Privacy Practices

The mercy.com website and blog is owned and operated by Mercy Health. The Mercy Health blog blog.mercy.com allows users to access health-related information that is provided by us and third party content suppliers. The information provided on the mercy.com website is for general informational purposes only. None of the information provided on the mercy.com website constitutes, directly or indirectly, the practice of medicine, the dispensing of medical services, a professional diagnosis or a treatment plan. The information on the mercy.com website should not be considered complete, nor should it be relied upon to suggest a course of treatment for a particular individual. You should not rely on information provided on the mercy.com website as a substitute for personal medical attention, diagnosis or hands-on treatment. You should never disregard medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on the mercy.com website. If you have any healthcare-related concerns, please call or see your physician or other qualified healthcare provider. Never discontinue treatment or medication without first consulting your physician, clinicians or therapists. Mercy Health does not make any representations or warranties as to the opinions or other service data you may access, download or use as a result of the use of this website. Nor does Mercy Health make any warranty that the content contained on the site satisfies government regulations requiring disclosure of information on prescription drug products.

Disclaimer: General

The mercy.com website is provided “as is” and without warranty, express or implied. All warranties with regard to the accuracy, reliability, timeliness, usefulness or completeness of the information contained on the mercy.com website are expressly disclaimed. All implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular use are hereby excluded.

Disclaimer: Assumption of risk; waiver

Your use of the mercy.com website is solely at your own risk. Neither Mercy Health nor any entity or individual with which Mercy Health contracts in connection with the operation of the mercy.com website (“contractor”) shall be liable or responsible to any person or entity for any loss or damage, including special, incidental, consequential, punitive or indirect damages, caused, or to have been caused (including, but not limited to, liability arising out of contract, negligence, strict liability, tort, patent or copyright infringement) directly or indirectly by or from the information or ideas contained, suggested, or referenced on the mercy.com website or for any errors, misstatements, inaccuracies or omissions in the information or ideas contained on the mercy.com website or any delays or interruptions in the use of the mercy.com website. You hereby release and forever waive any and all claims you may have against Mercy Health, its contractors and any of their respective officers, directors, employees and agents, if any, for losses or damages you sustain in connection with your use of the mercy.com website, even if you have advised Mercy Health or any contractor of the possibility of such damages. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the total liability of Mercy Health, its contractors, their respective officers, directors and agents, if any, for losses or damages shall not exceed the amount, if any, paid by you for the particular information or service provided. Use of the mercy.com website constitutes and acceptance of these provisions.

Disclaimer: Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Mercy Health, its contractors and their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, information providers and suppliers from and against any claims, lawsuits, proceedings, costs, attorney’s fees, damages or other losses resulting from your use of the mercy.com website.

Disclaimer: External links

The mercy.com website contains links to third-party websites. These links are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement of the content on such third-party websites. We are not responsible for the content of linked third-party sites and do not make any representations, warranties or covenants regarding the content or accuracy of materials on such third-party websites. If you decide to access linked third-party websites, you do so at your own risk. Your use of third-party websites is subject to the terms and conditions of use for such sites.

Disclaimer: Public areas

You should be aware that when you voluntarily disclose personally identifiable information (for example, user name, email address) on the bulletin boards, chat areas and other interactive areas (collectively, “Public Areas”) of the mercy.com website, that information, along with any substantive information disclosed in your communication, can be collected, correlated and used by other users and third parties and may result in unsolicited messages from other users or third parties. Such activities are beyond our control. We make no representations, covenants or warranties about the discoverability of your identity by methods beyond our control. If you use a Public Area, you are solely responsible for your own communications and the consequences of posting those communications.

Disclaimer: Mercy Health participants

Employees and other individuals affiliated with Mercy Health participating in the interactive services of the mercy.com website, and/or contributing content to the mercy.com website, do so as individuals and not in any official capacity. Their opinions and expressions do not represent the opinions, expressions or official position of the mercy.com website, Mercy Health or any of Mercy Health’s subsidiaries unless expressly stated.

