Privacy Policy

At Piedmont Healthcare, we are dedicated to your health and well-being. We're also strong advocates for patient privacy. The notices below explain the strict conditions under which your medical information may be distributed to other organizations, and how you can send your medical records to other doctors or hospitals.
 

General

We generally keep this Privacy Policy posted on our website, and you should review it frequently, as it may change from time to time without notice. Any changes will be effective immediately upon the posting of the revised Privacy Policy. WHEN YOU ACCESS OUR WEBSITE, YOU AGREE TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY, OR TO ANY CHANGES WE MAY SUBSEQUENTLY MAKE, IMMEDIATELY STOP ACCESSING OR USING OUR WEBSITE.

Our hospital's mission is, and always will be, "Patients First". We understand, acknowledge and respect any individual's right to privacy and the concerns one may have in regard to privacy and security. We recognize the importance of protecting the privacy of information provided by our patients, as well as general users of our website. As such, we have established and implemented this "Privacy Policy" to inform you about how we collect, store, use, share and protect the information we collect. If you have any questions regarding this information or our privacy practices, please see the section entitled "Questions and Comments" at the end of this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy sets forth the general rules and policies governing your use of our website. Depending on your activities when visiting our website, you may be required to agree to additional terms and conditions.

This Privacy Policy does not apply to information collected by third party websites, software or services accessible through our website, which are governed by the terms of service and privacy policies of the providers of such services. Even if the third party is affiliated with us, we have no control over these linked sites or services, each of which has separate privacy and data collection practices independent of us. Data collected by third party websites (even if offered on or through our site) is not received by us. As such, we are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of any such websites or liable for the acts or omissions of such third parties. These linked sites are only for your convenience, and you therefore access them at your own risk. Nonetheless, we seek to protect the integrity of our website and the links on our website and therefore request any feedback on not only our website, but for sites our website links to as well (including if a specific link does not work).

IMPORTANT NOTE! Our Hospital Notice of Privacy Practices is a separate document that governs how medical information about you may be used and disclosed by our hospital.

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER. IF THIS IS A MEDICAL EMERGENCY, PLEASE IMMEDIATELY CALL EMERGENCY PERSONNEL (911) TO GET PROMPT MEDICAL ATTENTION. DO NOT RELY ON ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS OR THIS WEBSITE FOR ASSISTANCE IN REGARD TO YOUR IMMEDIATE, URGENT MEDICAL NEEDS. THIS WEBSITE IS NOT DESIGNED TO FACILITATE MEDICAL EMERGENCIES. OUR HOSPITAL CANNOT GUARANTEE RESPONSE TIMES IF YOU CHOOSE TO USE THIS WEBSITE IN THE EVENT OF A MEDICAL EMERGENCY.

Read Notice of Privacy Practices

What Types of Information Do We Collect?

Personal Information

As a general policy, we do not automatically collect your personally identifiable information when you visit our website, and you can generally access and browse our site at any time without providing any personal information. However, when you register, and at other times during your use of the website, we will collect personally identifiable information to the extent that you choose to provide such information to us. Certain information may not be personally identifiable when standing alone (e.g., your age), but may become so when combined with other information (e.g., your age and name). Whether you provide this information is your choice. However, in many instances, this type of information is required to participate in the particular activity, realize a benefit we may offer, or gain access to certain content on the website.

In addition, we do not share any personally identifiable information of any individual collected on our website with any third party unrelated to us, except in situations where we must provide information for legal purposes or investigations, to protect our rights in or the safety of our website, to protect the safety or rights of other users of our website or if so directed by such individual through a proper authorization.

Non-Personal Information

We collect non-personal information such as website usage, traffic patterns, site performance and related statistics based on our tracking of your visits to our website. Non-personal information may include the type of browser you are using, the third party website from which your visit originated, the operating system you are using, the domain name of your Internet service provider, the search terms you use on our website, and the specific web pages you visit.

How Do We Collect Information?

Forms

Our website contains forms through which users may request information or supply feedback to us. In some cases, telephone numbers, email addresses or return addresses are required so that we can supply requested information to you, and in other cases, correct names and addresses are required to process credit card payments.

