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Privacy Practices and Terms of Use
HIPAA and Facility Privacy Practices

What is HIPAA?

HIPAA is the acronym for the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act that was passed by Congress in 1996. HIPAA does the following:
  • Provides the ability to transfer and continue health insurance coverage for millions of American workers and their families when they change or lose their jobs
  • Reduces health care fraud and abuse
  • Mandates industry-wide standards for healthcare information on electronic billing and other processes
  • Requires the protection and confidential handling of protected health information

Learn more about 
HIPAA’s Privacy Guidelines.

 
HIPAA and facility privacy policies

Your privacy is important to Tanner. At all times we do our utmost to safeguard your private information.

These following brochures and policies serve as reference guides to how we use and disclose your health information and maintain your privacy as we provide you with quality health care.

If you have a question about HIPAA or think your privacy has been violated, please contact Tanner’s privacy or HIPAA security officer.

Tanner Privacy and Security Officers 

If you have a question about HIPAA or think your privacy has been violated, please contact our privacy officer and/or our HIPAA security officer:

  • Jennifer “Jay” Volkman, CHC, CHPC, privacy officer for Tanner Health System, 770-812-8614 or via e-mail. Her fax is 770-812-8937. Mailing Address: Attn Jennifer Volkman, Tanner Health System, 100 Professional Park Place, Suite 301, Carrollton, GA 30117.
  • Chuck Collins, HIPAA security officer for Tanner Health System, 770-836-9382 or via e-mail.

Website Privacy Policy and Cookie Notice

Tanner Health System maintains this website as a benefit for and service to our community.

While the health system and its representatives strive to keep the information in this site current, no warranty or guarantee concerning accuracy of content is made. Although some of the information contained in this site relates to medical topics and issues, no information in the site should be construed as medical advice. All questions regarding your health or possible health problems should be directed to your healthcare provider.

In addition, this site includes links to other websites; however, Tanner Health System takes no responsibility for the content or information contained in the linked sites. Tanner Health System does not exert editorial or any other control over the linked sites, and the links should not be interpreted as an endorsement of the linked sites.

Online privacy policy and cookie notice

This Online Privacy Policy and Cookie Notice addresses the use and disclosure of information that Tanner Health System and/or its affiliates — including affiliated entities that reference this Privacy Policy and Cookie Notice (collectively, “Tanner Health System,” “Tanner,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) — collect from you when you use or access tanner.org, Tanner’s other websites, mobile applications, the Tanner MyChart application, and other Online Services. By clicking “I Accept,” or creating an account, you are consenting to this Online Privacy Policy and Cookie Notice and the collection of data described in this policy.

Please also note that Tanner is not responsible for the privacy policies of third parties that operate any other website, application or platform.

If you are a patient of Tanner Health System, this Online Privacy Policy and Cookie Notice is separate from Tanner’s Privacy Practices and HIPAA Privacy Policies (see the .pdf files linked above), which address how Tanner collects, uses and discloses your information that is considered protected health information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”). This Online Privacy Policy and Cookie Notice does not apply to information that is protected health information under HIPAA.

Notice to non-U.S. residents and non-Alabama or non-Georgia residents

Tanner provides services in the states of Georgia and Alabama, in the United States. We are subject to certain United States federal laws and regulations and certain state laws and regulations that govern the privacy and security of patient healthcare information.

Site security disclosure

Tanner’s Online Services have reasonable security measures in place to protect against the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control; however, our online forms are not encrypted unless otherwise noticed and information you input may be accessed by unauthorized users prior to you sending it to us. Please note that, by its very nature, no data storage system or transmission of data over the Internet or other public network can be absolutely secure. Tanner, accordingly, cannot and does not guarantee the complete security of electronic information.

The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a login or password for access to certain parts of our Online Services, you are responsible for keeping this login and password confidential. We ask you not to share your login and password information with anyone.


What types of information do we collect?

When you use our Online Services, we may collect information from or about you, as well as the device you have used to access and use the Online Services, in a variety of ways.

