Easter Seals Disability Services

Easter Seals Online Network Privacy Policy

Notification of Change
The Information We Collect
Opting Out
Your California Privacy Rights
Correct/Update Your Profile
Aggregate Information
Cookies
Security of Your Information
Tell-A-Friend, Ecards and Personal Fundraising Pages
Links to Other Web Sites
Information from Children
Transmission of Health-Related Data

Welcome to the Easter Seals Online Network, the Web site of Easter Seals, Inc. (Easter Seals headquarters) and participating Easter Seals affiliates across the country.

Because Easter Seals values the privacy of constituents visiting the Easter Seals Online Network, users of the Easter Seals Online Network have the right to manage their own personal information.

You can contact Easter Seals for more information related to the privacy of the information you provide online:

Mail:  233 South Wacker Drive, Suite 2400, Chicago, IL 60606.
Phone:  312-726-6200
Online:  Click here to contact Easter Seals via email. Your request will be answered within 2-3 business days.

Notification of Change
Easter Seals reserves the right to change this policy at any time. Easter Seals privacy policy will be kept up-to-date and clearly posted on our Web site.

The Information We Collect
On many pages of the Easter Seals Online Network -- in particular when donating online, completing an action alert, registering for a special event, purchasing a product, or completing various feedback forms -- visitors are asked to list name, address, and other personal contact information. Information collected is specifically and knowingly provided by site visitors and may include name, email address, format preference (HTML vs. text), address, telephone number, interests and other similar information. Collecting this information helps Easter Seals to better provide site visitors with relevant and useful content.

Easter Seals has partnered with Convio, Inc. to power the Web content, email and transaction processing capabilities to serve our constituents and fulfill our mission on the Internet. Convio, Inc. is an Internet software and services company that provides online electronic Constituent Relationship Management (eCRM) solutions for nonprofit organizations and higher education institutions. Convio will not disclose your name or other personally identifiable information (such as your e-mail address or phone number) to any party other than Easter Seals.

Neither Easter Seals nor Convio store sensitive information such as credit card numbers. When an online transaction is completed through the Easter Seals Online Network, such as a charitable contribution, credit card information is used solely for the purpose of completing that specific transaction and is not retained in the Easter Seals or Convio database.

Easter Seals will not sell, share or exchange personal contact information collected from this Web site with other organizations. If a user has a previous relationship with Easter Seals through another channel (i.e., mail, phone), Easter Seals will occasionally rent or exchange those names and addresses with other organizations as a way of providing extra funds to help support services. If you do not want to participate in this program, please let us know.

Visitors to the Easter Seals Online Network are not required to share any personally identifiable information. Users who do not wish to share personal information when visiting the Easter Seals Online Network can still access the Network's Web pages and the valuable information provided.

Opting Out
Easter Seals provides site visitors with the opportunity to opt-out of receiving our online and offline communications.

If you would like to opt-out of receiving email communications please update your user profile. Email unsubscribe requests are processed immediately.

To discontinue the receipt of postal mail, please contact Easter Seals. Shortly, Easter Seals will be adding the capability to remove your name from our postal mailing list online. You'll need to register as user of the Easter Seals Online Network. Please note: there is a 8-12 week lapse period due to the fact that a subsequent mailing may already be in production. If you do receive another mailing, please disregard it.

Your California Privacy Rights
To review a special notice for California residents only per California Privacy Law (SB27): Exchanging, Renting, Reselling Personal Information, please visit the "Your California Privacy Rights" section. 

Correct/Update Your Profile
Easter Seals offers the option to change and modify personally identifiable information. Upon your request, Easter Seals will remove personally identifying information retained in organizational databases. If you are a registered user of this site, you can access your Easter Seals profile and update your contact information and user preferences by clicking here.

Easter Seals reserves the right to maintain information on users who have had their access to the Easter Seals Online Network blocked.

