Terms of Use and Privacy Statement

	WEB SITE TERMS OF USE WEB SITE PRIVACY STATEMENT NOTICE OF PRIVACY PRACTICES

Hartford HealthCare provides this web site to you subject to the following Web Site Terms of Use and Web Site Privacy Statement. If you visit this Hartford HealthCare  web site, you agree to abide by these policies. Please read them carefully.

In addition, our Notice of Privacy Practices explains a patient's rights regarding their Protected Health Information (PHI) and our practices and responsibilities to protect the privacy of a patient's PHI.

Hartford HealthCare reserves the right to make changes to this web site and to these policies at any time. Therefore, you should check these policies frequently to review the then-current policies because they are binding on you.

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Web Site Terms of Use

(Last Revised on July 25, 2001)

Hartford HealthCare offers the information on this web site for general information and educational purposes only. This information is not intended as medical advice and should not be used for diagnosis. Information on this web site is not intended to create any physician-patient relationship, nor should it be considered a replacement for consultation with a healthcare professional. If you have questions or concerns about your health, please contact your healthcare provider.

Copyright and Trademark Information 

© Hartford HealthCare. All Rights Reserved.

All content included on this site, such as text, graphics, logos, button icons, images, digital downloads, and software is the property of Hartford HealthCare or its content suppliers and is protected by copyright laws. The compilation of all content on this site is the exclusive property of Hartford HealthCare and is protected by copyright laws. All software used on this site is the property of HealthCare or its software suppliers and protected by copyright laws.

The Hartford HealthCare logo is a registered trademark of Hartford HealthCare. Hartford HealthCare, Hartford Hospital, Life Star, The Institute of Living and Jefferson House logos are service marks of Hartford HealthCare. The product and service names profiled herein are proprietary marks of Hartford HealthCare. All other brands and names are the property of their respective owners.

License for Your Use of this Site 

Hartford HealthCare grants you a limited, revocable and nonexclusive license to access and make personal use of this site and not to download (other than page caching) or modify it, or any portion of it, except with the express written consent of Hartford HealthCare. This site or any portion of this site may not be reproduced, duplicated, copied, sold, visited or otherwise exploited for commercial purposes without the express written consent of Hartford HealthCare. You may not utilize framing to enclose any trademark, logo or other proprietary information contained on this site without express written consent. You may not use any meta tags or any other "hidden text" utilizing Hartford HealthCare's name or trademarks without our express written consent. You are granted a limited, revocable, and nonexclusive right to create a hyperlink to the home page of this site so long as the link does not portray Hartford HealthCare, its affiliates or its services in a false, misleading, derogatory, or otherwise offensive manner.

You agree to use this site only for lawful purposes, and you acknowledge that your failure to do so may subject you to civil or criminal liability. You are responsible for ensuring that any materials you post to this site or a discussion area via email or otherwise does not violate the copyright, trademark, trade secret or other personal or proprietary rights of any third party. You agree not to disrupt, modify, or interfere with this site or its associated software, hardware and servers in any way and you agree not to impede or interfere with others' use of this web site. You further agree not to alter or tamper with any information or materials on or associated with this site.

Any unauthorized use terminates the permission or license granted by Hartford HealthCare.

Use of Email Content 

Transmittal of emails to this web site may not be private. You grant Hartford HealthCare and its designees the unrestricted right to use, reproduce, modify, translate, transmit and distribute any information or material you supply or communicate to the web site via such postings in any medium now in existence or hereafter developed for any purpose.

Web Site Links 

This web site may provide links or references to other sites. Hartford HealthCare cannot be held responsible for information, products or services obtained on such other sites and will not be liable for any damages arising from access to such sites. Any links to other sites are provided merely as a convenience to the visitors of this web site and any inclusion of such links in this web site does not imply an endorsement or warranty of the linked sites or their content, products or services. Visitors are cautioned that linked sites are governed by their own use and privacy policies, so visitors linking to such sites should make sure to visit the appropriate pages of those sites to determine what policies will apply.

Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of Liability 

Hartford HealthCare makes no representations or warranties about the suitability of these materials for any purpose. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU ARE USING THIS WEB SITE AT YOUR OWN RISK. THIS SITE IS PROVIDED BY HARTFORD HEALTHCARE ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. HARTFORD HEALTHCARE DOES NOT WARRANT THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE INFORMATION, TEXT, GRAPHICS, EMAIL RESPONSES, LINKS AND OTHER ITEMS CONTAINED ON THIS WEB SITE OR ON ANY OTHER SERVER. HARTFORD HEALTHCARE DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THIS SITE, ITS SERVERS, OR EMAIL SENT FROM HARTFORD HEALTHCARE ARE FREE FROM VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. HARTFORD HEALTHCARE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND ARISING FROM THE USE OF THIS SITE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES.

THE INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THIS WEB SITE AND IN ANY EMAIL RESPONSES FROM HARTFORD HEALTHCARE TO YOU ARE INTENDED TO BE FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY, ARE NOT CONFIDENTIAL, AND ARE NOT IN RESPONSE TO AN INDIVIDUAL'S ACTUAL OR POTENTIAL HEALTH PROBLEMS OR AN INDIVIDUAL'S PARTICULAR SET OF CIRCUMSTANCES. FURTHER, THIS INFORMATION SHOULD NOT BE USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR CONSULTING WITH YOUR PERSONAL PHYSICIAN.

Applicable Law and Jurisdiction

By visiting this web site, you agree that the Terms of Use and Privacy Statement for all purposes shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Connecticut, without regard to principles of conflict of laws, and that any action based on or alleging a breach of these provisions must be brought in a state or federal court located in the State of Connecticut. In addition, you agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction and venue of such courts.

General

Hartford HealthCare may make changes to the information contained on this web site or the products and services described on this web site at any time. Hartford HealthCare makes no commitment and undertakes no obligation to update the information contained herein. Hartford HealthCare reserves the right to make changes to our Terms of Use and Privacy Statement at any time, without notice. If any of these provisions shall be deemed invalid, void or for any reason unenforceable, that provision shall be deemed severable and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provision.

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Web Site Privacy Statement

(Last Revised on July 25, 2001)

Your privacy is important to us. This Privacy Statement describes the guidelines Hartford HealthCare uses for protecting information you provide to us during your visit to this web site, subject to the provisions contained in our "Terms of Use."

The Information We Collect and How We Use It

Certain information is automatically collected when you visit our site. You may have read about "cookies," nuggets of information that are placed by a web site in a storage place on your own computer. The types of information we collect with cookies include the name of your Internet service provider, the web site that referred you to us (if any), the date and time our web site was accessed, the page or pages you visited, and your IP address. Our cookies do not contain information that is, in itself, personally identifying.

In addition, we receive and store any information you enter on our web site or give us in any other way. For example, if you send us an email or fill out a form, you are transmitting the information that appears to you in the form or the message. This will typically include information like your name, address, email address, the kind of request you are making, and any other information necessary to fulfill your request. You never transmit any personally identifying information that you do not enter yourself. This information is used internally only for the purpose of fulfilling the request or for contacting you directly. The information we collect may be used for several purposes, for example, to improve the content of our web site, track activity on our site, develop new products or services, or respond to inquiries. We also allow access to our database by third parties that provide us with services only for the purpose and only to the extent necessary to provide you with those services. There may also be occasions when we are legally required to provide access to our database in order to cooperate with investigations or other legal proceedings. In those instances, the information is provided only for that purpose.

While your individual information is protected as outlined above, we reserve the right to use aggregated, anonymous data about our visitors as a group for any business purpose, such as, without limitation, analyzing usage trends.

Please note that Hartford HealthCare will not intentionally share the contents of any email feedback or questions with any third party. However, due to the nature of electronic communications, we cannot and do not provide any assurances that the contents of your email will not become known or accessible to third parties. Please refer to our "Terms of Use" concerning additional policies relating to emails.

Other than as outlined above, Hartford HealthCare will not sell, trade or rent any personally identifying information we may collect on this web site to any third party without your permission.