After you fill out a form, we may contact you with follow-up information related to your request (unless you have checked an "opt-out" box on the form). We do not provide any information supplied on our web forms to any outside organization for any reason (other than where we may be required to by law, or as necessary to process credit card information). We do not save this personal information for any other reason.

Surveys

Occasionally, we may survey visitors to our site. The information from these surveys is used in aggregate form to help us understand the needs of our visitors so that we can improve our site. We generally do not ask for information in surveys that would personally identify you. If we do request contact information for follow-up, you may decline to provide it. If survey respondents provide personal information (such as an email address) in a survey, it is shared only with those people who need to see it to respond to the question or request.

Email

At registration and at various times as you use the website, you will be given the option of receiving recurring informational/promotional newsletters via email from us and/or directly from third parties. When you sign up for our email newsletters or at any time, you can choose to opt-in to receiving additional promotional emails from us. In order to subscribe to our newsletters via email, we need your contact information, like name and email address. You can unsubscribe from the newsletters by simply clicking on the "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of any email newsletter.

"Phishing" is a scam designed to steal your personal information. If you receive an email that looks like it is from us asking you for your personal information, do not respond. We will never request your password, user name, credit card information or other personal information through email.

User Name and Password

In the event you access any service on our website requiring a username and password, you are solely responsible for keeping such username and password strictly confidential.

IP Addresses

The Web server automatically collects the IP (which stands for Internet Protocol) address of the computers that access our site. An IP address is a number that is assigned to your computer when you access the Internet. It is not truly personally identifiable information because many different individuals can access the Internet via the same computer. We use this information in aggregate form to understand how our site is being used and how we can better serve visitors.

Please note that although such information is not personally identifiable, we can determine from an IP address a visitor's Internet Service Provider and the geographic location of his or her point of connectivity.

First Party Cookies

We collect information about visitors to our site using "first party cookies", which are alphanumeric identifiers that we transfer to your computer's hard drive through your web browser. Cookies are never associated with specific personal identities. First party cookies are distinct from third party cookies that they are created and directly served by the company hosting the website.

We use two types of cookies on this site:

• We use persistent cookies to recognize a repeat visitor, enabling us the opportunity to offer the visitor a set of services or information requested in a previous visit.
• We use session cookies to track a visitor's path through our site during a visit, to help us understand how people use our site.

You can delete our cookies at any time. The "help" section, located on the toolbar of most browsers, will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie or how to disable cookies altogether. Since cookies allow you to take full advantage of some of our website's best features, we recommend that you leave them turned on.
 

How Do We Use Information Collected?

We use information that you provide us in order to provide you with specific services that you request and to provide you with additional services that we believe may be of interest to you. For instance, we may use your information in the following ways:

• For the purposes for which you specifically provided the information including, for example, to enable us to customize informational delivery options per your preferences and to provide you with the job application submission, bill pay and/or personal health information services requested by you.
• To tell you about health-related programs and services that may be of interest to you, or to contact you in an effort to raise funds for Our Hospital.
• To respond to emails, provide customer support, enforce our terms and conditions or other similar matters.
• To help us run and maintain our website, study traffic patterns and generally learn about the usage of our website.
• To enhance existing features or develop new features, products and services.
   

With Whom Do We Share the Information We Collect?

We do not sell, lease, or rent email addresses or contact information of our customers to third parties. We may share your personally identifiable information with affiliates and third parties, including e-commerce partners, who assist us by providing services to users of our website, including, but not limited to, credit card processing, database management, e-mail distribution, and website management.

In the unlikely event that all or substantially all of our assets relating to our website are sold or transferred to another party, your personally identifiable information may be transferred to this acquiring entity, though we will take reasonable steps to ensure that your preferences are followed.

How is Your Information Stored?

Customer information collected on our websites and through our services may be stored and processed in the United States or any other country in which we or our service providers maintain facilities.

While we sometimes ask for credit card numbers for certain service transactions, and either pass them on to a credit card processing service or process them manually, we do not store credit card numbers online.

