Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes how First Docs, LLC and Mercer Bucks Medical Associates, P.C. and their affiliated practices (together, “First Docs”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) handle personal information that we collect through our website or through any other websites that we own or control and that link to this Privacy Policy. First Docs provides internal medicine services, and works with healthcare facilities to provide care and improve patient outcomes. Our website provides information on our professional and related services.

Please see our Notice at Collection below for an overview of our privacy practices.

Please note that as part of our services, we may process information that is subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”). When governed by HIPAA, this information is called “Protected Health Information” or “PHI.” When applicable, we will provide patients with a separate HIPAA privacy notice that will govern the collection, use and disclosure of PHI. To the extent there are inconsistencies between the HIPAA privacy notice you receive and this Privacy Policy, the HIPAA privacy notice will govern.

Personal information we collect

Information you provide to us:

• Contact information, such as your first and last name, email address, phone number and professional title.
• Feedback or correspondence, such as information you provide when you contact us with questions, feedback, or otherwise correspond with us online.
• Marketing information, such as your preferences for receiving our communications, and details about how you engage with our communications.
• Any other information you voluntarily provide to us, which we will use as described in this Privacy Policy or as otherwise disclosed at the time of collection.

Information we obtain from third parties:

• Social media information. We may maintain pages on social media platforms, such as LinkedIn, and other third-party platforms. When you visit or interact with our pages on those platforms, the platform provider’s privacy policy will apply to your interactions and their collection, use, and processing of your personal information.
• Other sources. We may obtain personal information from other third parties, such as marketing partners, publicly-available sources, and data providers.

Automatic data collection. We and our service providers may automatically log information about you, your computer or mobile device, and your interactions over time with our website, our communications and other online services, such as:

• Device data, such as your computer’s or mobile device’s operating system type and version, manufacturer and model, browser type, screen resolution, RAM and disk size, CPU usage, device type (e.g., phone, tablet), IP address, unique identifiers, language settings, mobile device carrier, radio/network information (e.g., WiFi, LTE, 4G), and general location information such as city, state or geographic area.
• Online activity data, such as pages or screens you viewed, how long you spent on a page or screen, browsing history, navigation paths between pages or screens, information about your activity on a page or screen, access times, duration of access, and whether you have opened our marketing emails or clicked links within them.

We use the following tools for automatic data collection:

• Cookies, which are text files that websites store on a visitor’s device to uniquely identify the visitor’s browser or to store information or settings in the browser for the purpose of helping you navigate between pages efficiently, remembering your preferences, enabling functionality, and helping us understand website user activity and patterns. For example, Google Analytics collects information about how users use our website, which we then use to compile reports that disclose trends without identifying individual visitors, and help us improve our website. For more information on Google Analytics, click here.
• Local storage technologies, like HTML5, that provide cookie-equivalent functionality but can store larger amounts of data, including on your device outside of your browser in connection with specific applications.
• Web beacons, also known as pixel tags or clear GIFs, which are used to demonstrate that a webpage or email was accessed or opened, or that certain content was viewed or clicked.

How we use your personal information

To provide, operate, maintain, and secure our website.

To communicate with you, including to respond to your requests, provide support, and otherwise communicate with you about our services, including by sending announcements, surveys, updates, security alerts, and support and administrative messages.

Improve, monitor, and personalize our website, including by understanding your needs and interests, and personalizing your experience with our website and communications.

For research and development. We may use your personal information for research and development purposes, including to analyze and improve our services and our business. As part of these activities, we may create aggregated, de-identified, or other anonymous data from personal information we collect. We may use this data and disclose it to third parties for our lawful business purposes, including to analyze and improve our services and promote our business.

For marketing and advertising. We may collect and use personal information to help us promote our business, including for the following marketing and advertising purposes:

• Direct marketing. We may send you direct marketing communications as permitted by law, including by email. You may opt-out of our marketing communications as described in the “Opt-out of marketing communications” section below.
• Interest-based advertising. We engage advertising partners to display ads about our services on other online platforms and services. For these purposes, we may use cookies and similar technologies from third-party advertising partners to collect information about your interactions over time with our website and communications, and use that information to serve online ads to you and others that may be interested in our services.

Compliance and protection. We may use personal information to:

• Comply with applicable laws, lawful requests, and legal process, such as to respond to subpoenas or requests from government authorities.
• Protect our, your or others’ rights, privacy, safety or property (including by making and defending legal claims).
• Audit our internal processes for compliance with legal and contractual requirements and internal policies.
• Enforce the terms and conditions that govern our website.
• Prevent, identify, investigate and deter fraudulent, harmful, unauthorized, unethical or illegal activity, including cyberattacks and identity theft.

How we disclose your personal information

Affiliated practices. We may share your personal information among our affiliated practices for purposes consistent with this Privacy Policy.

Service providers. We may disclose your personal information to third party companies and individuals that provide services on our behalf or help us operate our services (such as lawyers, bankers, auditors, insurers, customer support, hosting, analytics, email delivery, marketing, and database management).

Advertising partners. We share certain information, such as information about visits to our website, with third-party advertising companies to help us promote our services to you and other potential users, including for interest-based advertising. For more information about your choices for limiting interest-based advertising, please visit “Your Rights and Choices” below.

Authorities and others. We may disclose your personal information to law enforcement, government authorities, and private parties, as we believe in good faith to be necessary or appropriate for the compliance and protection purposes described above.

Business transfers. We may sell, transfer or otherwise share some or all of our business or assets, including your personal information, in connection with a business transaction (or potential business transaction) such as a corporate divestiture, merger, consolidation, acquisition, reorganization or sale of assets, or in the event of bankruptcy or dissolution. In such a case, we will make reasonable efforts to require the recipient to honor this Privacy Policy.

Your rights and choices

Opt out of marketing communications. You may opt out of marketing-related emails by following the opt-out or unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of the email. You may continue to receive service-related and other non-marketing emails.

Personal information requests. Depending on your residency, you may have the following rights in relation to the personal information we hold about you:

• Information about how we have collected and used your personal information. We have made this information available to you without having to request it by including it in this Privacy Policy.
• Access to a copy of the personal information that we have collected about you. Where applicable, we will provide the information in a portable, machine-readable, readily-usable format.
• Correction of personal information that is inaccurate or out of date.
• Deletion of the personal information that we maintain about you.
• Opt out of interest-based advertising. We may share personal information with advertising partners, including through the use cookies and other similar technologies on our website, to help us advertise our services on other websites or services you visit. Where this qualifies as “selling” or “sharing” personal information, or “targeted advertising,” under applicable law, you can opt out by clicking the “Your Privacy Choices” link in the footer of our website. You may also have the ability to opt out by enabling the Global Privacy Control setting within the browser that you use to access our website. Learn more at the Global Privacy Control website. Please note that your opt-out will be specific to the device and browser you use when you opt out. We do not knowingly “sell” or “share” the personal information of consumers under 16 years of age.

To make a request, please email or write to us as provided in the “How to Contact Us” section below. Prior to responding to your requests, we may verify your identity by matching any requested identifying information you provide against the information we have about you. Depending on your jurisdiction, you may designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. We will require authorized agents to confirm their identity and authority, in accordance with applicable laws. You are entitled to exercise the rights described above free from discrimination.

Limits on your privacy rights and choices. In some instances, your choices may be limited, such as where fulfilling your request would impair the rights of others, our ability to provide a service you have requested, or our ability to comply with our legal obligations and enforce our legal rights. If you are not satisfied with how we address your request, you may submit a complaint by contacting us as provided in the “How to Contact Us” section below.

Limit online tracking. There are a number of ways to limit online tracking, which we have summarized below. Please note that these tools are not associated with First Docs and we cannot guarantee that they work as their providers advertise them:

• Blocking cookies in your browser. Most browsers let you remove or reject cookies. To do this, follow the instructions in your browser settings. Many browsers accept cookies by default until you change your settings. For more information about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set on your device and how to manage and delete them, visit https://www.allaboutcookies.org/.
• Using privacy plug-ins or browsers. You can block our website from setting cookies by using a browser with privacy features, like Brave, or installing browser plugins like Privacy Badger, Ghostery, or uBlock Origin, and configuring them to block third party cookies/trackers.
• Google Analytics. We use Google Analytics to help us better understand how people engage with our website by collecting information and creating reports about how users use our website. For more information on Google Analytics, click here. For more information about Google’s privacy practices, click here. You can opt out of Google Analytics by downloading and installing the browser plug-in available at: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
• Advertising industry opt-out tools. You can also use these opt-out options to limit use of your information for interest-based advertising by participating companies:
  • Digital Advertising Alliance: outout.aboutads.info  
  • Network Advertising Initiative: optout.networkadvertising.org 
• Platform opt-outs. Some advertising partners offer opt-out features that let you opt out of use of your information for interest-based advertising, including:
  • Google
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn opt-out

Note that because these opt-out mechanisms are specific to the device or browser on which they are exercised, you will need to opt out on every browser and device that you use.

Do Not Track. Some Internet browsers may be configured to send “Do Not Track” signals to the online services that you visit. We currently do not respond to “Do Not Track” or similar signals. To find out more about “Do Not Track,” please visit http://www.allaboutdnt.com.

Other sites, mobile applications and services

Our website may contain links to other websites, mobile applications, and other online services operated by third parties. These links are not an endorsement of, or representation that we are affiliated with, any third party. In addition, our content may be included on web pages or in mobile applications or online services that are not associated with us. We do not control third-party websites, mobile applications or online services, and we are not responsible for their actions. Other websites and services follow different rules regarding the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of the other websites and mobile applications and online services you use.

Security

We employ a number of technical, organizational, and physical safeguards designed to protect the personal information we collect. However, no security measures are failsafe and we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information.

Retention of personal information

Where required under applicable laws, we retain personal information only for as long as is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected and processed, in accordance with our retention policies, and in accordance with applicable laws and regulatory obligations.

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal information, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure of personal information, the purposes for which we use personal information and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Job applicants

When you apply for one of our open positions, we collect the information that you provide in connection with your job application. This includes but is not limited to business and personal contact information, professional credentials and skills, educational and work history, and other information that may be included in a resume or that you may provide during the interview process. This may also include demographic or diversity information that you voluntarily provide. We may also conduct background checks and receive related information. We also collect personal information from other sources where relevant for your application, such as employment research firms, recruiters, identity verification services, and information that you make publicly available on websites or social media platforms (for example, LinkedIn).

Throughout the recruitment process, we may supplement your personal information in connection with the assessment of your application. For example, we may record the views of those considering your application about your suitability for the role for which you have applied and retain interview notes. If you accept an offer from us, your personal information will be incorporated into and used as part of your employee record.

We use applicants’ information to facilitate our recruitment activities, process employment applications and personalize candidate communication, including evaluating candidates and monitoring recruitment statistics. We also use successful applicants’ information to administer the employment relationship. We may also use and disclose applicants’ information to improve our hiring processes and for the compliance and protection purposes described above.

Children

Our website is not intended for use by children under 13 years of age. If we learn that we have collected personal information through our website from a child under 13 without the consent of the child’s parent or guardian as required by law, we will delete it.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time. If we make material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you by updating the date of this Privacy Policy and posting it on our website.

How to contact us

Please direct any questions or comments about this Privacy Policy to [email protected] or by mail at the address below.

First Docs, LLC
PO Box 7410723
Chicago, IL 60674-0723

Mercer Bucks Medical Associates, P.C.
PO Box 7410725
Chicago, IL 60674-0725

Notice at Collection

Below is a high-level snapshot of how we collect, use, and disclose your personal information, but you need to read the entire Privacy Policy for complete information.

*As described further in our Privacy Policy, we may disclose all categories of personal information to our service providers, affiliated practices, and professional advisors for the purposes described in the Privacy Policy. We also may disclose personal information to authorities and others for legal and compliance purposes, and business transferees in the context of an acquisition or the sale of our business or another corporate transaction.