The information and content on Yale New Haven Health’s (“YNHHS”) websites, applications and social media platforms are provided for your convenience and general educational information only, and are not intended as medical advice nor to replace the relationship that you have with your healthcare professionals. If you have a question related to your medical care, please communicate with your provider through MyChart, which is secured for that purpose.

Online Privacy Policies

Yale New Haven Health is committed to protecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your medical information. This policy applies to ynhhs.org, bridgeporthospital.org, greenwichhospital.org, lmhospital.org, westerlyhospital.org, ynhh.org, northeastmedicalgroup.org and other online properties and social media platforms under YNHHS’ control.

Patient Privacy

Please review our Patient Rights if you are looking for information about your Patient Rights or the Notice of Privacy Practices.

Online Privacy

Information collection and use: To communicate effectively with visitors to YNHHS digital properties, we may ask you for personally-identifiable information that can include, by way of illustration, name, email address or phone number. YNHHS will never share personally-identifiable information you voluntarily provide to us, except in situations where we must provide information for legal purposes or investigations.

Use of “Cookies”: Unless you take steps to browse the Internet anonymously, or opt-out, YNHHS, like most institutions and organizations on the Internet, tracks web browsing patterns to inform how our websites are being used. Generic information is collected through the use of “cookies,” which are text files placed on your computer, to evaluate usage patterns so that we can improve both content and distribution. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser; however, doing so may prevent you from using the full functionality of all of our websites.

Some sections of YNHHS-owned websites use Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. Google Analytics uses cookies to help us analyze how users use our sites. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website includes your IP address. This information will be transmitted to and stored by Google on its servers. Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the website, compiling reports on website activity, and providing other services relating to Internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. By using this website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.

Please visit the following pages for more information on Google Analytics terms of use and Google’s privacy practices.

Data Security: YNHHS makes every reasonable effort to ensure that all of the transactions that occur on our websites are secure. We store all data with Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption to protect information you may submit on our site. SSL is the industry standard protocol. All off-line information is securely stored and is accessible only by authorized staff. That being said, YNHHS cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. We have taken reasonable steps to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of personally identifiable information that you may provide. You should understand, however, that electronic transmissions via the internet are not necessarily secure from interception, and so we cannot absolutely guarantee the security or confidentiality of such transmissions.

User Name and Password: In the event you access any service requiring a User Name and Password, you are solely responsible for keeping such User Name and Password strictly confidential.

Forms: YNHHS’ websites contain secure forms through which users may request information or supply feedback to us. This information may be shared with a patient relations representative, employee or medical expert who is most able to address your inquiry. Once the information is sent to our websites, it is kept in secure databases accessible only by authorized YNHHS users. In some cases, telephone numbers, email addresses or return addresses are required so that we can supply requested information to you. Submissions may be reviewed infrequently, and so no material of an urgent nature should be submitted. There is no guarantee or expectation of a personal response to any individual submission, regardless of the subject matter.

Surveys: Occasionally, YNHHS may survey visitors to our websites. The information from these surveys is used in aggregate form to help us understand the needs of our visitors so that we can make improvements. The information may be shared with third parties with whom we have a business relationship. Those third parties have agreed to keep all data from surveys confidential. We generally do not ask for information in surveys that would personally identify you. If we do request contact information for follow-up, you may decline to provide it.

Email: YNHHS provides users with the opportunity to receive email communications. If you subscribe to a newsletter produced by YNHHS and distributed via email, we will keep your email address in a private distribution list. You can unsubscribe from our newsletters at any time.

Email communications that you send to YNHHS via the email links on our websites may be shared with a patient relations representative, employee or medical expert who is most able to address your inquiry. We make every effort to respond in a timely fashion once communications are received. Once we have responded to your communication, it is discarded or archived, depending on the nature of the inquiry.

The email functionality on our websites does not provide a completely secure and confidential means of communication. It is possible that your email communication may be accessed or viewed by another internet user while in transit. If you wish to keep your communication private, do not use email. Please do not email patient health information, as that information is confidential and should only be discussed with your physician. If you have a question related to your medical care, please communicate with your provider through MyChart, which is secured for that purpose.

"Phishing" is a scam designed to steal your personal information. If you receive an email that looks like it is from YNHHS asking you for your personal information, do not respond. We will never request your password, user name, credit card information or other personal information through email.

Voice Applications: For voice applications such as those enabled by Amazon and Google, YNHHS collects a unique identifier from your Amazon and Google account. This information is used to enhance user experience and is not personally identifiable to you. We collect no additional information from your account.

Google and Amazon collect and store both the spoken utterance from the customer, and the skill or action's response, to improve and troubleshoot the voice experience. You may delete this data in both applications:

• See Amazon's privacy policy and terms of use for more information.
• See Google’s privacy policy and terms of use for more information.