Disclaimer: Advertising and shopping

The mercy.com website provides links to a variety of commercial websites offering products and services. The advertising is not a source of funding for ehealthconnection.com. We assume no responsibility for the appropriateness, fitness or reliability of the products or services offered for sale on such websites. You enter into any transactions with these companies at your own risk, under the terms and conditions of each website. We make no representations, warranties or covenants about these companies, products or services.

Disclaimer: Technology

We do not warrant against human and machine errors, omissions, delays, interruptions or losses, including loss of data. We cannot and do not guarantee or warrant that files available for downloading from the mercy.com website will be free of infection, viruses, worms, Trojan Horses or other codes that manifest contaminating or destructive properties. We do not warrant or guarantee that the functions or services provided by us will be uninterrupted or error-free or that defects in the mercy.com website will be corrected.

Disclaimer: Find a doctor

The mercy.com website provides information about healthcare providers (“Providers”) who are members in good standing of the medical staffs of hospitals affiliated with Mercy Health or are employed by Mercy Health or one of its affiliates. The mercy.com website can also help you find a Provider who meets your specifications. Please note that when we provide you with the name of a Provider who meets your specifications, we are not recommending that Provider or referring you to that Provider. Information about a Provider’s specific area of practice is provided by the Provider, who is solely responsible for the accuracy of that information. We do not guarantee the reliability, accuracy or completeness of information contained on the mercy.com website about a particular Provider. If you are seeking information about a Provider’s participation with a specific healthcare plan, that information may be available, however, due to frequent changes in insurance coverage, we recommend that you always check with the Provider’s office regarding insurance specifics.

Terms of use

Please read these conditions carefully before using this site. The mercy.com website provides complimentary Internet-based communications and information services to the consumer. By using this site, you acknowledge your agreement to these terms and conditions. Please read this information carefully. If you do not agree to all of the terms and conditions of this agreement, do not use this site. The mercy.com website may periodically update these terms and conditions. Please periodically review because your continued use of this site will mean you accept those changes.

How you may use our materials

The content of this site is protected by copyright under both United States and foreign laws. You may download, use and copy the materials found on Mercy Health websites for your personal, noncommercial use only, provided that all copies that you make of the material must retain any copyright, trademark or other proprietary notice located on the site, which pertain to the material being copied. Except as authorized in this paragraph, you are not being granted a license under any copyright, trademark, patent or other intellectual property right in the material or the products, services, processes or technology described therein. All such rights are retained by Mercy Health, its subsidiaries, and/or any third party owner of such rights.

You may not create framed links to Mercy Health websites without express written permission from Mercy Health.

You may not sell or modify the content or reproduce, display, publicly perform, distribute or otherwise use the content in any way for any public or commercial purpose. The use of the content on any other website or in a networked computer environment for any purpose is prohibited. None of the content, including any software, may be reverse engineered, disassembled, decompiled, reproduced, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, translated into any language or computer language, retransmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photo reproduction, recordation or otherwise), resold or redistributed without the prior written consent of Mercy Health, except as expressly set forth above.

How you may use our marks

The Mercy Health names and logos and all related product and service names, design marks and slogans are the trademarks or service marks of Mercy Health or its subsidiaries or affiliates (collectively “Mercy Health”). You are not authorized to use any Mercy Health name or mark in any advertising, publicity or in any other commercial manner without the prior written consent of Mercy Health. Requests for authorization should be made to Mercy Health’s Trademark Manager.

Use of interactive areas

Mercy Health may occasionally place bulletin boards on the site, which are solely to enable communication between site visitors. Mercy Health may also occasionally place email links on the site, which are solely to enable site visitors to communicate by email with Mercy Health. If you use a public area, you are solely responsible for your own communications, the consequences of posting those communications, and your reliance on any communications found in the interactive areas. In cases where you feel threatened or believe someone else is in danger, you should contact your local law enforcement agency immediately. If you think you may have a medical emergency, call your doctor or 911 immediately.

Although Mercy Health may occasionally monitor or review discussions, postings, transmissions, bulletin boards and the like on the site, Mercy Health does not do so actively or regularly, and is under no obligation to do so and assumes no responsibility or liability arising from the contents of any such communications nor for any error, defamation, libel, obscenity, profanity or inaccuracy contained in any such communication.

