The staff of Virginia Mason Medical Center respects the privacy of our patients and of our Web site users. If you don't find your concern addressed here, feel free to contact us by e-mail or phone.
Privacy Policy Guiding Principles
Virginia Mason will use overall demographic data of our Web users to improve the site and enhance services. These demographic trends will not be traceable to an individual's personal information. On rare occasions, Virginia Mason may contact registered users by e-mail to inquire about interest in potential new Web services.
Privacy Policy
Information Collection and Use
Virginia Mason Medical Center is the sole owner of the information collected on this site. We will not sell, share, or rent this information to others in ways different from what is disclosed in this statement, except to vendors and agents in support of Virginia Mason's activities. Virginia Mason Medical Center does not commercially sell any customer lists or e-mail addresses. Company may, however, disclose personal information if permitted or required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to (a) conform to applicable law or comply with legal process served on Virginia Mason Medical Center; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of Virginia Mason Medical Center, the Web site, or the users; or (c) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of the Virginia Mason Medical Center, the Web site, or the public.
Registration
In order to use some parts of the Virginia Mason Web site, a user must first complete the registration form. During registration a user is required to give their contact information, usually your name and e-mail address. This information is primarily used to contact the user about the services on our site for which they have expressed interest (such as access to clinical publications). It is optional for the user to provide demographic data (such as specialty), but encouraged, so we can provide you with better information when using our site.
Cookies
A cookie is a piece of data stored on the user's hard drive containing information about the user. Usage of a cookie is not linked to any personally identifiable information while visiting the Virginia Mason site. Once the user closes their browser, the cookie simply terminates. For instance, by setting a cookie on our site, the user would not have to log in a password more than once, thereby saving time while on our site. If a user rejects the cookie, he or she may still use our site. The only drawback to this is that the user will be limited in some areas of our site (i.e., cannot view certain content). Cookies can also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to further develop our Web site. Virginia Mason Medical Center does not use Cookies to retrieve information from your computer that was not originally sent in a Cookie. Except as described in this Privacy Policy, we do not use information transferred through Cookies for any promotional or marketing purposes, nor is that information shared with any third parties except when those third parties are performing services for Virginia Mason.
Collection of Anonymous Information
In addition to the use of personal information, Virginia Mason Medical Center may also gather anonymous information which may be used by Virginia Mason Medical Center or shared with third parties. Generally this information is collected through "traffic data" and may entail the use of Cookies and IP addresses. Virginia Mason Medical Center uses such traffic data to help determine how our users use parts of the Web site so we can analyze trends, administer the site, track user's movement, gather broad demographic information for aggregate use a better experience for you. IP addresses and other traffic data are not linked to personally identifiable information.
Links
This Website contains links to other sites. Please be aware that Virginia Mason Medical Center is not responsible for the privacy practices of these Web sites. Virginia Mason Medical Center is not responsible for content provided on these sites or for the validity of content on these site. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every Web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Web site.
Security Policy
We exercise care in providing secure transmission of your information from your PC to our servers. Personal information collected by the Virginia Mason Medical Center website is stored in secure operating environments that are not available to the public. In many instances, such as in the case of credit card numbers and all on-line purchases, the personal information is encrypted before you conduct your transaction. Only those employees who need access to your information in order to do their jobs are allowed access, each having signed confidentiality agreements. Any employee who violates our privacy and/or security policies is subject to disciplinary action, including possible termination and civil and/or criminal prosecution.
Assignment
Virginia Mason Medical Center may change its ownership or corporate organization while providing the Web site and services. As a result, please be aware that Virginia Mason Medical Center may transfer your information to another company that is affiliated with Virginia Mason Medical Center or with which Virginia Mason Medical Center has merged. Any new company will also follow this Privacy Policy.
Your Acceptance of These Terms
By using this site, you signify your acceptance of the Virginia Mason Medical Center Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to this policy, please do not use our website. Your continued use of the Virginia Mason Medical Center Web site following the posting of changes to these terms will mean you accept those changes.
Notification of Changes
If Virginia Mason Medical Center decides to change our privacy policy, we will post those changes so our users are always aware of what information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances, if any, we disclose it. We will use information in accordance with the privacy policy under which the information was collected. We do, however, recommend that you read this Privacy Policy each time you use our Web site for notice of changes to the Privacy Policy.
Correcting and Updating Information Virginia Mason Medical Center also permits you to correct or update personally identifiable information that you have previously provided to us. To do so, send e-mail to: emailvm@vmmc.org indicating the information that you wish to be corrected or updated.
Opt-Out Procedures
You always may opt-out of receiving future contacts or mailings. Virginia Mason Medical Center provides you with the opportunity to opt-out of receiving electronic communications from us and our partners at the point where we request information about you. To remove your personally identifiable information from our database, to not receive future communications or to no longer receive our service, send e-mail to emailvm@vmmc.org with the word "remove" in the subject line.
Questions
Questions regarding this statement should be e-mailed to emailvm@vmmc.org.
