Saint Luke’s Health System (“Saint Luke’s”, “we” or “us”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it through our compliance with this policy.
This Website Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, protect and treat your personal information and user data. By accessing or using the Saint Luke’s website, you agree to accept this Website Privacy Policy. Please read the following carefully before using the website.
Information collection and use
This Website Privacy Policy applies to information we collect:
- On this website
- In email, text, and other electronic messages between you and this website
- Through mobile and desktop applications you download from this website, which provide dedicated non-browser-based interaction between you and this website
- Through the SaintLukesKC app
- Through the mySaintLuke’s patient portal
- Through Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting
It does not apply to information collected by:
- Us offline or through other means, including on any other website operated by us or any third party (including our affiliates and subsidiaries)
- Any third party, including through any application or content (including advertising) that may link to or be accessible from this website.
Information we collect
We collect several types of information from and about users of our website, including:
- Personal information by which you may be personally identified, such as name, address, job title, email address or telephone number (We refer to this type of information as “Personally Identifiable Information” or “PII”).
- Personal information that relates to you, identifies you, or can reasonably be expected to identify you, in relation to past, present, or future health care services provided to you (We refer to this as “Protected Health Information” or “PHI”).
- IP addresses assigned to your computer when you access the Internet
- Demographic information including age, gender, and interests categories per Google Analytics Demographics and Interest Reporting.
How we use your information
We strive to maintain your privacy, confidentiality and security at all times. Saint Luke’s uses the information you provide to us, including any personal information:
- To present our website and its contents to you
- To provide you with information and services that you request from us
- To personalize your experience and inform you about the services in which you have indicated an interest
- To respond to your questions
- To carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered into between you and us, including for billing and collection
- In other ways we may describe when you provide the information
- To communicate changes to our Website Privacy Policy and terms of use
- For any other purpose with your consent
From time to time, we may collect general, non-identifiable personal, and statistical information on the website that does not identify you personally but allows us to understand how our website is used by visitors. We call this information aggregate information.
Your personal information and/or health-related information may be required to use certain features of this website, and we ask that you provide that information with the knowledge that it is used to enhance your experience. We will use the personal information, health-related information and aggregate information only for the purposes for which it was provided.
We will not sell information you provide, nor will we intentionally use your data without your permission.
We will separate health information content from advertising and sponsorship programs so you can distinguish between the two.
Where health professionals may interact with you, we will make every effort to tell you if this establishes a patient-provider relationship and make available the credentials and qualifications of professionals.
In addition to collecting information that you submit to us, we also rely on “cookies.” A cookie is a text file that a website transfers to your hard drive for record-keeping purposes. Every computer is assigned a different cookie but our cookie does not contain or collect your name or other personal identifying information. When you revisit our site, the cookie allows us to recognize you, your age, your gender, your interests and your preferences. We also use cookies to help track the level of interest in different features on our website and to compile data that can help us improve our content.
Your browser software can be set to reject all cookies, including cookies from our site. Most browsers offer instructions on how to reset the browser to reject cookies in the help section of the toolbar, such as the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. If you would like to learn more about these practices, visit the Network Advertising Initiative.
If you reject our cookie, certain functions and conveniences of the site may not work properly. You do not have to accept our cookie in order to productively use our site. If you accept our cookie, we will never link the cookie to personal information and/or health-related personal information you provide to us. We will not allow other sites or third parties to use our cookies.
Our security measures
We use encryption practices and security controls that meet or exceed industry standards to help ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the personal information and/or health-related personal information you provide to us.
We make every reasonable effort to protect personal information and health-related personal information from loss, misuse or alteration by third parties. You should, however, be aware that there is always some risk involved in transmitting information via the Internet.
Your role, responsibilities and risks
Website users open themselves up to certain risks such as data collection. Understand how we collect data and how it is used. It is our goal to protect your personal information from misuse. We do, however, offer programs that collect data for particular reasons, such as research, scientific studies, and statistics, in which case you may be interested in participating.
Be aware that use of this website, its services, programs and the health information on it cannot replace, nor is it intended to serve as, a health care provider-patient relationship. You must always consult with a professional for diagnosis and treatment for specific health problems.
Changes in our Website Privacy Policy
Saint Luke’s reserves the right to change the terms of this Website Privacy Policy from time to time without notice, so please review it periodically to keep informed of any changes. If at any point, personal information or health-related information is to be used differently from those practices stated in the Website Privacy Policy in effect when your data was collected, we will notify you. You will be given the choice to opt-in to any additional uses or disclosures of your personal information.
Registration
In order to access certain services and content on our site, you may be required to complete a registration form that requests certain information such as name, telephone number and email address. We offer specialized registration for certain programs, events and classes that may request some or all of the above information. We may use your registration information to send you an email confirming your registration with our website.
Our relationship with third parties
Where third parties such as sponsors, information providers and health assessment software tools providers have access to health-related personally identifiable information from this website, our agreements with these third parties will follow these privacy principles in giving you notice and choice with respect to their access and use. We will take appropriate precautions to prevent inadvertent disclosures of personally identifiable information to third parties.
