Last updated: 12-8-2023
Welcome to Southwest General Health Center’s website(s), mobile applications and digital online services (“Online Services”). We recognize that you may be concerned about our use and disclosure of your personal information. Your privacy is very important to us, and the following will inform you what information Southwest General Health Center and its affiliated entity Southwest General Medical Group (“Southwest”, “we”, “us” or “ours”), may collect from you when you use our Online Services and how we may use such information.. By using our Online Services (www.swgeneral.com or any of our websites or Online Services), you are accepting the practices described in this policy.
Difference between this Privacy Policy and Southwest’s Notice of Privacy Practices. When you are a patient of Southwest or Southwest General Medical Group, your personal health information (e.g. medical records) is protected. Southwest’s Notice of Privacy Practices (also called the HIPAA Privacy Notice) addresses how Southwest may use and disclose such protected information. You can find that Notice of Privacy Practices on the Southwest website, or you may obtain it from the Hospital or Southwest when you obtain healthcare services. This policy is different from the Notice of Privacy Practices and this policy addresses how Southwest may use information that is collected when you interact with Southwest Online Services.
Non-Personal Information. When you connect with us online we may collect non-personal information, such as the domain name and IP Address from which you accessed our site. We may also collect information about the type of Internet browser and operating system you used, as well as any online sites that referred you to our website, what you viewed on our website, the date and time of your visit to the website, and other information on how you accessed our website and the devices you used to view our website.. If your device settings allow us to determine your location, we may collect that information. We do not automatically collect the email addresses of visitors to our Online Services. The only way we obtain your name or email address is if you choose to give it to us.
Personal Information. If you give us information by interacting with the Online Services such as requesting an appointment; filling out a form; paying a bill; making a donation; taking a survey, creating an account, providing comments or providing us with any other information, we will collect that information. This includes any personally identifiable health information such as diagnoses, previous treatments, etc. Please note that if you have questions concerning your specific medical condition(s), you should contact your medical provider directly. Once information is provided to us, it is kept in secure databases or secure email servers.
If you do provide us with this information and later interact with Southwest or any provider, this information may not be available to us or the provider and you may be requested to provide the information again to make sure your provider has complete information regarding your health. .
Data from other Sources. If you access our Online Services from a third party, such as Facebook, we may receive information about you from that third party.
We may combine all the non-personal, personal and third-party information we collect.
Do Not Track Disclosure. We do not respond to web browser Do Not Track signals at this time.
We use "cookies" on our Online Services. A cookie is a piece of data stored on a site visitor's hard drive to help us improve your access to our site and identify repeat visitors to our site. For instance, when we use a cookie to identify you, you would not have to log in a password more than once, thereby saving time while on our site. Cookies can also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our site. You may be able to refuse or disable cookies by adjusting your web browser or device settings. If you choose to disable, refuse, or delete these technologies, some of the functionality of the Online Services may no longer be available to you.
We use the collected information primarily for our own internal purposes, such as providing, maintaining, evaluating, and improving our services and website, fulfilling requests for information, and providing customer support. We use information regarding the number of individuals who use our Online Services and the information sought so that we may improve the information we provide to you. We may contact you in the future to tell you about our products and services, changes to this or other policies, and other information about Southwest. Additionally, if you communicate with us regarding our website or our services, we will collect any information that you provide to us and we may follow-up with you as appropriate.
We will not sell, trade, rent, or otherwise provide the information we collect to outside third-parties for their marketing or advertising purposes.
We will share your information with authorized third-party vendors that help us with services such as billing, payment processing, setting appointments, management and hosting of telemedicine, and marketing our services. These third-party vendors may not use the information for purposes other than those related to the services they are providing to us.
We may disclose your information to respond to subpoenas, court orders and other legal processes, governmental and law enforcement requests, and to protect and defend the rights, interests, health, safety and security of Southwest and our patients, Online Services users or the public.
We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it.
If we collect sensitive information (such as credit card data), that information is encrypted and transmitted to us in a secure way. You can verify this by looking for a closed lock icon at the bottom of your web browser, or looking for "https" at the beginning of the address of the web page.
While we use encryption to protect sensitive information transmitted online, we also protect your information offline. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (for example, billing or customer service) are granted access to personally identifiable information. The computers/servers in which we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment.
You should be aware that no data storage system or transmission of data over the Internet or any other public network can be guaranteed to be 100 percent secure.
If you choose to engage in public activities on third-party sites that we link to, such as Facebook, discussion boards, or elsewhere, you should be aware that any information you share there can be read, collected or used by other users of these sites and forums. You should use caution in disclosing personal information while participating in these areas. We are not responsible for information you choose to submit in public places.
Ultimately, you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of your personal information. Please be careful and responsible whenever you are online.
This Website may contain links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of any other site that collects personally identifiable information.
From time-to-time our site may request information via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests is completely voluntary and you may choose whether or not to participate and therefore disclose this information. Information requested may include contact information (such as name and shipping address), and demographic information (such as zip code, age). Contact information will be used to notify the winners and award prizes. Survey information will be used for purposes of monitoring or improving the use and satisfaction of this site.
We maintain information in the United States of America in accordance with the laws of the United States (US) and the State of Ohio which may not be as protective as the laws of other countries. By using the Online Services and providing us with your information, you understand and agree that your information may be transferred to and stored on servers located outside of the country in which you are located and you consent to the transfer of such data to the US for processing by us in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
Our Online Services are directed to adults and are not designed or intended to attract children under 13. We will not knowingly collect, maintain, or use personal information from children under 13. If you learn that a child has provided us with personal information and wish it be deleted, please let us know. Unless we are required to keep the information by law, we will take reasonable steps to delete such information.
By using our Online Services, you consent to the collection and use of information as specified above. We reserve the right to make changes to this Privacy Policy at any time and if we make changes to our Privacy Policy, we will post those changes on this page. Please review this page frequently to remain up-to-date with the information we collect, how we use it, and under what circumstances we disclose it. You must review the new Privacy Policy carefully to make sure you understand our practices and procedures.
If you feel that we are not abiding by this Privacy Policy, you should contact us immediately via telephone at (440) 816-8000 or via mail Attn: Privacy Officer, 18697 Bagley Road, 310, Middleburg Heights, OH 44130.