Last updated: December 14, 2023
As a user of this site, you take on certain risks and responsibilities. You also have the right to know how we protect your privacy and ensure your confidentiality and what you should expect from us.
Memorial Hermann is committed to protecting your privacy.
Be an informed user of this site. Please read all our policies in full so you know how our site works and how you interact with the site. Pay special attention to your risks as a user. Web site users open themselves up to certain risks, such as data collection.
Understand how we collect data and how it is used. It is our goal to protect your personal information from misuse. Be aware that use of this site, its services, programs, and the health information on it cannot replace, nor is it intended to serve as, a health care provider-patient relationship. You must always consult with a professional for diagnosis and treatment for specific health problems.
We will strive to maintain your privacy, confidentiality, and security at all times. It is our goal to ensure your trust and confidence by providing you with as much information as we can about data collection procedures and information when needed. We will not use your information except as described in this notice. We do not sell information, and we will not share your information with anyone other than as described in this notice. We will make reasonable efforts to notify you accordingly of all data collection practices.
It is our intention to clearly inform you when your risks or privacy may change during the course of using this site.
We will separate health information content from advertising and sponsorship programs so you can distinguish between the two. We will not accept or show you health information content, advertising, sponsored programs, or services that we know to contain false or misleading information or that promote ineffective or dangerous products.
We want your personal information to remain as secure as possible; our business depends on it. We use encryption practices to help insure the integrity and privacy of the personal information and/or health-related personal information you provide to us. As an added security precaution, all personal information and/or health-related personal information is kept on servers protected by firewalls that meet or exceed industry standards to prevent intruders from gaining access. Although we make every reasonable effort to protect personal information and health-related personal information from loss, misuse, or alteration by third parties, you should be aware that there is always some risk involved in transmitting information via the Internet and that hackers or thieves do find ways to thwart security systems.
It is our goal to use personal information and health-related personal information in the manner described in either our Notice of Privacy Practices or in this policy. We do, however, reserve the right to change the terms of this privacy policy at any time and will post revisions to our site. If at any point, personal information or health-related information is to be used differently from those practices stated in the privacy policy in effect when your data was collected, we will modify the last updated date of this privacy policy to indicate a change in our privacy policy. Information collected or used prior to this policy change is not included and may not be reflected in the new policy.
It is our goal to protect your privacy, and we strive to develop practices and policies to safeguard your personal and health-related personal information. Any personal or health information is used and disclosed according to this policy with secure, limited access based on the information that is needed or how the information is disclosed.
At different places on our site, you may be asked to volunteer your name, e-mail, address and telephone number. We refer to this type of information as Personally Identifiable Information (PII) because it can be used to identify or contact you. When this information is combined with any information on your health or medical status, we refer to this information as Protected Health Information (PHI). We often collect information on site use that has nothing to do with you as an individual, only as an anonymous user of the site. We call this information "aggregate information." We intend to use the personal information, PHI, and aggregate information only for the purposes for which it was provided.
Some personal information and health-related personal information is needed to use this site, and we ask that you provide it with the knowledge that it will be used to enhance your experience. This information is kept confidential. It may be shared with business associates, including marketing automation and customer relationship management systems. In order to receive email, SMS or phone communication, you will be asked to opt-in.
By providing a mobile phone number and checking the box opting into Memorial Hermann SMS communications, you are providing your express consent to receive recurring autodialed (automated or messages sent using other computer assisted technology) promotional Marketing, non-clinical alerts from Memorial Hermann to the number provided. The purpose of these marketing messages is to promote new services. There is some risk that the information in regular SMS messages could be read by someone other than you. By agreeing to receive SMS messages, you understand that the information may not be encrypted.
You can opt-out of SMS messages at any time by texting STOP to 646584. Your opt-out request will generate one final message confirming that you have been unsubscribed. You will no longer receive SMS messages from the number. If you want to join again, text HELP to 646584 for instructions.
If you are experiencing issues with the SMS messaging program, you can text HELP to 646584 for more assistance, or you can get help directly by sending a message to digitalmedia@memorialhermann.org.
Consent to receive marketing text messages is not required to purchase goods or services. Message and data rates may apply for any messages sent to or by you. Message frequency varies and opt-in status is ongoing until you opt-out. Supported carriers include, but are not limited to AT&T, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile, Sprint and MetroPCS.
We collect information about you at several places throughout the site. When you want to participate in certain activities like email communication or patient pre-registration, we’ll ask you for specific information.
In addition to collecting information that you submit to us, we also rely on "cookies." A cookie is a numeric code that a web site transfers to your hard drive for record-keeping purposes. Every computer is assigned a different cookie. When you revisit our site, the cookie allows us to recognize you, your interests, and your preferences. We also use cookies to help track the level of interest in different features on our site and to compile data that can help us improve our content.