Aggregate Information
Demographic and profile data (i.e., age, gender, browser usage) is also collected via the Easter Seals Online Network. Easter Seals uses such data to improve marketing and promotional efforts, statistically analyze site usage, improve content and product offerings and to customize site content, layout, and services. Additionally, this data may be shared with third parties on an aggregated basis. Easter Seals does not share personally identifying information with third parties, except to a court or governmental agency if required by law and as stated above in the section titled "The Information We Collect."

Cookies
A cookie is a small text file a Web site places on a site visitor’s computer hard drive. Its purpose is to let the site know when a user visits and to perform certain functions such as saving passwords and personal preferences.
 
Cookies help evaluate visitors' use of a Web site, such as what viewers want to see and what they never read. This information allows Easter Seals to better focus online information and to concentrate on information people are using.

Your browser is probably set to accept cookies. If you would like to turn this feature off, you will need to change the settings of your Internet browser.

Security of Your Information
All credit card and personal profile information provided to Easter Seals or our Internet software partner, Convio, Inc., is transmitted using SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption using Verisign as a payment gateway. SSL is a proven coding system that allows a browser to automatically encrypt, or scramble, data before it is sent.

Easter Seals also protects account information by placing it on a secure portion of the Easter Seals Online Network that is only accessible by certain qualified employees of Easter Seals. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. Easter Seals strives to protect your information, however cannot ensure or warrant the security of such information.

Tell-A-Friend, Ecards and Personal Fundraising Pages
If you elect to use the referral service to inform a friend about a page on the Easter Seals Online Network, send an ecard, or raise funds for Easter Seals by soliciting friends and family, you will be asked for the friend's name and email address. Easter Seals will automatically send the friend a one-time email inviting them to visit the site. Easter Seals stores this information to send this one-time email only. In addition, the contact information will be maintained solely for the future convenience of the individual who provided the information -- to send subsequent ecards or fundraising reminders/updates.

Links to Other Web Sites
Easter Seals has links to other Web sites outside of the Easter Seals Online Network. Easter Seals is not responsible for the content of any linked Web site, or any link contained in a linked Web site, or any changes or updates to such Web sites. The inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by Easter Seals of that Web site.

In addition, please be aware that Easter Seals is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other Web sites. Easter Seals encourages you to read the privacy statements of each and every Web site that requests personal information from you.

Information from Children
Easter Seals does not seek to collect personal information about children through the Easter Seals Online Network. If a child submits information through any part of the Network, and Easter Seals is aware that the user submitting the information is a child, the information is not used for any purpose, nor is it disclosed to third parties. Easter Seals will comply with all regulations set forward by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). To learn more about COPPA, visit the Federal Trade Commission.

Transmission of Health-Related Data
Easter Seals understands the sensitivity of collecting and using health-related data. Personally identifiable health-related data collected on the Easter Seals Online Network will not be shared with entities other than Easter Seals, Inc., and Easter Seals affiliates. Any transfer of personally identifiable health-related data between Easter Seals organizations will take place in a secure environment with access allowed only to certain qualified employees of Easter Seals. Easter Seals will comply with all regulations set forward by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). To learn more about HIPAA, visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights.

Our Pledge Regarding Protected Health Information
We understand that information about you and your health is personal. We are committed to protecting medical information about you. We create a record of the care and services you receive at Southwest Human Development (SWHD). We need this record to provide you with quality care and to comply with legal requirements. We are required by law to abide by the terms of this Notice of Privacy Practices and to provide you with information regarding SWHD privacy policies and practices.

Changes to this Notice
We may change the terms of our notice at any time. We will post the new notice at our Administrative Offices and on the SWHD Web Site (http://www.swhd.org/). You may also obtain the revised Notice of Privacy Practices by calling the Privacy Officer (602-200-0434) and requesting that a revised copy be sent to you or be provided to you at the time of your next appointment.

Your Rights Regarding Your P.H.I.
The following is a statement of your rights with respect to your PHI. You have the right to:

See and Receive copies of your PHI.
Request a restriction of your PHI.
Choose how the program communicates with you in a certain way or at a certain place.
Request to amend or correct your PHI if you think there is a mistake. You must provide a reason for your request.
Receive a list of certain disclosures SWHD has made, if any, of your PHI.
Obtain a paper copy of this notice from us.
Any of the above requests must be made in writing and submitted to the SWHD Privacy Officer.

