Legal, security, & privacy practices

Disclaimer

Consistent with our corporate mission of providing outstanding service and value, Tufts Health Plan is dedicated to providing health-related information to our members. The health-related information and resources on this website are made available to you solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute medical advice and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical care. Nothing on this site is intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your health care provider before beginning any new treatment or if you have any questions regarding a medical condition. If you are ill or need immediate medical care, please contact your health care provider or, in an emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest medical facility.

Tufts Health Plan and its vendors will attempt to keep the information available through this website current and accurate, but make no guarantees and disclaim any implied warranty or representation about its accuracy, relevance, timeliness, completeness, or appropriateness for a particular purpose. Information on this website may be updated at any time and without notice.

When you access Tufts Health Plan websites and mobile applications, conduct any transaction, use any functionality or tool, or access information on or through Tufts Health Plan websites and mobile applications, you are agreeing to accept the legal disclaimers and adhere to our privacy and security policies set forth on our website.

Limitation of liability

IN NO EVENT SHALL TUFTS HEALTH PLAN BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER RESULTING FROM ANY LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF PROFITS, LITIGATION, OR ANY OTHER PECUNIARY LOSS, WHETHER BASED ON BREACH OF CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), PRODUCT LIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE, ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THIS WEBSITE OR THE PROVISION OF OR FAILURE TO MAKE AVAILABLE ANY SUCH PRODUCTS, GOODS, OR SERVICES, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Privacy and security on the public site

Tufts Health Plan understands that privacy of information is of great importance to our members and the people that visit our site. We want you to know that Tufts Health Plan does not sell information obtained through use of this website to anyone. In addition, we have established the following privacy and security practices with respect to the public portions of Tufts Health Plan websites and mobile applications.

Because we want Tufts Health Plan websites and mobile applications to better serve visitors' needs, we collect some basic information about visitors' computers, including:

• IP address (the computer's unique signature)
• Operating system (e.g. Windows Vista)
• Browser software (e.g. Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox)
• Internet Service Provider (e.g. AOL)
• Geographic location (e.g. Boston, Mass.)

The information we collect about our visitors' computers will not be used to identify individuals. Instead, we check which Web pages and services people use while they are here. For example, we use the browser information to help us design our website so that as many people as possible will be able to view the pages correctly. In short, it helps us determine what parts of the site people like and what parts they don't, so that we can add information appropriately.

Privacy and security on the secured sites

The sections of Tufts Health Plan websites and mobile applications that are password protected and require individuals to register and log-in, contain protected health information (PHI) and allow individuals to perform certain transactions (e.g. order an ID card, change a PCP). Because of this Tufts Health Plan must be able to link a user's activity back to their identity. For example, when a member changes her PCP, we must be able to make that change within our systems and we cannot do that without linking the information back to the member. In addition, it is important for Tufts Health Plan to keep track of what functionality a member uses. Therefore, in the password protected portion of our website, Tufts Health Plan does collect identifiable information about users. This includes information about the user's computer as listed above, and information related to the user, such as pages visited and PHI submitted or changed.

The confidentiality, integrity and availability of your PHI are important to Tufts Health Plan. To protect against unauthorized access to PHI that is accessible on the password-protected portions of our site, Tufts Health Plan has adopted stringent security standards. Data transmitted between your browser and the password-protected portions of Tufts Health Plan websites and mobile applications is protected by 128-bit encryption.

PHI that Tufts Health Plan collects from users on the password-protected portions of Tufts Health Plan websites and mobile applications is confidential. All PHI Tufts Health Plan has regarding our members is available only to authorized users and is protected from unauthorized access by multiple layers of security controls and monitoring. In addition, PHI that is collected and maintained by Tufts Health Plan is used and disclosed only in accordance with our Notice of Privacy Practices (PDF).