Any communication that you post on the site (apart from your personal profile) is considered to be non-confidential. Do not send or post anything that you deem confidential or proprietary. Any feedback, data, answers, questions, comments, suggestions, ideas, or the like which you send to us may be used by Mercy Health or its affiliates for any purpose, including, but not limited to, reproduction, disclosure, transmission, publication, broadcast and posting. Mercy Health is free to use, without any compensation to you, any ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques contained in any communication you send to the site for any purpose whatsoever, including, but not limited to developing, manufacturing and marketing products and/or services using such information. By uploading or transmitting information you grant to Mercy Health a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, create derivative works from, modify, publish, edit, translate, distribute, perform, and display the communication alone or as part of other works in any form, media or technology, whether now known or hereafter developed, and to sub-license such rights through multiple tiers of sub-licenses. Additionally, Mercy Health has the right to use any questions, comments or other information submitted by users in books, articles, commentaries and research or in similar ways, without the consent of the user. You warrant that any communications you upload or transmit to this site do not infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party.

In consideration of your privilege to use the interactive areas, you agree that you shall refrain from the following prohibited conduct and that such conduct shall constitute a material breach of the terms and conditions of use. You are prohibited from posting or transmitting slanderous, unlawful, threatening, defamatory, libelous, obscene, pornographic, profane, fictitious, licentious, lewd, violent, hateful, abusive, insulting, harassing or threatening material or any material that could constitute or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offense or give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any local, state, federal or foreign law. You are prohibited from any form of direct or indirect personal attack or harassment. You are prohibited from posting any material that infringes on the intellectual property rights of others or on the privacy or publicity rights of others. You are prohibited from posting advertisements or solicitations of business. You are prohibited from impersonating other people, posting chain letters or pyramid schemes, “spamming” (sending a message more than once), posting or transmitting charity requests or petitions for signatures, and sending unsolicited mass email to other users. You are prohibited from posting any information, which contains any virus, worm, Trojan horse or other code which is contaminating or destructive to the files or programs of Mercy Health or any of its users or any other parties.

Mercy Health reserves the right to, but is not obligated to record, monitor, investigate, edit, disclose, delete or remove any content from the site for any reason, and/or eject any user from all or a portion of the site for not adhering to these terms of use. Mercy Health reserves the right to terminate any user’s access to any or all areas upon the user’s breach of these terms of use. Mercy Health does not screen communications in advance and is not responsible for screening or monitoring material posted by members or any other person or entity.

Jurisdiction

The Mercy Health websites are operated from a site in the State of Ohio, United States of America. We make no representation that materials found at our sites are appropriate or available for use in other locations. If you access our sites from other locations, you are responsible for compliance with local laws. For further information on intellectual property matters, contact Mercy Health’s Office of General Counsel. These legal notices are governed by the substantive laws of the State of Ohio. You expressly agree that sole and exclusive jurisdiction for any claim involving Mercy Health, its officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors and suppliers, contributors and editors, or any related affiliate, shall be in the appropriate state or federal court located in the State of Ohio.

Complete agreement

Except as expressly provided in a particular legal notice on the site, these terms and conditions, and any amendments thereof, constitute the entire agreement between you and Mercy Health with respect to the use of the site, including, but not limited to, any software and content.

If any provision of these legal notices is found to be invalid by any court having competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of these legal notices, which shall remain in full force and effect. No waiver of any of the legal notices shall be deemed a waiver of any other legal notice.

Website Privacy Statement

This privacy statement describes the information gathering and dissemination practices for the Mercy Health website (mercy.com). Please read this statement carefully. It may change from time to time without notice, so please check back regularly.

Health risk assessment surveys and calculators

To use services such as our health risk assessment surveys and health calculators, you must enter information about your health. This information is stored in a database, which is separate from our main site registration and cannot be used to personally identify you.

Email, SMS text messages, and other services

When you register for our email services, you need to provide your name and email address. When joining our Mercy Health Mobile Messaging Program, you need to provide your mobile phone number in order to receive SMS text messages. Other services, like registering for a class, could require additional information including an address and the appropriate phone number(s).

