Acting as good stewards of the personal information that we collect is important to us as a healthcare network. At Lehigh Valley Health Network, it is our policy that personal information is kept private and confidential.
Our methods of collecting, using, storing and sharing personal information we collect on LVHN.org, Lehigh Valley Health Network’s official Facebook pages and related websites, applications or services owned by Lehigh Valley Health Network or its affiliates are described in detail below. By using websites, applications or services owned by Lehigh Valley Health Network and the resources provided on them, you acknowledge that you are aware of and accept these practices.
Terms and Conditions of Use of teletriage.lvh.com can be found at the following link - TAC. Specific details about how we protect health information that may identify you as an individual can be found here.
Types and Uses of Information Collected
When you request information from Lehigh Valley Health Network, you will be asked to provide personal information including your first name, last name and your email address. A request for information may include, but not be limited to, filling out a form on LVHN.org to request information about one of our services, registering to attend an event or class held by Lehigh Valley Health Network or its affiliates, submitting a question through one of Lehigh Valley Health Network’s official Facebook pages or registering for an account on LVHN.org. The information that you provide will be used to follow-up with you on your request. In order to follow-up appropriately, more information may be requested including, but not be limited to, your postal address, telephone number and contact preferences. It is our practice to not collect information that would personally identify you unless you provide it.
When you submit information digitally to Lehigh Valley Health Network, such as through online forms on LVHN.org or technical information, such as your browser type or IP address, may be collected to ensure technical functionality or to address any inappropriate use of our website. An IP address is a number that is assigned to your computer when you access the Internet, therefore it is not personally identifiable information because many different individuals can access the Internet via the same computer. We use this information in aggregate form to understand how our websites, online advertisements and other digital content are being used and how to better adjust them to serve our visitors.
Storage and Access of Information Collected
Lehigh Valley Health Network may access collected customer information for the purposes of providing requested and related services, preventing or addressing service or technical problems, preventing or addressing customer support matters, or as may be required by law. The personal information provided to our network is securely stored and is only accessible by staff members with a business need to access and use that information. Your information will be retained for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services, comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.
Use of Information Collected by 3rd Parties
Lehigh Valley Health Network may share information collected with other companies that work on Lehigh Valley Health Network’s behalf in order to further the purpose for which you provide the information, such as fulfilling information requests, forwarding complaints, or if release is required by law or is pertinent to judicial or governmental investigations or proceedings. Lehigh Valley Health Network does not share, sell, rent, or trade personally identifiable information with third parties for their promotional purposes.
Cookies, Online Advertising and Other Tracking Technology
Lehigh Valley Health Network uses common Internet technologies, such as cookies, website statistics tracking through Google Analytics to keep track of interactions with our network. These technologies may be in place and active on LVHN.org, Lehigh Valley Health Network’s official Facebook pages and related websites, applications or services owned by Lehigh Valley Health Network or its affiliates.
Cookies, web beacons/pixel tags, log files and other technologies may be used to collect information about visitors to our website, use of our online services, and interactions with our emails, advertisements and other marketing content. Collected information may include, but not be limited to, browser type, operating system and IP address. This data may be merged with your behavior and interaction data, such as what pages you viewed or links you clicked. Collecting this information, and at times linking it with personally identifiable information that you have provided to us, helps customize our websites, applications and services to suit your needs.
Statistics that show the daily number of visitors to our sites, the daily requests we receive for particular files on our websites, and what countries those requests come from are compiled on a frequent basis for the purposes of improving our websites, applications and services. These aggregated statistics are used internally and may also be provided to others. These statistics do not contain personally identifiable information and cannot be used to gather such information.
Opting out from Tracking Technologies
You can set your Internet browser settings to stop accepting new cookies, to receive notice when you receive a new cookie, to disable existing cookies, and to omit images (which will disable pixel and other invisible tracking tags that may be in use.) These settings will vary depending on your browser. Note that the opt-out will apply only to the browser that you are using when you adjust your tracking settings or cookie preferences. If you switch from Internet Explorer to Google Chrome browser, for example, the tracking may be put back in place. Additionally, our system may not respond to Do Not Track requests or headers from some or all browsers.
Please note that by disabling or opting-out from the use of these communications or technologies, you may not be able to take full advantage of the features and information from websites, applications or services owned by Lehigh Valley Health Network.
Protected Health Information (“PHI”)
We understand that patient medical information is personal. As a hospital network, we are committed to the protection of health information that may identify individuals, which we call Protected Health Information (“PHI”) and treat differently than other forms of personal information that is provided.
Our network has created a HEALTH INFORMATION PRIVACY NOTICE to describe how we use and disclose the PHI respective to the services offered through Lehigh Valley Health Network. This notice includes information about:
- How we may use and disclose the PHI
- When we may disclose the PHI to others
- Patient privacy rights and how to use them
- Our privacy duties
- Who to contact for more information or with a complaint
To download a complete copy of our HEALTH INFORMATION PRIVACY NOTICE, please click here.
Updates to Our Privacy Policy
This policy was last updated in April 2018.
Lehigh Valley Health Network reserves the right to modify our policy at any time by making updates to this page. Any modifications made to this page and the policy outlined shall be effective immediately upon being posted. Your continued use of any websites, applications or services owned by Lehigh Valley Health Network following the posting of the updated policy will mean that you agree to the modified policy for the use of these resources.