Terms - Consumer Health Ratings

General Disclaimer

Consumer Health Ratings, Your Guide to Quality and Cost, is a public service provided by The Dahlen Company, LLC. We have compiled the most comprehensive online listing of places on the Internet where you can find free information and free evaluations of your healthcare providers in the U.S. We provide links to sites that compare hospitals, health insurance plans, medical groups, doctors, ambulatory surgery centers, nursing homes, home health agencies, fertility clinics, and other important healthcare providers. We have categorized and described information to help you research performance results on quality and member or patient satisfaction; check physician credentials and licenses; compare costs; find different types of health professionals; improve your own health by taking personal health improvement actions; and in general, better understand the healthcare system so you live better. By accessing this site, you agree to our complete Terms of Use.

You agree that use of this site is at your own risk. Even though we endeavor to provide accurate and helpful information, we make no guarantee with respect to the information contained on this site. We will not be responsible for the consequences of how you decide to use the information contained in this website, nor liable to users for any loss or damage resulting from any errors or omissions, or other site deficiencies. The Dahlen Company, LLC reserves the right to change these legal terms at any time, so please check back periodically to see if anything has changed.

Medical or Health Information

Consumer Health Ratings does not provide specific medical advice, and urges you to consult with a qualified physician for diagnosis, treatment, and decisions about choosing providers. The information provided on this site is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between a patient/site visitor and his/her existing physician or care providers. Nothing on this site should be used as a substitute for medical advice, and you should never disregard medical advice because of something you have read on Consumer Health Ratings. Commentary provided by Consumer Health Ratings is opinion, not fact.

Children

Consumer Health Ratings is intended to be used by adults ages 18 and over. Children and teenagers under age 18 should first obtain parental permission before using this site. If not properly understood, a misinterpretation of information about mortality rates, for example, might cause undue alarm.

Links To External Sites

External links are provided as a convenience for our visitors. They do not constitute endorsement or approval by Consumer Health Ratings of these organizations, their ratings, products or reports. We do not endorse any specific hospital, physician, medical group, health plan or healthcare organization, and none should be inferred. We do not control these external sites and bear no responsibility for their content. If you decide to access linked external websites, you do so at your own risk. Your use of external websites is subject to the terms and conditions in effect at each site. While we initially review all of the sites to determine whether these sites are working to produce quality, accurate and useful information to the best of their ability, inevitably there are limitations. Clicking an organization or report listed at ConsumerHealthRatings.com will automatically take you to an external site, unless otherwise clearly stated.

Limitations of Primary and Linked Sites

You accept that Consumer Health Ratings and its external links have limitations that include, but are not limited to:

The dynamic and constantly changing nature of medical information, the quality ratings field, costs and prices, employment and practice locations, government policy and regulation, and the Internet;
Time lags (often more than one year) between the time period when health-related events actually occur, and when reports are published;
Past performance of healthcare professionals and institutions is no guarantee of current or future performance;
The difficulty experts face in writing consumer-friendly information, while explaining and preserving the integrity of the scientific ratings process;
Imperfections in any ratings methodology;
Necessity of acquiring a current version of the Adobe Acrobat reader, which may be downloaded free of charge from adobe.com, in order to view pdf files;
Variation among consumers in understanding complex medical conditions and the meaning of “statistically significant” results as it applies to ratings;
Ability of external sites to change their content without our knowledge or agreement, and the impossibility of doing an exhaustive review of the total content at each linked site;
The wide range of parties involved in performing ratings, rankings and credentials verifications, who may study different time periods, use different methods of analysis and prepare unique report formats that may appear to conflict with one another, or may otherwise confuse you.

No Obligation to Include or Exclude Links

Consumer Health Ratings has no obligation to include any link, or to exclude any link. We are not responsible for disputes, conflicts or other problems that may arise between websites linked to Consumer Health Ratings, nor between website visitors and websites listed at Consumer Health Ratings. While we welcome recommendations from our site visitors about useful links, there is no guarantee that your links will be added, nor added within a certain time frame. We reserve the right to place any included link in any categories of our choosing.