All personal information collected will follow the guidelines of the Notice of Privacy Practices. The mercy.com website and blog offer a variety of features delivered by email. The Mercy Health Mobile Messaging Program offers SMS text message delivery concerning updates and information around your health care and other available services.

Mercy Health respects your right to privacy. Only Mercy Health has access to these email and phone number lists; they are not shared with anyone else. Subscribers can remove themselves from any lists they have registered for by using the opt-out process outlined in each email or SMS text message.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files written by our Internet server to your hard drive. These cookies help us tailor your experience at mercy.com. They save you time each time you visit by remembering your settings and preferences, as well as improving the speed of the site.

Information we collect and how we use it

The Mercy Health website does not collect or disclose information that identifies or that can be used to identify you personally. However, we do collect non-personal information for aggregate study so that we may assess the effectiveness of particular sections, pages and features of our website. Included among these types of non-personal information are the number of visits to specific pages and the length of those visits, as well as visitor IP addresses and browser information. We may use data obtained from cookies to tailor your experience at mercy.com, showing you content and advertising that may be of interest to you.

To request additional information using the Mercy Health website’s Contact Us email form, you must provide your name and email address. Your name and email address will not be shared with any third parties. However, we do track the number of requests we have received for particular kinds of information via the Contact Us feature, so we can determine what additional information we may want to include on our website in the future.

To use the update notification registry feature in the Financial & Investor Information section of Mercy Health’s website, you will need to provide your email address and additional contact information. The information you give us will not be shared with any third parties and will be used solely so that we may notify you by email when quarterly updates are made to information in this section of our website.

The Mercy Health website also allows you to submit an online resume in response to job openings at specific Mercy Health organizations that are posted on this website. By using this feature to submit your resume, you are automatically consenting to the reproduction, distribution, sharing and transmittal of your resume to the extent necessary to facilitate the normal hiring practices of the Mercy Health organization to which you have applied. We may share this information with any search firms we retain to help us fill positions.

The Mercy Health website includes links that allow you to pay online for services received at specific facilities within our regions. Payment information submitted via these online bill payment features does not come directly to the Mercy Health website. If you use our regions’ online bill payment features, please read their privacy/security statements carefully.

The Mercy Health website provides physician profiles and in some cases the ability to book appointments directly online through a third-party provider who has their own terms of service and privacy policy. Please read their terms and policy carefully.

The Mercy Health website asks for your location so that we can customize the website content and experience to your where you are. The mercy.com website includes information for eight different regions throughout Ohio and Kentucky, so providing your location ensures you get the information most relevant to you. We then place a cookie on your device so that we remember your choice for location. We do not continuously track your location and no personally identifiable information is collected.

Links to other websites

The Mercy Health website contains links to other websites, and we are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of these other websites. Please read the privacy policies and disclaimers on these third-party sites carefully.

Online chats and public areas

Registration for online chats is separate from our main site registration and is temporary. This information is not retained. This site makes available moderated chats, message boards and mailing lists (collectively “Public Areas”). Please remember that any information that you disclose in these areas becomes public information and you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal information. We require all users to identify themselves and register with a Public Area prior to participation in any chat, message board or mailing list. You are allowed to select your own “screen name” but site administrators can identify the individual associated with each “screen name.” This is for the purposes of administering these Public Areas.

Guidelines for children

The mercy.com website currently does not offer any content directed at children under the age of 13. We do not collect any information from users whom we know are under the age of 13.

Contests

We run contests on the mercy.com website in which we ask visitors for contact information (such as their email address, demographic information, ZIP code, age). Users can choose to receive follow-up contacts from these surveys. At any time, users may opt-out of receiving future mailings.

Contacting this website

If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of the Mercy Health website or your dealings with the Mercy Health website, you can contact us by completing this form.

To request additional information using the Mercy Health website’s Contact Us email form, you must provide your name and email address. We will retain your information for a brief period of time so that we may adequately respond to your request for more information. Your name and email address will not be shared with any third parties. However, we do track the number of requests we have received for particular kinds of information via the Contact Us feature, so we can determine what additional information we may want to include on our website in the future.