Privacy Policy
Ira M. Garonzik, M.D., P.A. (doing business as Baltimore Neurosurgery and Spine Center) (“BNSC”) is concerned about the privacy of visitors to this website (the “Site”) and our patients. BNSC will use reasonable efforts to ensure that the information you provide to us through the Site is used only for the purposes stated below. In addition, BNSC will comply with the HIPAA Privacy Rule with regard to the protection of your PHI (defined below).
By accessing any page of this Site, you represent that you are at least 18 years old and that you agree to abide by the following terms. If you are not at least 18 years of age and/or do not agree to the following terms, please note that you are not allowed to use the Site. This Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use (see below) apply to this Site. By using this Site, it means you accept the most recent version of this Privacy Policy.
SITE Privacy GENERALLY
This Privacy Policy applies to the Site. The Site contains links to other websites. Once you enter another website (whether through an advertisement, service, or content link), be aware that neither BNSC nor this Site is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other websites. We encourage you to look for and review the privacy policies of each and every website that you visit.
While you may use some of the functionality of the Site without registration, some of the specific tools and services on the Site require registration. If you use the Site without registering, the only information we collect will be Non-Personal Information using cookies. If you choose to become a member of our Site, we require a limited amount of Personally Identifiable Information, such as your name and email address.
NON-PERSONAL INFORMATION WE MAY COLLECT
Even if you do not register with us, we may collect Non-Personal Information about all visitors to the Site, including, but not limited to, when you download or otherwise access any newsletters or other materials located on the Site. Non-Personal Information may include the URL that you visited before you came to the Site, the URL to which you next go, and your IP address.
The Site may assign a visiting computer a cookie. Cookies are also used to facilitate a user’s log-in, as navigation aids and as session timers, but not to retain Personally Identifiable Information about you.
The information collected by cookies:
* Helps us diagnose problems with our server and administer the Site;
* Helps us to statistically monitor how many people are using the Site;
* How many people find our information useful; and
* What interests visitors.
Your browser software can be set to reject all cookies. If you reject our cookies, certain functions and conveniences of the Site may not work properly but you do not have to accept our cookies in order to use the Site. We do not link Non-Personal Information from cookies to Personally Identifiable Information without your permission and do not use cookies to collect or store Personal Health Information about you.
PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION WE MAY COLLECT
As you use the Site, you may be given the option of receiving recurring informational/promotional newsletters via email. These emails will be of a general nature and will in no way disclose your unique health characteristics. At the time you sign up for our email newsletters or any time thereafter, you can choose to opt-out of receiving additional promotional emails from us.
To subscribe to such newsletters, we need your contact information, such as name and email address. You can unsubscribe from the newsletters by simply clicking on the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of any email newsletter. An email to our automated unsubscribe service will be created on your computer. Click the “send” button. You will then be unsubscribed from that newsletter within two to three business days.
When you choose to participate as a member, the Site emails the article or other content designated by you to either your email address or to the email address of a third party designated by you and listing your email address as the sender. The Site uses the third party’s email address only for sending such third party the article or other designated content, and we neither store the email address nor use it for any other purpose.
This Privacy Policy does not protect you when you send content, questions or ideas to BNSC or the Site by email. If you want to keep them private or proprietary, do not send them in an email to BNSC or the Site.
We are committed to protecting the privacy of children. Neither the Site nor any of its services are designed or intended to attract children under the age of 13.
Personally Identifiable Information collected through market research will only be used by the Site and its operations contractors and will not be given or sold to a third party
DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION
Except as set forth in this Privacy Policy or as specifically agreed to by you, BNSC will not disclose any Personally Identifiable or Personal Health Information it gathers from you though the Site. BNSC will only release Personally Identifiable or Personal Health Information (consistent with our Notice (defined below)) to third parties:
* To comply with valid legal requirements such as a law, regulation, search warrant, subpoena or court order; and
* In special cases, such as a physical threat to you or others. In the event that we are legally compelled to disclose your Personally Identifiable or Personal Health Information to a third party, we will attempt to notify you unless doing so would violate the law or court order
ADVERTISING
The Site may occasionally link to resources that have been personally reviewed and are continually monitored by BNSC or its designee for quality assurance. The Site, may, from time to time, include resources through online affiliate programs and, as such, receive minor compensation based on a limited percentage of the purchase transaction, should one occur.
HIPAA Privacy Rule
A federal regulation, and subsquent revisions and additions, commonly known as the “HIPAA Privacy Rule” initially went into effect on April 14, 2003, and requires that we provide detailed notice in writing of our HIPAA practice policy. The HIPAA Privacy Rule requires us to address many specific things in the Notice.
In the Notice, we describe the ways that we may use and disclose health information about our patients. The HIPAA Privacy Rule requires that we protect the privacy of health information that identifies a patient or in those instances where there is a reasonable basis to believe the information can be used to identify a patient. This information is called “protected health information” or “PHI.” The Notice describes your rights as our patient and our obligations regarding the use and disclosure of PHI.
We are required by law and commit to you to:
(a) Maintain the privacy of PHI with respect to you;
(b) Give you the Notice in which we outline our legal
duties and privacy practices with respect to PHI; and
(c) Comply with the terms of the Notice as they currently
are in effect.
As permitted by the HIPAA Privacy Rule, we reserve the right to make changes to the Notice and to make such changes effective for all PHI we already may have about you. If and when the Notice is changed, we will post a copy in our office in a prominent location. We also will provide you with a copy of the revised Notice upon your request to to Ira M. Garonzik, MD, PA at:
5051 Greenspring Avenue, Suite 101, Baltimore, Maryland 21209
Phone: (410)664-3680.
CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
Any notice of any change to the Privacy Policy that involves the use of your Personally Identifiable Information will be identified on the homepage of the Site, and, as always, a link to the current version of the policy is located on located the homepage of the Site and also is accessible through the link above in this Privacy Policy. Your continued use of the Site will indicate acceptance of the changes. Please exit the Site immediately if you do not agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy or any revised policy.
Effective Date: 07/24/2013