WE URGE YOU NOT TO PROVIDE ANY CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION ABOUT YOU OR YOUR HEALTH TO US VIA ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION. IF YOU DO SO, IT IS AT YOUR OWN RISK.

Web Site Links

From time to time, we may provide additional links on our web site to resources you may find useful. These links will lead you to sites governed by different privacy policies. We wish to caution our visitors that they must take the responsibility for visiting the other web sites' privacy policies, as we have no control over information that is submitted to those sites. Please refer to our "Terms of Use" for additional information concerning links to other web sites.

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Notice of Privacy Practices

Effective April 14, 2003

This notice describes how information about you may be used and disclosed and how you can get access to this information

PLEASE REVIEW IT CAREFULLY.

Hartford HealthCare's Responsibilities

Hartford HealthCare (The Hospital) receives and generates certain Protected Health Information (PHI) about you especially for you. The following information explains your rights regarding this PHI and our practices and responsibilities to protect the privacy of your PHI.

• Federal and State law requires that we maintain the privacy of your PHI;
• Federal law requires that the Hospital provide you with this written Notice regarding its duties and practices in using your PHI;
• The Hospital is required to abide by the terms of this Notice;
• The Hospital is required to notify you if we can not abide by a requested restriction on how your information is used or disclosed;
• The Hospital must accommodate reasonable requests that you make for it to communicate your PHI by alternative means or locations;
• The Hospital reserves the right to change this Notice and have the changes apply not only to PHI acquired after the change in Notice, but have it also apply to PHI received before the change in Notice. Should our Notice, be revised, we will post the revised Notice on our web site www.seniorhealthsolutionsct.org.
• The Hospital and its medical staff operate as an organized health care arrangement, which means that for purposes of compliance with the Federal Privacy Standards you will be receiving a joint Notice of Privacy Practices from the Hospital and its medical staff.

Uses and Disclosures of Your Protected Health Information

The Hospital may use your PHI for the following purposes without obtaining your written consent:

• To provide treatment (e.g., discussions between caregivers for coordination and planning of your care). Treatment means the provision of health care and related services, including consulting between health care providers; and referring you to another health care provider to receive care; and
• To conduct our administrative and business operations, which includes, but is not limited to, conducting quality improvement activities, reviewing the competence or qualifications of healthcare professionals, case management and care coordination, contacting patients with information regarding treatment alternatives, conducting or arranging for legal counsel, medical review and auditing functions, including fraud and abuse detection, business planning and development, management activities relating to compliance with State and Federal laws, resolution of internal grievances, and activities in connection with a sale of assets.

Federal law allows the Hospital to use and disclose your PHI for treatment, payment and healthcare operations without your consent. However, since State law continues to require that we obtain your consent for disclosure of PHI for payment purposes (ie., billing your insurance company for provision of services), coordination of care with other providers, and the disclosure of certain sensitive information protected under State law, we will request your consent for disclosure of PHI upon admission.

Unless you object or specifically request to restrict use, some of the other ways in which we will use your PHI are:

Patient Directory Use: Your name, location, general condition (e.g., stable, fair or critical), and religious affiliation will appear in the Patient Directory for access by clergy and persons who specifically inquire about you by name. If you are incapacitated or an emergency treatment circumstance exists limiting your ability to object, some or all of the above information may be used in the Patient Directory if such use is not inconsistent with any of your prior expressed preferences, or it is believed by us to be in your best interests. In which case, when it becomes practicable to do so, we will provide you with the opportunity to object to the use described. However, if you are receiving treatment for psychiatric and/or alcohol or drug abuse disorder(s): (i) we will not acknowledge the fact that you are receiving treatment from us without your specific written authorization; (ii) or disclose any PHI, which reveals psychiatric or protected drug and alcohol information. If we receive a request for disclosure of your patient records, we will not reveal that you are being diagnosed and/or treated for psychiatric or drug/alcohol problems without your specific written authorization or unless otherwise permitted under the law.

