healthcare West
health care professionals, some information you provide may be
documented in your medical record, and available for use to guide
your treatment as a patient.
7. Credit card
transactions
If you provide us
with your credit card number for pharmacy prescriptions or other
payments, we will treat your credit card number in a secure manner.
But your credit card number should never be entered into an
unsecured website page. Not all pages on this Service are intended
to be secure. Only provide a credit card number in the box that we
specifically designate.
8. Data integrity
and correction
Requests to view
and correct personal information on this Service that is documented
in your medical record may be submitted using the contact
information provided at the end of the Joint Notice of Privacy
Practices for your specific CHW medical facility (list of CHW
facilities and homehealth agencies).
9.
Children
We do not knowingly allow or solicit anyone under the age of 13 to
participate in any activity at this site, and we do not knowingly
allow CHW patients under the age of 13 to create accounts that
allow access to the secured features of this site.)
10.
Disclosures
We may disclose
personal information to any person performing audit, legal,
operational, or other services for us. We will use information
which does not identify the individual for these activities
whenever feasible. Personal information disclosed to vendors or
contractors for our operational purposes may not be re-disclosed to
others by such a vendor or contractor.
We may disclose personal information when
required to do so by a subpoena, court order, or search warrant. We
may disclose personal information as we deem it appropriate to
protect the safety of an individual or for an investigation related
to public safety or to report an activity that appears to be in
violation of law. We may disclose personal information to protect
the security and reliability of this Service and to take
precautions against liability.
11. Opt
out
If a user makes a request to receive information in an ongoing
manner through this Service by providing their e-mail address (for
example, requesting a subscription to one of our online
publications), a user may make a request to discontinue future
mailings. Similarly, if you receive information about a CHW service
through e-mail, you may make a request to discontinue receiving
similar messages in the future. All such materials sent to you by
e-mail will contain information about how to opt out.
Part III - Terms
and Conditions for this
Service
Purpose
CHW provides this Service a to allow its users to view information,
communicate with our providers and staff and each other, and obtain
clinical and insurance services. This resource is not a substitute
for the advice of your personal physician or other qualified health
care professional. The mention of specific products or services by
this Service does not constitute or imply a recommendation or
endorsement by CHW unless it is specifically stated.
Links
This Service may provide links to other websites that are not owned
or controlled by us. We are not responsible for the privacy
practices of other websites. Consult the privacy statement of each
website you visit. Links to other websites do not constitute or
imply endorsement by CHW of those sites, the information they
contain, or any products or services they describe.
Access,
correction, and data integrity
Although we attempt to ensure the integrity and accurateness of
this Service, we make no guarantees as to its correctness or
accuracy. It is possible that the Service could include
typographical errors, inaccuracies, or other errors, and that
unauthorized additions, deletions, and alterations could be made to
the Service by third parties. In the event that an inaccuracy
arises, please inform us so that it can be corrected.
Revisions,
changes, and updates
We may revise
our policies and the information provided by this Service or change
or update the Service without notice. CHW may also make
improvements and/or changes in products and/or services described
in this information or add new features at any time without notice.
Any revised policy will apply both to information we already have
about you at the time of the change, and any personal information
created or received after the change takes effect. We encourage you
to periodically reread these Terms and Conditions to see if there
have been any changes to our policies that may affect you.
Visitor/member
message boards and other interactive
areas
CHW may, but is not obligated to, monitor or review any areas of
this site where visitors transmit or post communications or
communicate solely with each other, including, but not limited to,
message boards and other user forums, and the content of any such
communications. CHW, however, will have no liability related to the
content of any such communications, whether or not arising under
the laws of copyright, libel, privacy, obscenity, or otherwise. CHW
retains the right to remove, in its sole discretion, communications
that include any material deemed abusive, defamatory, obscene, or
otherwise inappropriate.
Warranty
Disclaimer
CHW provides the information on this Service. THIS SITE AND ITS
CONTENT AND SITE-RELATED SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS," WITH ALL
FAULTS, WITH NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER
EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE,
AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. YOU ASSUME TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK FOR
YOUR USE OF THIS SITE, SITE-RELATED SERVICES, AND HYPERLINKED
WEBSITES. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE GIVEN BY CHW NOR
ITS AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY NOR IN ANY
WAY INCREASE THE SCOPE OF THIS WARRANTY.
LIMITATION OF
LIABILITY
CHW, ITS SUPPLIERS, AND
OTHER THIRD PARTIES MENTIONED ON THIS SITE ARE NEITHER RESPONSIBLE
NOR LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL,
SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, OR OTHER DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT
LIMITATION, THOSE RESULTING FROM LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA, OR
BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING IN ANY WAY TO THE
SITE, SITE-RELATED SERVICES AND PRODUCTS, CONTENT OR INFORMATION
CONTAINED WITHIN THE "SITE," AND/OR ANY HYPERLINKED WEBSITE,
WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL
THEORY AND WHETHER OR NOT ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGES. YOUR SOLE REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE SITE,
SITE-RELATED SERVICES, AND/OR HYPERLINKED WEBSITES IS TO STOP USING
THE SITE AND/OR THOSE SERVICES. APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE
EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO
THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
Copyrights
Except as otherwise indicated, all content on this site, including
text, graphics, logos, button icons, photos, images, forms, audio,
video, questionnaires, "look and feel" and software, is the
property of CHW and/or its licensors and is protected by United
States and international copyright laws. The compilation of all
content on this site is the exclusive property of CHW and/or its
licensors and is protected by United States and international
copyright laws. Unless specifically authorized in writing by CHW,
any use of these materials, or of any materials contributed to this
site by entities other than CHW on any other website or networked
computer environment for any purpose is prohibited. Copyright 1996
to 2005, CHW. All rights reserved for all countries. Any rights not
expressly granted by these terms and conditions or any applicable
end-user license agreements are reserved by CHW. The materials
provided by this Service may be downloaded and/or reprinted for
personal use only. Permission to publicly display, reprint or
electronically reproduce any document or graphic in whole or in
part for any reason is expressly prohibited, unless prior written
consent is obtained from the copyright holder(s).
Trademarks and service
marks
"CHW," "Catholic Healthcare West" and the CHW logo are service
marks of Catholic Healthcare West. Other proprietary CHW may be
designated as such from time to time on this site through use of
the TM, SM, or ® symbols. Users of this site are not
authorized to make any use of the CHW marks, including, but not
limited to, as metatags or in any other fashion which may create a
false or misleading impression of affiliation or sponsorship with
or by CHW.
Infected or Corrupted
Materials
You also understand that
the Provider cannot and does not guarantee or warrant that files
available for downloading through the Service will be free of
infection or viruses, worms, Trojan horses or other code that
manifest contaminating or destructive properties. Each Member is
responsible for implementing sufficient procedures and checkpoints
to satisfy his or her particular requirements for accuracy of data
input and output, and for maintaining a means external to the
Service for the reconstruction of any lost data. The Provider does
not assume any responsibility or risk for your use of the
Service.
Questions, complaints, and
contacts
If you have any questions
about this policy and agreement, including your rights under this
document, you can contact CHW by telephone at (415) 438-5565, by
sending an email message to the CHW Chief Privacy and Data Security
Administrator at cpdsa@chw.edu, or by U.S. mail at the
address below:
Catholic Healthcare
West
185 Berry Street, Suite 300
San Francisco, California 94107
Attn: Chief Privacy and Data Security Administrator
For all other questions, please use the
contact information for the specific hospital, clinic, or program
as provided at www.chw.edu.
