Privacy Policy

Thank you for visiting our site http://www.panelphysicians.com and finding out about our policy on Privacy. Dr. Howard Seiden & Associates ("SEIDEN™") owns and operates this website http://www.panelphysicians.com to inform you about its services. The information appearing on the pages of this site has been prepared for information purposes only and does not constitute a medical and/or legal opinion. By using this site, you are agreeing that you are aware of SEIDEN™ policies and practices relating to the management of personal information and are consenting to the collection, use or disclosure of personal information as has been disclosed herein. Please read Terms of Use and other legal notices contained in this site.

Personal information
Personal health information is information about an individual's mental or physical health, including information concerning health services provided and information about tests and examinations. This includes information in any form, such as your age, name, ID numbers, ethnic origin, blood type, opinions, evaluations, comments, medical records, intentions (for example, to change jobs or to immigrate)

What's In Your Medical Records?
Besides information about physical health, these records may include infomation about family relationships, sexual behavior, substance abuse, and even the private thoughts and feelings that come with psychotherapy. This information is often keyed to a Social Insurance Number or a Health Insurance number such as OHIP or Medicare. As a result of a lack of consistent privacy protection or any other reason in the use of Social Insurance, Health Insurance, Immigration Case Numbers or other personal or family identifiers outside of this organization or as a result of your lack of care in handing it out, medical information may be accessible.

Information from your medical records may influence your credit, admission to educational institutions, and employment. It may also affect your ability to get health insurance, or the rates you pay for coverage. More importantly, having others know intimate details about your life may mean a loss of dignity and autonomy.

Confidential Information
SEIDEN™ site does not want to receive confidential or propriety information. SEIDEN™ is not responsible for any damages you may incur if you communicate confidential information to this organization over the Internet or any communications we may have with you at your request, by e-mail or otherwise.
Currently medical records are not subject to federal privacy legislation unless the record is kept by specific federal government works because health is in provincial jurisdiction. Quebec is the only province where medical records are protected by privacy legislation.

Automatic Data Collection
You should be aware that, as soon as you access the site http://www.panelphysicians.com information is automatically exchanged between your computer and the sites server without your intervention. The information does not identify you personally unless you are connected directly to the Internet. It consists of:

1. the Internet domain name (for example, "xcompany.com" if you have a private Internet access account) and the IP address (a number automatically assigned to your computer by your Internet provider every time you use the Internet) with which you access our site;
2. the type of browser and operating system used to access our site;
3. the date and time you access our site;
4. the pages you visit; and
5. if you access http://www.panelphysicians.com from another site (referral site), its address

This exchange of information is necessary if the server is to transmit to you a file compatible with the computer equipment you are using. SEIDEN™ keeps the required information in order to have a record of the number of visitors, the pages visited most often, the technology used by the site's clientele, the referral sites and the countries of origin of visitors to the site. Your name and e-mail address will not be provided or released to a third party without the your express permission. E-mail information, personal information about your access and navigation, and information volunteered by yourself as a site visitor, such as survey information and site registration information, may be used by SEIDEN™ to improve the site but will not be shared with or sold to other organizations for commercial purposes without your express permission. However, see "To whom is it disclosed?" and "Do we keep it " below for additional circumstances when you are granting us permission to release it.

You should refer to the specific instructions for setting up your browser to ensure that your personal information is not automatically being provided without your prior agreement.

Information Voluntarily Provided By The User
An e-mail message that is not encrypted has no guarantee of confidentiality and is akin to a post card, which can be read by anyone as it travels along its route. SEIDEN™ offers you the opportunity to communicate by e-mail. Transmitting user information by e-mail, however, has a number of risks that users should consider before using e-mail. These include, but are not limited to, the following risks:

a. E-mail can be circulated, forwarded, and stored in numerous paper and electronic files.
b. E-mail can be immediately broadcast worldwide and be received by many intended and unintended recipients.
c. E-mail senders can easily misaddress an e-mail.
d. E-mail is easier to falsify than handwritten or signed documents.
e. Backup copies of e-mail may exist even after the sender or the recipient has deleted his or her copy.
f. Employers and on-line services have a right to archive and inspect e-mail's transmitted through their systems.
g. E-mail can be intercepted, altered, forwarded, or used without authorization or detection.
h. E-mail can be used to introduce viruses into computer systems.
i. E-mail can be used as evidence in court.

Cookie Files
A "cookie" is a small text file containing a unique identifying code for the individual e.g., you, which is placed automatically on your own computer hard drive by the web site computer. It is used to identify individuals to a site whenever they visit, to store information about them such as their password; to record information about their activities when they are at the site including other automatically collected data such as the pages they visit or their actions on each page. The operation of cookies is controlled by the user in the browser settings (the default is to accept all cookies) but they may be turned off or the browser can be set to notify the user before one is accepted.