Your browser software can be set to reject all cookies, including cookies from our site. Most browsers offer instructions on how to reset the browser to reject cookies. If you reject our cookie, certain functions and conveniences of the site may not work properly. You do not have to accept our cookie in order to productively use our site.
We continually seek new ways to maintain your trust as a user and improve our offerings. To provide new and better services, we monitor user traffic patterns and try to analyze what our users like and do not like about our current offerings so we can design better services for you. We may also use certain information for testing purposes, site development and planning, and during the normal course of maintaining the site. When you use our site, you automatically allow us to collect this information.
We do not intend to use or disclose any personal information or health-related personal information you provide on our site to an unrelated third party without your express permission, except as explained in this section. You should know that there are circumstances when, in the ordinary course of business, we will share some information about you with a related third party or vendor.
We may also share aggregate statistical information on our users, traffic patterns and site usage with our business partners and sponsors. There is nothing in this information that could be used to identify or contact you.
We may, from time to time, contract with vendors to provide specific services, such as data analysis, data storage, e-mail processing, customer service, sweepstakes or special promotions. We require vendors to adhere to our confidentiality standards and do not permit a vendor to use our customer information for any other purpose. In many of these instances, you will be given the opportunity to opt-in to this collection of information and can opt-out at any time.
In certain limited circumstances, we may be legally compelled to release your personal information in response to a court order, subpoena, search warrant, law or regulation. We also reserve the right to cooperate with law enforcement authorities in investigating and prosecuting users that violate our rules or engage in behavior that is harmful (or illegal) to other users or associates.
Where third parties such as sponsors, information providers, and health assessment software tools providers have access to PHI from this Web site, our agreements with these third parties will follow these privacy principles. Where we have relationships with third parties, we will adopt procedures to tell you if third parties have access to personally identifiable information about you from our site. We will take appropriate precautions to prevent inadvertent disclosures of personally identifiable information to third parties and will take immediate steps to eliminate such disclosures, if they occur, once they have come to our attention.
Additionally, we work with several types of third party vendors, including those that provide products and services that we integrate to our site, sponsors that provide us revenue through logo and link placement on our site, advertising companies that serve up advertisement programs for the site, and organizations that maintain this site. We request that third-party vendors supply us with information on their security procedures, and we evaluate them periodically to ensure that they are using data in the agreed upon way.
You should know that our relationship with some third party vendors provides us with revenues based on the number of users who view an advertisement or use a sponsored or co-branded program. These revenues are based on the use of a site and not on you as an individual.
There are three types of relationships that differ from our standard business partner relationship in which we license content or a product for integration. These exceptions are:
We allow other companies to make services and/or content available to you, sometimes on a sponsored or co-branded basis. To access the services on a sponsored or co-branded site, you may have to complete an online registration form in addition to the registration you completed for us. Whenever you provide registration information on sponsored or co-branded sites, data can be collected. You should read the individual privacy policies of sponsored or co-branded sites. Reading the policies will help you make an informed decision on whether or not you want to use the site.
We feature external links to other web sites that we believe you might find useful; however, we do not endorse these sites. Additionally, unless otherwise noted in this section, links to other sites are provided strictly for informational purposes, and are not based on any fees or reimbursements paid to Memorial Hermann for "clicks." We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of each site you visit that may collect information or ask you to disclose personal information and/or health-related personal information.
In some cases, this Web site will "frame" another Web site within this site's navigation. The framed site may carry a different set of policies.
You have the choice on this site to opt-in to email or SMS communication from us. To opt-out, make any changes or updates, or request that information be deleted, you have several choices.
When you register with our site, you are given the option of receiving e-mail with information that we think you might find useful including promotions, announcements of new services and products, and newsletters on particular health topics. You may also participate in our personalized e-mail reminder system that allows you to send an e-mail reminding you of certain health-related activities such as a doctor's visit or to schedule tests. If you decide, at any time, that you no longer wish to receive these emails you may opt-out by clicking the link at the bottom of the email. It is impossible for us to remove or delete all your information.
You may change or update your personal information and/or health-related personal information at any time by contacting us in writing using the address in our Contact Us link.
The principles and practices in Advertising/Sponsorship will be continued and enhanced by the ongoing application of this Privacy Policy. We will not sell or market your personal information to third party sponsors that would reveal to them a particular medical condition.
We are committed to continuously improving the quality of the health information and tools found on this Web site. If you have any questions or comments regarding this policy or any information found on this web site in general, please contact us at webmaster@memorialhermann.org.