Notification and Involvement in Your Care: We may communicate PHI: (a) to your family member(s), legally authorized representative(s), and any other person identified by you, which is directly relevant to such person’s involvement in your care or payment for your care; and (b) to notify or assist in the notification of a family member, a personal representative, or any other person responsible for you. Such notification may include your location, general condition, or death, but will not include confidential HIV-related, drug and alcohol or psychiatric information. If you are able, we will provide you with the opportunity to consent or object to such disclosure. If you are unable to object due to your incapacity or an emergency circumstance, The Hospital, based upon its professional judgment, will make such disclosure if it determines that it is in your best interest to do so. Such disclosure of PHI will be limited to information that is directly relevant to the recipient’s involvement with your health care.

We may also make disclosures of your PHI to a public or a private entity charged by law or its charter to assist in disaster relief efforts for the purposes of coordinating the disclosures described in the above paragraph.

Unless the PHI is protected by Federal/State drug, alcohol psychiatric or HIV-related confidentiality laws, we may use and disclose your PHI without your consent or without providing you the opportunity to object as follows:

• If the use or disclosure of PHI is required by law and is limited to the relevant requirements of the law (e.g. reporting an adverse incident in our Hospital);
• Disclosures required by law to state and federal public health authorities (e.g., to report a defective medical device to the FDA);
• Disclosures made to government authorities for the purpose of reporting suspected abuse and neglect of children, the elderly and the mentally retarded;
• Disclosures to health oversight agencies authorized by law, in connection with audits, civil, administrative, or criminal investigations, licensure or disciplinary actions; or for monitoring compliance and quality, and program eligibility (e.g., Medicare, Medicaid, and State of Connecticut Department of Public Health);
• Disclosures to persons exposed to a communicable disease if authorized by law to make such disclosure;
• Disclosures in connection with judicial and administrative proceedings in response to an order of the court or administrative tribunal, or in response to a lawfully issued subpoena;
• Disclosures to law enforcement if mandated by law (e.g., reporting gunshot wounds);
• Disclosures to law enforcement in the event of your death if it is suspected that your death was the result of criminal conduct;
• Disclosures to law enforcement if there is evidence of criminal conduct that occurred on the Hospital premises;
• Disclosures to the Office of State Medical Examiner as mandated by law (e.g., the occurrence of a suspicious death, contagious disease, and cremation);
• Disclosures to funeral directors as permitted by law;
• Disclosures to organ procurement organizations (“organ banks”) in connection with organ donation and transplantation;
• Disclosures to researchers where: (i) the Hospital’s institutional review board has waived the requirement of your authorization; (ii) the researcher has made representations that access to your PHI is necessary to develop research protocols (or for similar purposes) preparatory to the actual research; (iii) the researcher has represented that access is necessary to conduct research on your PHI should you become deceased; or (iv) the Hospital has disclosed limited amounts of your PHI, excluding data which may directly identify you.
• Disclosures to persons reasonably able to prevent or lessen serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public; or if necessary to apprehend an individual involved in a violent crime that we believe may have caused serious physical harm to you;
• Disclosures regarding armed forces personnel to appropriate military command authorities to assure proper execution of the military mission;
• Disclosures to Federal officials for protective services to the President or other governmental authorities;
• Disclosures to correctional institutions for the purpose of providing services to you or for the health and safety of the inmates or employees of the correctional institution; and
• Disclosures to comply with workers’ compensation or other programs that provide benefits for work-related injuries without regard to fault.

Marketing and Fundraising: The Hospital may make disclosures of your PHI to provide follow up contact to you regarding upcoming appointments, treatment alternatives, health-related benefits, programs, services, events and functions which may be of interest to you, and to conduct fundraising by and for the Hospital.

All other uses or disclosures will only be made with your specific written authorization, which may be revoked, except to the extent it has already been relied upon.

