This statement outlines the policies and practices of Thomas Chittenden Health Center (“TCHC,” “us” or “we”) regarding the collection and use of your Personal Information from your visit to tc-health.com, and all of our related sites (“website(s)”) and your use of our other website services. TCHC has created this privacy statement to demonstrate our commitment to maintaining the privacy of visitors to our websites and users of our website services.

Health and Medical Information

We protect covered health and medical information as required by federal and state law.

During your visit to our website, remember that the medical and health information presented here is intended to be general in nature, and should not be viewed as a substitute for professional advice. Please consult with a health care professional for all matters relating to personal medical and health care issues. If you are experiencing an emergency, dial 911.

Information Collection and Storage

Personally Identifiable Information: We do not collect information that personally identifies you unless you choose to provide it to us (for example, the webpage that allows you to register as a new patient, complete a records release request, or send us a message). The personal information you submit is shared only with those people at TCHC who need it to respond to your question or request, and as otherwise permitted by law to allow us to operate our business or to comply with applicable laws. As used in this Privacy Statement, personal information does not include information protected under HIPAA or applicable state laws, which is protected as described in the section “Health and Medical Information” above.

Non-Personally Identifiable Information: We track and report aggregate statistics regarding usage of our website. This information does not personally identify you. Some of this information is gathered by using “cookies.” A cookie is a text file that a web server stores on your computer. This text file is used to track information about the activity of that particular browser on the web server. In our case, our uses include, but are not limited to tracking the total number of unique visitors, total number of repeat visitors and total number of new visitors to our site. You may set up your browser to alert you when a site is using a cookie. You can then either proceed or disable the cookie through your options or preference or similar section of your browser.

Information Sharing and Disclosure

Service Providers, Business Partners and Others: We may employ third-party companies and individuals to provide certain services on our behalf. These services may include, but are not limited to, site maintenance, web analytics, and improvement of the site’s features; or to assist us in analyzing how our site is used and can be improved. Any third parties employed on our behalf are bound by agreements that protect your personal information, if they come in contact with it.

Compliance with Laws and Law Enforcement: TCHC cooperates with government and law enforcement officials as appropriate and will release information only as permitted by law. In addition, every effort has been made to respect the copyrights of other individuals and organizations and to obtain appropriate permissions for image and information use, where appropriate. If you find information or images on our site that you believe to be in violation of copyright laws, contact us at 802-878-8131.

Security and Confidentiality

No transmission of data over the Internet or any wireless network can be guaranteed to be 100-percent secure. We will, however, use a number of physical security methods (such as locks and alarm systems); electronic security methods (passwords and encryption methods); and procedural methods (rules regarding the handling and use of information) to protect the security and integrity of information submitted through this website.

Information for Children

This site does not direct content to children under the age of 13.

Links to Other Websites

Our website contains links to other websites that are not managed or controlled by us. These links are provided for your convenience. We are not responsible for the content of these other websites, and if you choose to access them, you are subject to the privacy policies of those sites. Please check with the other sites to determine their privacy policies and how they may collect or use information.

JotForm Online Forms

In order to allow for online registration and form completion, TCHC has partnered with JotForm, Inc. to provide a secure, HIPAA-compliant platform for information collection. The Privacy Policy for JotForm, Inc. can be found here: https://www.jotform.com/privacy/

Information collected by JotForm is stored on their secure server until it is retrieved by delegated TCHC staff and transferred to your TCHC Electronic Health Record, at which point it is removed from the JotForm platform.

Medent Electronic Health Records

As we provide your health care, we maintain documentation of your medical history, current conditions, treatment plan and all treatments given, including the results of all tests, procedures and therapies. The Medent Portal is an Internet application that enables a patient to have secure web-based access to selected medical information about the patient. Medent EHR is an electronic medical record system that TCHC has purchased from Community Computer Services, Inc of Auburn, NY.

Medent allows secure electronic messaging with your health care provider. A message you send via Medent may be made part of your permanent medical record at the discretion of your health care provider. Once it is made part of your record, it will be accessible to current and future personnel who participate in your care.

Your Security Responsibilities: When you initially enroll to use the Medent Portal, you will be given an access code. With that code, you will be able to create a Medent ID and password. This ID and password will allow you, or anyone else who has the ID and password, to view your medical information, submit comments that may become part of our record, and communicate with your health care team as if that person were you.

For this reason, it is important that you keep your access code, Medent ID and password completely confidential. You should prevent disclosure of your access code, ID or password, and you should change your password if you believe that your security may have been compromised. In addition, you should change your password regularly to help maintain the security of your account. You can change your password online at any time by logging into your Medent Portal and choosing the “Edit Profile” option, followed by “Change Password”.

Medent Messaging: Medent messaging should never be used for urgent matters. The anticipated turnaround time for response to electronic messages is two business days. Therefore, for all urgent medical matters, contact your health care provider’s office by phone, go to an emergency room, or dial 911.

All communications between you and your health care team using Medent are carried over a secure, encrypted connection. While you may receive Internet email messages notifying you of new messages in your Medent Inbox, these emails will not contain any confidential medical information. However, any person with access to the email account to which such messages are sent will be able to see the notifications.

Restrictions: Medent does not reproduce a patient’s entire medical record online, but instead provides access to selected information such as prescriptions, basic laboratory results, summary medical history, appointments, and other such information. Even within categories of information that are generally made available through Medent, posting of information is strictly at the discretion of the individual health care provider.

To comply with applicable laws and regulations, TCHC provides parents and legal guardians with limited proxy access to minors’ health information through Medent. The scope of such access will vary depending on the age and legal status of the minor.

TCHC reserves the right to terminate access to the Medent Portal at any time, for any reason or no reason. In addition, a user’s access to the Medent Portal will be terminated if we determine that the user has misused or abused the system, violated any applicable terms of use, or used the system for purposes other than those for which it is intended to be used.

Contact Us

We welcome your feedback. If you have any questions or concerns, call us at 802-878-8131 or write to us at: Thomas Chittenden Health Center, PLC, 586 Oak Hill Road, Williston, VT 05495

This page was last updated on November 7, 2019