Uses and Disclosures of P.H.I.
The following are examples of the types of uses and disclosures of your PHI that SWHD is permitted to make without your authorization:

Treatment:
Your PHI will be used to provide, coordinate or manage your health care and any related services. This may include other physicians who may be treating you. For example, your PHI may be sent to a physician to whom you have been referred to ensure that he/she has necessary information to diagnose or treat you.

Payment:
Your PHI will be used, as needed, to obtain payment for your health care services. For example, obtaining approval for payment may require that your relevant PHI be disclosed to the insurance plan.

Healthcare Operations:
Your PHI will be used or disclosed, as needed, in order to support the business activities of SWHD. These activities include, but are not limited to, quality assessment, employee review, risk management activities, staff member training, licensing and accreditation. For example, SWHD regularly reviews the quality and content of the clinical charts. This requires that actual clinical records be reviewed on a random basis to ensure that clinical documentation meet the regulatory requirements under which we operate. In addition, we may call you by name in the waiting room when your clinician is ready to see you.

Business Associates:
We may use and disclose your information with third party "Business Associates" that perform various activities for SWHD. Whenever an arrangement between our office and a business associate involves the use or disclosure of your PHI, we will have a written contract that contains terms that will protect the privacy of your PHI.

Appointment Reminders:
We may use and disclose your information to remind you of appointments.

Treatment Options:
We may use your health information to inform you of treatment options or other health-related services we offer that may be of interest to you.

Uses and Disclosures of P.H.I when Permitted or Required by Law
We may use or disclose your PHI in the following situations without your authorization when permitted or required to by law:

Required by Law in keeping with the law and only that information relevant to the requirements of the law.

Public Health - for the purposes of controlling disease, injury or disability.

Abuse or Neglect - to receive reports of child abuse/neglect or if you have been the victim of abuse or neglect.

Health Oversight - to government agencies that oversee health care systems, benefit programs and/or civil rights laws.

Legal Proceedings and/or Response to a Court Order - in response to a judicial or administrative proceeding or in response to a legal order of the court.

Law Enforcement - as required to comply with legal processes, limited information for identification and location purposes, pertaining to victims of crime, in the event that a crime occurs on SWHD premises and a medical emergency where it is likely that a crime occurred.

Coroners, Funeral Directors and Organ Donation - for identification purposes, determination of cause of death.

Research - to comply with SWHD approved and reviewed research.

Criminal Activity - to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to the health or safety of a person or the public.

Military activity and National Security - to Armed Forces personnel for activities deemed necessary for military command authority, to determine eligibility for veteran's benefits, for national security or intelligence activities.

Worker's Compensation - to comply with worker's compensation laws.

Inmates receiving services from SWHD Practitioners - if your SWHD clinician is providing services to you while you are incarcerated.

In any other instance required by law.

Uses and Disclosures of P.H.I. with Your Authorization
Uses and disclosures not described above will generally be made only with your written permission, called an “authorization.” You have the right to revoke an authorization at any time. If you revoke your authorization we will not make any further uses or disclosures of your PHI under that authorization, unless we have already taken an action relying upon the uses or disclosures you have previously authorized.

SWHD may also disclose PHI to family members and/or other persons involved in your care or payment for your care. If you do not want us to do so, please inform our Privacy Officer in writing.

Who Will Follow this Notice
This Notice of Privacy Practices will be followed by all SWHD representatives and is applied to all applicable sites and facilities operated by SWHD. In addition, these sites and facilities may share health information with each other for treatment, payment or health care operation purposes.

Complaints
You may file a complaint with SWHD by notifying our Privacy Officer of your concern regarding handling of your PHI. We will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint. You may contact our Privacy Officer, (602-200-0434) or SWHDprivacy@swhd.org for further information about this process.

 Effective Date April 14, 2003