Additionally, we work with several types of third party vendors including those that provide products and services that we integrate to our site, sponsors that provide us revenue through logo and link placement on our site, advertising companies that serve up advertisement programs for the site and organizations that maintain this site. We request that third party vendors supply us with information on their security procedures, and we evaluate them periodically to ensure that they are using data in the agreed upon way. We may allow third party vendors to buy aggregate data collected on our site but that data cannot be used to identify you.
On occasion, Saint Luke’s may share the personal data you provide to us with other Saint Luke’s entities and/or business partners who are acting on our behalf to help us provide you with our services. These relationships differ from our standard business partner relationship in which we license content or a product for integration. These situations include:
Sponsored or co-branded sites
We allow other companies to make services and/or content available to you, sometimes on a sponsored or co-branded basis. To access the services on a sponsored or co-branded website, you may have to complete an online registration form in addition to the registration you completed for us. Whenever you provide registration information on sponsored or co-branded websites, data can be collected. You should read the individual privacy policies of sponsored or co-branded sites and make an informed decision on whether or not you want to use the site.
External links
We feature external links to other websites that we believe you might find useful; however, we do not endorse these sites. Additionally, unless otherwise noted in this section, links to other sites are provided strictly for informational purposes and are not based on any fees or reimbursements paid to Saint Luke’s Health System for “clicks.” We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these external sites. We will make every effort to notify you when you are leaving our site and we encourage you to read the Website Privacy Policy of each site you visit that may collect information or ask you to disclose personal information and/or health-related personal information.
Third party content
In some cases, this website will “frame” another website within this site’s navigation in order to provide you with third party content that we believe you will find of interest. We have agreements with the following organizations to frame their content within our site:
- Krames Staywell Health Information Library
- LVM Weblink Classes and Events Registration
- Epic MyChart (operating as mySaintLuke’s) Patient Portal
Children’s policy
Children under the age of 18 are not allowed to register on our site, or to access areas that require registration. We have established a mechanism in the registration process that does not allow children under 18 to complete the registration process. If we learn that we have inadvertently collected information from an individual under the age of 18, that information will be promptly and permanently removed from our servers.
Your privacy choices
You have the choice on this site to opt-in to information collected about you in most circumstances, the exceptions being the instances when data are used for site maintenance and administration. If you opt-in to data collection, we make every effort to give you detailed information on the program or service you select. To opt-out of data collection, make any changes or updates, or request that information be deleted, you have several choices:
Opt-out
When you register with our website, you are given the option of receiving email with information that we think you might find useful including promotions, announcements of new services and products, and newsletters on particular health topics. When you provide information through our website, such as filling out an online form, you are giving permission for us to send you relevant marketing messages and information we think might be of interest to you. You may opt-out of marketing messages at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link located in the footer of every email sent by Saint Luke’s Marketing Department or by calling Saint Luke’s Concierge at 816-932-5100.
You may also participate in our personalized email reminder system through mySaintLuke’s that sends an email reminding you of certain health-related activities such as a doctor’s visit or to schedule tests. If you decide, at any time, that you no longer wish to receive these emails you may update your notification preferences within the mySaintLuke’s patient portal.
You may also receive email notifications from other Saint Luke’s programs, such as patient satisfaction surveying, patient education, online appointment scheduling, etc. Each program has a unique opt-out process.
You may also ask to have your medical record marked as “Do Not Solicit” during clinic or hospital registration.
Remove or delete personal information
You may remove previously provided personal and/or health-related personal information at any time by contacting us in writing using the address in our Contact Us link.
Users should be aware that it is not always technically possible to remove or delete the information you provide to us. We back-up our systems to protect information from inadvertent loss, and that means a copy of your personal information may exist in a non-erasable form that may be difficult or impossible for us to locate. Nevertheless, upon receiving your request we will try to remove or delete all personal information and/or health-related personal information stored in the databases that we use for research and daily business activities. We will not intentionally disclose any personal information stored in a non-erasable format after receiving your request for removal, except as required by law.
There are certain restrictions on your ability to correct, update, or remove the health information you enter into a personal health record. If your doctor or other health care professional has access to your personal health record and they add information to that record, your personal record could be considered an official medical record for legal purposes. In this case, information cannot be deleted or removed, only updated or annotated. If you believe information contained in your medical record is incorrect, you may request an amendment to the information. To request an amendment to your personal medical records, read through the instructions for Requesting an Amendment and then print and send to the Health Information Management Department for review through email at privacy@saint-lukes.org or the mailing address listed on the form.
Questions or comments. We are committed to continuously improving the quality of this website. If you have any questions or comments regarding this Website Privacy Policy or the information found on this website in general, please contact us at webmaster@saint-lukes.org or write us at Saint Luke’s Health System: Attn: Website Administrators, 901 E. 104th Street, Kansas City, MO 64131.