Selectivity

We screen new resources submitted for inclusion on Consumer Health Ratings as time permits. We may deliberately limit the number of categories and links in any given category or subcategory. As we become aware of improved sources of information, we may substitute, delete and expand links at our complete discretion. We may remove links, at our discretion, without any prior notification. We will not knowingly link to any sites that suggest or participate in fraudulent or illegal activity. We will select topics and content to address the needs and interests of large or selected groups of people, rather than any specific patient’s condition or interest.

Editorial Independence

Neither advertising nor sponsorship will influence this website’s content or editorial position. Sites with the Editor’s Pick designation may represent a convenient starting point for our visitors, and do not constitute recommendations at this time. In general, Consumer Health Ratings determines the healthcare ratings field to be in its early stages, and all known ratings programs and credentials reports have room for improvement before they meet the highest standards to become a Recommended site.

Privacy

We collect no personal information about you when you visit our website unless otherwise stated or unless you choose to provide this information to us. All personal information you provide in corresponding with us via this site is kept confidential, but please do not convey your personal health information to us. Email and online forms can be intercepted and therefore are not considered secure forms of communication.

We may collect and store certain information automatically such as the Internet Protocol (IP) address of the domain from which you access the Internet, date and time of access, pages you view, web address of the site from which you linked directly to our site, search words, and browser type. We also may use a cookie that collects anonymous traffic data. Such information helps us make our site more useful (e.g. deciding what information is most helpful and least helpful to our visitors), and our technical operation more effective. We do not create individual profiles with the information you provide.

We may participate in online advertising programs from time to time in order to support the site. Google ads and other third party vendors will use advertising cookies. By using Consumer Health Ratings, you acknowledge the presence of advertising cookies. See more below.

Use of Content and Copyright Considerations

You may use ConsumerHealthRatings.com only for your personal lawful and non-commercial purposes. You may reproduce limited excerpts of the directory listings for personal use only. However, you may reproduce materials on the About Us page to increase awareness of Consumer Health Ratings or to promote The Dahlen Company, LLC. All other uses require prior written permission from The Dahlen Company, LLC.

Except as expressly permitted, you agree not to copy, reproduce, distribute, modify, translate, create derivative works of, sell, mirror, frame, or reverse engineer any aspect of this site, without our prior permission. You agree not to use Consumer Health Ratings™, or ConsumerHealthRatings.com™ or The Dahlen Company™ or Your Guide to Online Healthcare Ratings™ or Your Guide to Quality and Cost™ in hidden text or metatags. Unauthorized use or reproduction of our website materials may violate copyright and/or trademark laws.

Permitted reproductions must retain all proprietary rights notices appearing on the materials. Questions regarding quoting from the site or proper attribution should be sent via the Contact Us form.

Your comments and feedback to the site are appreciated. You agree that you will not infringe the intellectual property rights of any party in the process of communicating with us. By submitting communications to this website, you automatically grant Consumer Health Ratings and The Dahlen Company, LLC a fully paid-up, nonexclusive, worldwide, irrevocable license to use, publish, display, reproduce, distribute, destroy, modify, adapt, translate, use in a performance, or change the submission without providing notice or receiving your consent.

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless The Dahlen Company, LLC, Consumer Health Ratings, ConsumerHealthRatings.com, our employees, student interns, affiliates, consultants and agents from any and all claims, losses, costs, liability, damages and expenses, including attorneys’ fees, arising from your use of the site, from your inability to use the site, or violation of these Terms of Use. If you experience problems with our site, please notify us and discontinue using the site or listings until they meet your needs.

Google Advertising Cookies

Google uses cookies to help serve the ads it displays on the websites of its partners, such as websites displaying Google ads or participating in Google certified ad networks. When users visit a Google partner’s website, a cookie may be dropped on that end user’s browser.

Third party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user’s prior visits to your website or other websites.
Google’s use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and/or other sites on the Internet.
Website visitors may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Ads Settings. (Alternatively, you can opt out of a third-party vendor’s use of cookies for personalized advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info.)

Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns regarding our Terms of Use, please contact us by accessing the “Contact Us” form on ConsumerHealthRatings.com.