Information you provide directly to us: We collect and store information that you provide directly to us on or through the Online Services. For example, we collect information about you when you pay a bill, sign up for a newsletter or email bulletins, take a survey, make a donation, create an account or register for our Online Services, post comments on our sites, fill out a form, schedule an appointment, or otherwise communicate with us. Depending on the service, we may collect the following types of information from you, and we may use this information to contact you or combine that information with other information we have about you or your device:

  • Account information, such as your name, email address, password, postal address, billing address, shipping address, phone numbers, age, date of birth, drivers’ license number and any other information you provide;
  • Transaction information, such as your health insurance information and limited payment information from you, such as payment method and payment card information;
  • Information about others, such as the names and the contact information of your providers, your representatives, and any dependents in your care;
  • Health information, that is not protected health information under HIPAA, such as your past and present medical condition, medication information and treatment history; and
  • Other information you choose to provide, such as when you fill out a form; request an appointment; participate in a survey, assessment, contest, promotion or interactive area of the online services; live audio and video interactions; or request technical or customer support.


Browser or device information: We also collect certain information automatically when you use or navigate our Online Services, such as the following types of information. Tanner does not consider this information to be protected health information or personally identifying information:

  • Log file information, including where our servers record certain log file and usage information such as your computer’s Internet protocol (IP) address, browser type and language, operating system, referring URLs, date and time of your visit, pages viewed, links clicked, movements through the Online Services, and other information about your sessions activities on our Online Services.
  • Device information, such as the device used to access or use the Online Services, including the hardware model, operating system and version, unique device identifiers, and mobile network information. If your device settings permit, we may also collect information about the precise location of your device and access and collect information from certain native applications on your device (such as your device’s camera, photo album and phonebook applications) to facilitate your use of certain features of the Online Services.

Cookies and similar tools: We may also use cookies, pixel tags, web beacons, embedded scripts, local objects, and similar tracking technologies to automatically collect and share the types of log file and device information described above. By using our Online Services, you consent to our use of cookies and similar technologies.Third parties and their tools: We may allow others to provide analytics, marketing or other services on our behalf using cookies or other technologies to collect information about your use of our Online Services and other websites. We also place cookies of third parties, such as Google, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, in the Online Services that track your interactions with the third party’s website, content, advertisements, website links, and/or other online services. Some of this information may be used for re-identification. Re-identification is a process by which anonymized data collected on our Online Services (for example, tanner.org) are matched with personally identifiable information. Re-identified data are used, among other ways, to provide website users with a more relevant and user-friendly online experience.


How do we use your information?

We use information we collect to, among other things, communicate with you, provide you with information, make features and functions in the Online Services available for your use, optimize your web experience or provide customer service, conduct research and analysis, market and advertise to you, enforce or apply our terms of use and other agreements, and improve, evaluate, or enhance our services and operations, including the Online Services. We may also de-identify or aggregate your data or otherwise combine information collected through different Online Services or portions of our Online Services.

How long do we keep your information?

We may retain the information identified above for an indefinite period of time, unless retention is prohibited or a different retention period for this information is required under applicable law.


Cookies notice

Please read this Cookies Notice carefully. It describes how we collect and store information, including through cookies, pixel tags, web beacons, embedded scripts, local objects, and similar tracking technologies (collectively referred to as “Cookies”) on our Online Services, the reasons we use Cookies, and how you can manage settings related to Cookies.

What are cookies and why does Tanner use them?

A cookie is a text file that is stored on your computer, mobile or other device by your web browser when you visit or use an Online Service, and that your browser provides to us each time you return to the Online Service. Almost every website uses these files. Cookies may store certain information such as your internet protocol (“IP”) address, operating system, device information, browser type and language, referring URLs, access times, pages viewed, links clicked, movements through the Online Services, and other information about your activities or use of the Online Service.

Cookies are used to identify the content you view, the content you provide so that you do not have to re-enter it each time you visit our Online Services, and your preferences and settings. Cookies also help us provide you with customized content, speed navigation through our Online Services, allow us to learn about your visit and use of our Online Services, and to market our products and services to you on our Online Services and non-Tanner websites based on your interests and preferences. Cookies vary in duration. Session cookies, for example, last for as long as your internet browser is open. Once the browser closes, the session cookies disappear. Persistent cookies are stored on your device for longer periods. Both types of cookies can create an identification that is unique to your device.

What types of cookies does Tanner use?

We may use different types of cookies, depending on the Online Service.