SEIDEN™ or http://www.panelphysicians.com does not write permanent or temporary cookies onto your hard discs at all. Whenever we will enable "cookies" to facilitate your transactions in the future, we will post it on the web site.
However, http://www.panelphysicians.com contains links to other sites, which may write temporary or permanent cookies onto your hard discs. SEIDEN™ have not reviewed all of the sites linked to its Internet website and is not responsible for the contents of any such linked site. For more information, read the policy on privacy of those sites. When you leave http://www.panelphysicians.com, to a linked site, no message informs you that "you are leaving the virtual space and that any information exchanged is no longer subject to the http://www.panelphysicians.com/ privacy policy, but to the privacy policy of any site you access". Use of any such linked website is at the user's own risk.

What Personal Information Do We Collect? Why Do We Collect It?
This site does not collect any personally identifying information about individuals except when specifically and knowingly provided by such individuals. Submitting an email with personally identifying information to Panel.Physicians@panelphysicians.com with or without any attachments will constitute permission to SEIDEN™ to collect personally identifying information and permission to verify such information at the appropriate time. Personally identifying information provided by individuals will be used only by our intake Staff in connection with completion of the request for an appointment or general inquiries communication that requires a response and the follow up services. Our policy is to use this kind of information within SEIDEN™ on a need-to-know basis with the utmost discretion and confidentiality.

How Do We Collect It? Do we keep it?
By automatic data collection as described above and when an email with personally identifying information is sent by you and is received in our inbox. Email not archived or transferred to another database. The input staff for purposes of the setting up the appointment or responding to general inquiries uses the personally identifying information specifically and knowingly provided.

Personally identifying information will not be sold or rented to others, however we occasionally work with other professional healthcare practices across Canada and the United States and it may be necessary to transfer personally identifying information and to make it accessible to their employees on a need-to-know basis with the utmost discretion and confidentiality. Once you have made an appointment and seen a SEIDEN™ Panel Physician or you have disclosed information to a SEIDEN™ Panel Physician personally or by email pleased be advised that the SEIDEN™ Panel Physician is under certain obligations at law to disclose personally identifying information. For example in the event that your blood test is positive for HIV or syphilis your name will be forwarded to the appropriate public health authority as required by law. Personally identifying information will also be forwarded to U.S. Immigration Authorities if you wish to pursue your visa application.

To whom is it disclosed? When is it disposed of?
Personally identifying information will not be used or disclosed for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with your consent or as required by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary or appropriate to (a) conform to or comply with any law, regulation or court order; (b) protect and defend our rights or property or that of our suppliers and licensors, whether or not required to do so by law; or (c) protect the personal safety of users of our Site or the public. We also reserve the right to disclose Personal Information to appropriate authorities at our discretion when it appears that activities, which are illegal, are taking place. Personally identifying information is only retained as long as necessary for the fulfilment of those purposes and as may be required to comply with the laws relating to health care professionals records in the relevant jurisdiction.

If you do not wish to allow your data to be shared with other Healthcare professionals across Canada and the United States you can advise us in writing when specifically and knowingly providing it by email or from time to time by visiting this web site and Contact Us. It will take effect only after we acknowledge receipt of your email.

How is it secured?
Personally identifying information sent by Email is not secured. Emails are not archived separately. Once we transfer the information to the SEIDEN™ input staff for an appointment or general inquiries communication that requires a response, we endeavour to take adequate measures appropriate to the sensitivity of the information to protect the security of information that we receive from you against loss or theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification. Methods of protection include physical measures (e.g. locked filing cabinets and restricted access to offices), organizational measures (e.g.,limited access on a "need-to-know" basis) and technological measures (e.g. the use of passwords and encryption). However absolute security of information is not possible at this time.

Can You Change Or Update Personally Identifying Information?
We provide site visitors with no direct Internet access to information that we have collected and that we maintain about them. However, upon request we offer visitors the ability to have factual inaccuracies corrected or update in information that we maintain about them. Please Contact SEIDEN™. for further instructions about updating your personally identifying information.

Who is looking after the Privacy Policy?
A Data Steward has been assigned by SEIDEN™ as the person charged with overall responsibility for assuring the adherence to SEIDEN™ information and privacy policies. If you wish to verify the accuracy and completeness of the information you have provided and have it amended as appropriate or if you have questions or comments or you wish to address a concern regarding this policy contact Data Steward.

Please read Terms of Use.