Web Privacy Statement

Thank you for visiting our Websites HMAA.com, HMAAonline.com, and OGA.HMAA.com (hereinafter “Sites”) and for reviewing this Web Privacy Statement (hereinafter “Statement”). The following Statement was last updated on March 15, 2023.

The Sites are products of and provided to you by Hawaii-Western Management Group, Inc. (“HWMG”), third-party administrator for Hawaii Medical Assurance Association (“HMAA”) and other clients. HWMG may only use the information you provide through this site for purposes permitted or required by law, and as described in this Statement.

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

Our Terms & Conditions of Use describes your responsibilities when using these Sites. Please refer to that document for additional information.

Please note that this Statement applies only to how HWMG uses individually identifiable personal information that you provide when visiting these Sites.

1. Individually identifiable personal information may be collected. HWMG routinely gathers aggregate quantitative tracking information on activity, including the number of users and the pages visited, and reserves the right to use and share or disclose this information with others.
2. This Statement is distinct from our Notice of Privacy Practices, which describes in detail how HWMG uses individually identifiable health information that we may receive both online and offline to provide services to you and to manage payment obligations and health care operations. HWMG publishes the Notice of Privacy Practices in accordance with the HIPAA Privacy Rule (“Privacy Rule,” a federal regulation officially known as the “Standards for the Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information”). Together, this Statement and the Notice of Privacy Practices describe how HWMG uses your individually identifiable personal information and health information.

When you communicate with us via our Sites, we collect information only if you provide it voluntarily. Portions of our Sites may allow you to provide us with online personal information in order to deliver requested materials, products or services to you or to respond to your questions. Any online personal information you provide via our Sites is used exclusively for the purpose stated on the Web page where you submit your personal information. HWMG does not sell, license or disclose online personal information that you provide to us outside of HWMG, its agents and affiliated companies.

As permitted by the Privacy Rule, individually identifiable health information that you provide through the Sites or that HWMG creates or receives about you may be used or disclosed by HWMG in connection with services provided to you by HWMG, 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, health plan, or 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 Statement.

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. HWMG and HMAA do not sell, transfer or disclose individually identifiable health information without your prior authorization, except when permitted or required by law. As used in this 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. Under the Privacy Rule, HWMG and HMAA are permitted to:
   1. Disclose individually identifiable health information to our business associates who perform various functions or provide services on HWMG or HMAA’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. Use and disclose individually identifiable health information to support the services provided through these Sites, and to support the business functions provided by HWMG. These services and functions may include:
      1. Responding to your questions, or
      2. Asking for your feedback on how effectively we are providing services.
2. HWMG and HMAA will not provide any individually identifiable health information obtained through the Sites to your employer.
3. HWMG and HMAA may use or disclose individually identifiable health information obtained through the Sites to assist our business associates or other covered entities in their treatment, payment, or health care operation activities.
4. HWMG and HMAA may use your individually identifiable health information (including online personal information) to create aggregated anonymous information for the purposes of tailoring our Sites to meet our customers’ needs and interests. Distribution and use of this aggregated, anonymous information will be restricted to HWMG and HMAA’s staff, management, agents and business associates who need aggregated statistical information about our users as a group, as well as the patterns of their Sites usage.
5. HWMG and HMAA also may use your profile information on an aggregated basis to provide our editors with information that is useful in developing new features and content for the Sites, and to provide our business associates, agents, or others permitted by law to receive aggregated information about our users and the usage patterns of the Sites.
6. HWMG and HMAA reserve 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 Sites, and to inform business associates, agents, or others permitted by law to receive such information.
7. HWMG and HMAA may need to change this Statement from time to time to address new issues and reflect changes on our Sites. Please refer back to this Statement regularly, because your use of the Sites signifies that you agree to be bound by this Statement and the Terms & Conditions of Use, as amended from time to time.
8. In the unlikely event that HWMG or HMAA 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 company names and these Websites are proprietary trademarks and service marks of HWMG or HMAA. The contents of the Sites, including but not limited to text, graphics, images and software (“Content”), are protected by copyright under both United States and foreign laws, and HWMG or HMAA 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, HWMG and HMAA authorize you to view, download and print a small number of copies of the material on the Sites 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 HWMG and HMAA.
10. The Sites contain links to third-party Websites. These links are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement or recommendation by HWMG for the content on such third-party Websites, or as an indication of any affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement of or by such third-party Websites.
    1. These third-party sites may have their own privacy policies or no policy at all. This Statement and the Terms & Conditions of Use do not apply to such other sites. HWMG 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. HWMG and HMAA are 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 Websites. Your use of third-party Websites is subject to the terms of use for such sites. If you decide to access third-party Websites that are linked to this Site, you do so at your own risk.
    3. Although HWMG endeavors to warn users when they click on a link to a third-party Website that they are leaving these Sites, we do not guarantee that you will receive such an alert. It is your responsibility to determine when you have left these Sites.
    4. Only some of the Websites associated with HWMG, HMAA, and their affiliated products and companies endeavor to warn users when they click on a link to other third-party sites. HWMG does not guarantee that you will receive such an alert.
11. Although parents are free to seek information available on the Sites concerning the health of their children, no person under 18 years old is permitted to use these Sites. HWMG does not direct the Sites to children under the age of 18 years, or knowingly collect information from children under 18. Adults should not assist minors in accessing the Sites. When users enter personal information on our Sites, the user is representing to us that he/she is an adult and18 years or older. We will be pleased to work with parents and guardians to delete from our records personal information a child may improperly disclose.
12. These Sites use 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 Sites.

If you have any questions or would like additional information about this Statement, contact our Customer Service Center. This Statement is not intended to replace the Terms & Conditions of Use.