How is Your Information Protected?

Please note that our forms are encrypted to protect your privacy. Once the information is sent to our site, it is kept in secure databases where it is not available to users on the Internet.

We periodically review and modify, where appropriate, our security policies and procedures. We use reasonable care to protect your personally identifiable and confidential information provided by you to our site. We have in place a security program that seeks to mitigate this risk substantially. Please be advised, however, that while we strive to protect your personally identifiable information and privacy, we cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any information you disclose or transmit to us online and are not responsible for the theft, destruction, or inadvertent disclosure of your personally identifiable information. In the unfortunate event that your "personally identifiable information" (as the term or similar terms are defined by any applicable law requiring notice upon a security breach) is compromised, we may notify you by e-mail (at our sole and absolute discretion) to the last e-mail address you have provided us in the most expedient time reasonable under the circumstances; provided, however, delays in notification may occur while we take necessary measures to determine the scope of the breach and restore reasonable integrity to the system as well as for the legitimate needs of law enforcement if notification would impede a criminal investigation.

Children Under the Age of 13

Our website is not intended for children under the age of 13. We will not knowingly collect information from the website visitors in this age group.

Disclaimers and Limitations

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY MATERIALS, SERVICES AND OTHER INFORMATION ARE PROVIDED BY US FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. WE MAKE NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE, TITLE OR NON INFRINGEMENT. PLEASE NOTE THAT, BY ITS VERY NATURE, A WEBSITE CANNOT BE ABSOLUTELY PROTECTED AGAINST INTENTIONAL OR MALICIOUS INTRUSION ATTEMPTS. FURTHERMORE, WE DO NOT CONTROL THE DEVICES OR COMPUTERS OR THE INTERNET OVER WHICH YOU MAY CHOOSE TO SEND CONFIDENTIAL PERSONAL INFORMATION AND CANNOT, THEREFORE, PREVENT SUCH INTERCEPTIONS OF COMPROMISES TO YOUR INFORMATION WHILE IN TRANSIT TO US. THEREFORE, WE HEREBY MAKE NO GUARANTEE AS TO SECURITY, INTEGRITY OR CONFIDENTIALITY OF ANY INFORMATION TRANSMITTED TO OR FROM THIS WEBSITE, OR STORED WITHIN THIS WEBSITE. BEYOND OUR REASONABLE CARE TO SAFEGUARD YOUR INFORMATION WHILE IN TRANSIT, WE CANNOT AND DO NOT GUARANTEE THE ABSOLUTE SECURITY OF ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS OR TRANSMISSIONS SINCE ANY TRANSMISSION MADE OVER THE INTERNET BY ANY ORGANIZATION OR ANY INDIVIDUAL RUNS THE RISK OF INTERCEPTION. IN ADDITION, WE HEREBY MAKE NO GUARANTEE AS TO SECURITY, INTEGRITY OR CONFIDENTIALITY OF ANY INFORMATION TRANSMITTED TO OR FROM THIS WEBSITE, OR STORED WITHIN THIS WEBSITE. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY YOU ASSUME THE SOLE RISK OF TRANSMITTING YOUR INFORMATION AS IT RELATES TO THE USE OF THIS WEBSITE, AND FOR ANY DATA CORRUPTIONS, INTENTIONAL INTERCEPTIONS, INTRUSIONS OR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO INFORMATION, OR OF ANY DELAYS, INTERRUPTIONS TO OR FAILURES PREVENTING THE USE THIS WEBSITE. IN NO EVENT SHALL WE BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR MONETARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING FEES, AND PENALTIES IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF MATERIALS POSTED ON THIS SITE OR CONNECTIVITY TO OR FROM THIS SITE TO ANY OTHER SITE.

Question and Comments

If you have any comments or questions about our privacy practices or your experience with our website, please do not hesitate to contact: compliance@piedmont.org.

You may also contact the Piedmont Healthcare Corporate Compliance Department below.

2727 Paces Ferry Road
Bldg 2, Suite 1100
Atlanta, GA 30339
Phone: 470-271-3400
Compliance Hotline: 1-800-466-0462