Special rules for Psychiatric, Drug and Alcohol and HIV-related protected information:

Protected Psychiatric Information: State law provides special protections when it comes to psychiatric information. Except for treatment, or healthcare operations, psychiatric communications will not be disclosed, without your specific written consent, unless the disclosure is made: (i) to another health care provider for the purpose of treatment and diagnosis (with notice to You); (ii) when there is substantial risk of imminent physical injury to you or others and the disclosure is necessary to place you in a treatment facility; (iii) to a court as part of a court ordered psychiatric examination; (iv) in a civil court proceeding if you introduce your mental condition as an element of a claim or defense; (v) after your death, when your condition is introduced by a party claiming or defending through or as a beneficiary of you and a court finds it to be in the interests of justice to disclose such psychiatric information; (vi) to the Commissioner of the State Department of Public Health or the State Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services in connection with an inspection or investigation; (vii) to the family or legal representative of a victim of a homicide committed by you; (viii) to individuals or agencies involved in the collection of fees for psychiatric services; and (ix) to the State Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services in connection with The Hospital receiving payment for services funded by such agency with notice to you.

Protected HIV-Related Information: Special rules under State law also limit the disclosure of HIV-related information. According to the rules, the Provider may not disclose such information without your specific written authorization, unless such disclosure is: (i) made to a public health official as required or allowed by State or Federal law; (ii) a health care Provider for the purpose of treatment; (iii) a medical examiner to determine the cause of death; (iv) to a hospital committee or another organization for the purpose of oversight or monitoring of The Hospital; (v) to a health care worker experiencing a significant occupational exposure to HIV infection; (vi) pursuant to a court order; (v) life and health insurers; (vi) to your partner by a physician caring for you and your partner if it is believed by the physician that your partner is at significant risk for transmission; and (v) if you are a minor, to your parents or legal guardian, unless the physician determines there is cause (as defined by law) not to disclose to them.

Protected Drug and Alcohol Information: Federal law establishes certain protections for any patient identifiable information relating to drug and alcohol treatment. As a general rule, protected drug and alcohol information is confidential and may not be disclosed without your authorization or pursuant to Federal law. Exceptions for disclosure of Protected drug and alcohol information without your authorization are as follows: (1) to medical personnel to the extent necessary to meet a bona fide medical emergency; (2) to qualified personnel for the purpose of conducting research, management audits, program evaluation, provided you are not identified in any report; (3) pursuant to a court order where good cause for such disclosure has been established; (4) communications between a program and an entity and an affiliated covered entity having direct administrative control over our program; (5) to a business associate performing services on our behalf; (6) limited communications with law enforcement regarding a crime committed or threatened by you on our premises; (7) the reporting of incidents of suspected child abuse and neglect to the appropriate state authorities; and (8) to the FDA when they assert that your health may be threatened by an error in the manufacture, labeling, or sale of a product under FDA jurisdiction.

Your Rights Relating to Your Protected Health Information.

• You have the right to request certain restrictions on the use of your PHI for treatment, payment and our operations, disclosures to notify family and friends of your location, general condition and/or death, and disclosures to others involved in your care or payment of your care. However, we are not required to honor all such restrictions.
• The right to receive communications of PHI from the Hospital by other means or locations;
• The right to inspect and subject to a copying charge, copy PHI, except psychotherapy notes, information collected for use in a court proceeding, or certain other information protected by Federal law governing clinical laboratories;
• The right to request to amend PHI so long as the amendment is accurate and complete and in writing;
• The right to revoke your Authorization and Consent except to the extent relied upon;
• The right to receive an accounting of disclosures of PHI made by The Hospital in the six years prior to the date on which the accounting is requested; (beginning with disclosure made 4/14/03 forward)
• The right to receive a copy of the Hospital’s Notice of Privacy Practice; and
• The right to file a complaint with the Hospital or the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services if you believe your privacy rights have been violated.

For more information on how to exercise any of your rights regarding your protected health information, you may view our FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) page on this web site, or you can send a written request to:

A representative will contact you. Alternatively, you may contact The Hospital at (860) 545-5000 and ask to be connected to Health Information Management, Privacy Officer.

If you believe your privacy rights have been violated, you may file your complaint by any means of communication by contacting:

You will not be retaliated against for filing a complaint.

If you believe The Hospital has violated your privacy rights, you may file a complaint or contact the Department of Health and Human Services, Region I - Office of Civil Rights, J. F. K. Federal Building- Room 1875, Boston, MA 02203.

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