Strictly Necessary Cookies are essential to make the Online Service work. These cookies are used for technical purposes such as enabling better navigation on the Online Services. Without these cookies, Online Services cannot be provided or some of its features could be significantly diminished.

Performance Cookies are used for various performance purposes including tracking the number of visitors to the Online Service and information such as the number of views a page gets, how much time a user spends on a page and other pertinent web statistics. These cookies are used to improve the performance of the Online Services and the user experience.

Functional Cookies enable the Online Service to save information already entered (such as user names, language choices, and your location), so that it can offer you improved and more personalized functions. Functional cookies are also used to enable features you request, such as playing videos.

Analytics Cookies are used with our Online Services from third parties, such as Google Analytics. These services use cookies to collect information such as IP address, device ID, browser information, geolocation, content viewed, or other similar information for the purpose of analyzing and measuring how visitors use the Online Services and specific functions and features.

Marketing Cookies may be used to deliver advertisements to you based on your interests and preferences. These cookies may also be used to collect data when you have interacted with our online advertisements. Data we may collect for advertising or marketing purposes includes information such as IP address, browser type, location (municipality — not home or street address), date and time of visit, domain type and activity on the Online Service. We may use and share data from these cookies with our advertising and marketing partners that enable us to present you with advertising on other sites, or with marketing information, based on your previous interaction with our Online Service. These cookies also limit the frequency with which an advertisement appears and measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns by determining whether you have visited an advertised webpage or our Online Service. We may permit selected marketing partners to match and identify you using this information.

We also place cookies and other plug-ins of third parties, such as Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, in the Online Services that track your interactions with our Online Services and that third party’s website, content, advertisements, website links, and/or other online services. These cookies are linked to a user’s use of that third party’s online services. Third-party cookies are managed by third-party service providers that also provide Tanner with statistical or analytical information and help us provide you with advertisements that we believe would be relevant for you. The information collection and use practices by such third parties are described in that third party’s privacy policies and cookies notices, not this Cookies Notice.

How to manage and disable cookies

You can manage or disable certain cookies by adjusting your browser or device settings. Browsers and devices are different, so refer to the settings menu of your browser or device control settings for instructions on how to change your cookie preferences. If you choose not to receive cookies, our Online Services, or portions of our Online Services, may not work properly or be available to you.

You may also manage cookies placed by third parties such as Google by following the instructions provided by the third parties in their cookie policies and notices. For information about clearing, enabling and managing cookies in Google Chrome, for example, please visit the Google Chrome Help Center. To learn more about the use of cookies by Google for analytics and to exercise choice regarding those cookies, please visit the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

You also may be able to opt-out from having certain of our third-party marketing partners use cookies on our Online Services to collect data for marketing purposes. Some of these advertising partners are members of the Network Advertising Initiative (“NAI”). To remove yourself from some or all NAI member advertising programs as further described in the NAI Opt-Out Page, please visit the NAI Opt-Out Page, https://optout.networkadvertising.org, and follow the relevant instructions. Please note that if you delete, block or otherwise restrict cookies on your computer, or if you use a different computer or Internet browser, you may need to renew your NAI opt-out choice.

Social Media Usage

Tanner Health System’s social media pages/accounts are online communities. Our posts are informational in nature and should not be misconstrued as healthcare diagnosis, medical advice or a substitute for medical advice or diagnosis by your physician. If you need a physician referral, please call 770-214-CARE (2273) or search Find a Provider.

We encourage likes, comments, questions, constructive criticism and reviews, but we expect these interactions to be appropriate, respectful, relevant and tolerant. Personal attacks, defamation, racism, ethnic slurs, spamming, excessive posting and inappropriate language will not be tolerated. We reserve the right to remove posts that violate those rules. We also reserve the right to remove or hide posts that identify patients or health conditions other than the person making the post, posts that suggest illegal activities, posts that are made by imposters, posts that advertise or solicit business, posts that could be interpreted as political lobbying or posts that infringe in any way on the rights of Tanner or Tanner employees. Additionally, we reserve the right to block future posts by individuals who habitually violate these rules or any social media network's terms of service.

To make an inquiry or to speak with someone about any Tanner Health System hospital or medical practice, call 770-812-9666 or click this link for specific phone numbers. To request a sponsorship, click here.