We collect email addresses and cell phone numbers as part of the registration process and may use this information in order to communicate important health and wellness information to you. By providing this contact information, you will have elected (i.e., “opted-in”) to receive information about your membership, including alerts, services and health or benefit information that may be useful to you. You will be given the opportunity to opt-out of most emails or text message communications sent by Tufts Health Plan. Please note that you cannot opt-out of receiving emails that notify you of online activity since these are necessary to protect the privacy and security of your Tufts Health Plan online account.

Cookies

This website uses web analytics tools and to help analyze how users use the site, for advertising purposes and to help improve visitors’ experiences on our websites. These tools use "cookies," which are text files placed on your computer, to collect standard Internet log information and visitor behavior information in an anonymous form. The information generated by the cookie about your use of the website (including IP address) is transmitted to our partners. This information is then used to evaluate visitors' use of the website and to compile statistical reports on website activity for Tufts Health Plan.

Tufts Health Plan is dedicated to providing privacy on the Internet and have provided you the opportunity to opt out of future 3rd party advertising cookies.

Tufts Health Plan allows third parties to place cookies on our site for advertising purposes. This Online Privacy Statement does not cover the collection methods or use of the information collected by these vendors. These vendors have their own privacy policies and may be members of the Network Advertising Initiative ("NAI"). To remove yourself from some or all NAI member advertising programs, please visit the NAI Opt-Out Page and follow the relevant instructions. Please note that if you delete, block, or otherwise restrict cookies, or if you use a different computer or Internet browser, you may need to renew your opt-out choice.

We will never (and will not allow any third party to) use the statistical analytics tool to track or to collect any Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of visitors to our site. We will not associate any data gathered from this site with any Personally Identifiable Information from any source, unless you explicitly submit that information via a fill-in form on our website.

Email

We welcome your comments or questions about our website and have provided an email option for that purpose. We will share your comments and questions with our Member Services representatives and those employees most capable of addressing your questions and concerns.

Tufts Health Plan maintains a corporate email policy governing the use of email when communicating confidential and/or health information, which includes implementing reasonable and appropriate safeguards when communicating via email.

Please be aware that communications sent using unencrypted email are not inherently secure and may be intercepted while in transit. Tufts Health Plan cannot guarantee the confidentiality or security of any information you send to us when it’s sent using unencrypted email. Tufts Health Plan will not be responsible for any breach of confidentiality resulting from your use of unencrypted email transmission. If you need to contact Tufts Health Plan regarding confidential matters, please call our Member Services department.

Text messages

If you provide your cell phone number to Tufts Health Plan, you will have elected (i.e., “opted-in”) to receive information about your membership, including alerts, services and health or benefit information that may be useful to you.

Please be aware that text messages are not sent securely. Do not reply to text messages sent by Tufts Health Plan with any personal or health information. Tufts Health Plan cannot guarantee the confidentiality or security of any information sent via text message.

By opting in to receive text messages from Tufts Health Plan, you consent to receive mobile texts using an automatic telephone dialing system. Please note that consent to receive text messages from Tufts Health Plan is not required as a condition to receiving services or health or benefit information.

You have the right to opt-out of receiving text messages from Tufts Health Plan. Tufts Health Plan will provide you with an easy and clear way to opt out of receiving text messages.

Links to other sites

For your interest and convenience, we have provided some links from Tufts Health Plan websites and mobile applications to other websites and included a twitter feed and news feed containing information from other websites. These links and feeds are provided for your convenience only and do not constitute or imply that Tufts Health Plan endorses these sites, any material or information contained therein, or of any products or services described on these sites.

These sites are not owned or controlled by Tufts Health Plan and are not covered by Tufts Health Plan's privacy and security policies. Tufts Health Plan cannot warrant the accessibility or the accuracy of any information provided on other websites. Tufts Health Plan disclaims any responsibility for the content, information or the privacy and security policies contained on those other websites. We encourage you to check the terms of use, privacy and security policies, and policy regarding the use of "cookies" of any other website you visit.