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CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield (CareFirst) and
its affiliated companies have policies and
procedures to protect the confidentiality of
member information. Below are general guidelines
for how we handle your information. It is
important to note that all records containing
confidential medical and insurance data are
handled and discarded in a way that is designed
to protect the privacy and security of the
information.
Internet Privacy Statement
Health Information
Medical Records
Other Uses of Information
Treatment Setting
Questions
Internet Privacy Statement
How We Secure Your Personal Information
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield respects the need for security regarding your personal information. Whenever you provide personal information, your information will be protected using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology. SSL is an industry standard that encrypts the information you provide, to avoid the decoding of that information by anyone other than CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. This technology, however, does not absolutely guarantee the total privacy of information that has been provided to this site.
Information you submit directly to us will remain on our servers or those of our affiliates, secured by various industry approved technologies to prevent unauthorized access to your personal information.
Access to Our Site
If you are using our site from locations such as your place of employment, you may run into problems with firewalls that the system owner has established for security reasons. If this is the case, you may need to complete the information from your home computer where you can control your security settings. If this is not possible, you can contact us for additional assistance.
Cookies
Like most commercial websites, we use cookies and other technologies to enhance your online experience and to learn about how you use our web site so that we can improve the quality of our services. Cookies are alphanumeric identifiers that we transfer to your computer through your web browser to enable our systems to recognize your browser.
Our cookies will not provide any personally identifiable information about you and do not allow us to gain access to other information on your computer.
Information We Collect
We receive and store certain types of information whenever you visit our site.
CareFirst’s servers automatically record information including your domain name, the IP address from which you entered our site, your browser type and language, the pages you visit on our site, and the date and time of your request.
We do not collect any information that can reveal your personal identity unless you voluntarily provide it, for example when you register for or login to a specific feature of our site.
You may decline to provide personal information to us, block pop-ups and/or refuse cookies in your browser. However, this may result in some of our features or services not functioning properly.
How We Use Your Information
Personally-identifiable information you give us will be used only to provide the service or information you have requested.
We do not sell information about you to any third party and we do not share it with third parties unless it is necessary to complete a request you have made, process a transaction for you, or to comply with the law.
We won't send you any unsolicited e-mail ("spam").
We may combine personal information collected from you with information from other CareFirst services or third parties to provide a better user experience, including customizing content for you.
Links to Other Sites
CareFirst may provide links to other websites not owned or controlled by CareFirst that might be useful or of interest to you. The privacy policy of that site may differ from CareFirst’s. Please review the privacy policy of any site before providing any personal information.
Links to other non-CareFirst websites do not constitute or imply endorsement by CareFirst of the websites, material, products or services described on those sites.
Not Medical Advice
The content on our site is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Seek the advice of your physician with any questions you have about a medical condition.
Health Information
Protecting member's confidential information has always been a priority for
CareFirst.You have certain additional rights relating to your protected health
information, whether oral, written or electronic. The Notice
of Privacy Practices* explains those rights.
General information about a claim can be provided to family members or other
authorized representatives to solve a question or complaint, but specific diagnostic
information can only be discussed with your written permission.
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Medical Records
Although we do not maintain copies of your medical records, we may request copies of your medical records to process a claim.
You may request access to your medical records by contacting your provider's office and following their process for accessing your medical information.
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Other Uses of Information
Other uses of your member information including personal and financial data
collected by CareFirst are required or permitted by law. We will continue our
commitment to keep your personal, financial and medical information private
and secure. The Notice
of Privacy Practices* explains how your information is used and disclosed.
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Treatment Setting
Providers are required to implement privacy policies that address the
disclosure of medical information, patient access to medical information,
and the storage/protection of medical information. CareFirst reviews provider
confidentiality processes during pre-contractual site visits for primary
care physicians.
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Questions
If you have additional questions about how CareFirst protects your personal,
financial and medical information, please call the CareFirst Privacy Office
at 1-800-853-9236 or send an e-mail to the privacy office.
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