HIPAA + Privacy

Thank you for visiting our Web site (hereinafter "Site"), and for reviewing this Privacy Statement.

HMSA.com is a product of, and is provided to you by, HAWAII MEDICAL SERVICE ASSOCIATION ("HMSA"), an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans. HMSA may only use the information that you provide through this site for purposes permitted or required by law, and as described in this Privacy Statement.

To address privacy concerns you may have while visiting our interactive, customized Site, this Privacy Statement describes how HMSA may use information that you provide. If you do not wish HMSA to use information that you provide through this Site as described in this Privacy Statement, you should disconnect from this Site.

HMSA has developed a TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE statement that describes your responsibilities when using this Site. Please refer to this document for additional information.

Please note that this Privacy Statement applies only to how HMSA uses individually identifiable personal information that you provide when visiting this Site. "Online personal information" is any information or data you provide through this Site that is individually identifiable, such as a name, subscriber number, address, email address, and birth date. HMSA routinely gathers quantitative information on Web site activity, including the number of users to this Site and the pages visited.

This Privacy Statement is distinct from HMSA’s Notice of Privacy Practices, which describes in detail how HMSA uses individually identifiable health information that we may receive both online and offline to provide services to you as an enrollee in our health plan and to manage HMSA’s payment obligations and health care operations. HMSA publishes the Notice of Privacy Practices in accordance with the HIPAA Privacy Rule (a federal regulation officially known as the "Standards for the Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information"). Together, the HMSA Web Site Privacy Statement and the Notice of Privacy Practices describe how HMSA uses your individually identifiable personal information and health information.

When you communicate with us via our Site, we collect personal information about you only if you provide it to us voluntarily. "Online personal information" may or may not be individually identifiable health information that is also protected by the Privacy Rule. Where online personal information also constitutes individually identifiable health information under the Privacy Rule, the provisions of the Privacy Rule also will govern HMSA’s permitted uses and disclosures of the online personal information.

Portions of our Site may allow you to provide us with online personal information in order to deliver requested materials, products or services to you (such as a new or duplicate membership card or a Guide to Benefits), or enable you (if you are the subscriber under an HMSA health plan) to update your address.

HMSA does not sell, license or disclose online personal information that you provide to us outside of HMSA, its contracted agents (e.g., business associates) and affiliated companies.

As permitted by the Privacy Rule, individually identifiable health information that you provide through this Site or that HMSA creates or receives about you may be used or disclosed by HMSA in connection with services provided to you by HMSA, and for other purposes that are permitted or required by law. Under the Privacy Rule this information is called "protected health information." Protected health information is individually identifiable health information, including demographic information, collected from you or created or received by a health care provider, a health plan, or a health care clearinghouse and relates to: (i) your past, present or future physical or mental health or condition; (ii) the provision of health care to you; or (iii) the past, present or future payment for the provision of health care to you. We refer to protected health information and individually identifiable health information interchangeably in this Privacy Statement.

HMSA does not direct this Site to children under the age of 18 years, or knowingly collect information from children under 18. Adults should not assist minors in accessing the Site, and no person under 18 years old is permitted to use the Site. When users enter personal information on our Site, the user is representing to us that he/she is an adult, 18 years or older. We would be pleased to work with parent and guardians to delete from our records personal information a child may improperly disclose. Please contact us at webmaster@hmsa.com.

At HMSA, we are committed to protecting the privacy of your individually identifiable health information (including any online personal information that also constitutes individually identifiable health information) as follows:

1. HMSA does not sell, transfer or disclose individually identifiable health information without your prior authorization, except when permitted or required by law. As used in this Privacy Statement, "required by law" includes the permissive and mandatory requirements of state and federal regulations that govern the use and disclosure of individually identifiable information, such as the federal regulation known as the Privacy Rule.
   1. a. Under the Privacy Rule, HMSA is permitted to disclose individually identifiable health information to our contracted agents- business associates- who perform various functions or provide services on HMSA’s behalf. To perform these functions or to provide services, business associates will receive, create, maintain, use, or disclose protected health information, but only after we require the business associates to agree in writing to contract terms designed to safeguard your information.
   2. HMSA is also permitted to use and disclose individually identifiable health information to support the services HMSA provides through this Site, and to support the business functions provided by HMSA. These services and functions may include:
      1. Providing personalized educational health information to you,
      2. Tailoring your HMSA experience by compiling and displaying content and information that we think you might be interested in,
      3. Appropriately providing you information about your health plan,
      4. Allowing you to request a duplicate membership card, or
      5. Notify us of a change in your address (if you are the subscriber on the account).
2. HMSA may use or disclose individually identifiable health information obtained through this Site to assist our business associates or other covered entities in their treatment, payment, or health care operation activities.
3. HMSA may use your individually identifiable health information (including online personal information) to create aggregated anonymous information for the purposes of tailoring our Site to meet our customers’ needs and interests. Distribution and use of this aggregated, anonymous information will be restricted to staff, management, agents and business associates of HMSA who need aggregated statistical information about our users as a group, as well as the patterns of their Site usage.
4. HMSA also may use your online personal information on an aggregated basis to provide our editors with information that is useful in developing new features and content for the Site, and to provide our agents/business associates, affiliated companies, or any others permitted by law to receive aggregated data, information about our users and the usage patterns of the Site.
5. HMSA reserves the right to perform statistical analyses of user behavior on an aggregate basis in order to measure interest in, and use of, the various areas of the Site, and to inform agents/business associates, affiliated companies, or any others permitted by law to receive such information.
6. HMSA uses Secure Socket Layer ("SSL") encryption technology to enhance data privacy and help prevent loss, misuse or alteration of the information under our control. This encryption technology, however, does not absolutely guarantee or safeguard the total privacy of user information that has been voluntarily disclosed to the Site.
7. HMSA may need to change this Privacy Statement from time to time to address new issues and /or reflect changes on our Site. Please refer back to this Privacy Statement regularly, because your use of the Site signifies that you agree to be bound by this Privacy Statement and the TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE, as amended from time to time.
8. In the unlikely event that HMSA is acquired, merges with another entity or sells portions of its assets, our databases (which may contain your protected health information and online personal information) will be among transferred assets.
9. The names "HMSA" and "HMSA.com," are proprietary trademarks and service marks of HMSA. The contents of the Site, including but not limited to text, graphics, images and software ("Content"), are protected by copyright under both United States and foreign laws, and HMSA retains all right, title and interest in and to the Content, all copies thereof, and all copyrights and other proprietary rights therein. Upon acceptance of these conditions, HMSA authorizes you to view, download and print a small number of copies of the material on the Site solely for your personal, noncommercial use. You may not modify, sell, assign or transfer the Content or reproduce, display, publicly perform, distribute or otherwise use the Content in any way for any public or commercial purpose or otherwise, except as expressly permitted herein. You may not reverse-engineer, disassemble, or decompile, any software included in the Content. Content is subject to change without notice at the editorial discretion of HMSA.
10. The Site may contain links to third-party Web sites. These links are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement or recommendation by HMSA or HMSA.com of the content on such third-party Web sites, or as an indication of any affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement of or by such third-party Web sites.
    1. These third-party sites may have their own privacy policies or no policy at all. This Privacy Statement and the HMSA LEGAL NOTICE do not apply to such other sites. HMSA has no control over the content displayed on such sites, nor over the measures, if any, that are taken by such sites to protect the privacy of user information.
    2. HMSA is not responsible for the content of linked third-party sites, and does not make any representations regarding the privacy practices of, or the content or accuracy of materials on, such third-party Web sites. Your use of third-party Web sites is subject to the terms of use for such sites. If you decide to access third-party Web sites that are linked to this Site, you do so at your own risk.
    3. Although HMSA endeavors to warn users when they click on a link to a third-party Web site that they are leaving www.HMSA.com, we do not guarantee that you will receive such an alert. It is your responsibility to determine when you have left this Site.
    4. Only some of the Web sites associated with HMSA and its affiliated products and companies endeavor to warn users when they click on a link to an HMSA-affiliated Web site or to other third-party sites. HMSA does not guarantee that you will receive such an alert.
11. HMSA uses a standard technology called a "session cookie" to enable our website to recognize you during a visit to this HMSA Site. The session cookie is stored in temporary memory on your computer and is not retained after you close your browser.

If you have any questions or want additional information about this Privacy Statement or HMSA’s LEGAL NOTICE, please contact HMSA’s customer service.

We hope this Privacy Statement answers your questions about HMSA and privacy. It is not intended to replace the TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE.