Privacy Policy

What this policy covers

This Privacy Policy applies to this website, operated by Hardin County Pediatrics (“we”, “us”, “our”). It explains what information the website collects when you visit, who else may receive that information, and the choices you have.

Health information you share with us during a visit, by phone, or through the Patient Portal is protected separately under the federal HIPAA rules. Our HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices explains how we handle your child’s protected health information (PHI).

Information this website collects

We do not run advertising, retargeting or session-replay tools on this website, and the website sets no cookies. It has no contact forms, sign-ups or accounts. Your visit creates the standard information every web browser sends to every web server and a few settings kept in your own browser; on the home page and the Resources page, the Ask Hardin chat assistant also sends Teddy Chat a basic record of the visit, described under Ask Hardin.

Server logs

The company that hosts this website may keep brief technical logs (such as IP address, browser type, the page requested and the time) to run the website and keep it secure. These logs are not used for advertising and are not sold.

Settings kept on your device

When you choose a language, switch between the day and night look, or change a display setting, your browser remembers that choice in its local storage, so it is still set on your next visit. The website uses these seven settings:

• hcp-lang: English or Spanish
• hcp-textsize: text size
• hcp-contrast: high contrast
• hcp-motion: reduce motion
• hcp-readable: readable text spacing
• hcp-decor: hide decorations
• hcp-sky: day or night look

These settings stay on your device. They contain nothing that identifies you, and they are not sent to us or to anyone else. You can clear them at any time in your browser settings. The Reset button in the Display & Comfort panel, at the bottom of every page, clears the display settings; the sun and moon button at the top of the home page switches the day or night look back.

The chat assistant (Ask Hardin)

Ask Hardin is an AI chat assistant provided by Teddy Chat, a service provider to our practice. It answers general questions about our office, such as hours, new patient forms and insurance, and it includes a symptom checker and a medicine dosing guide. It is not a nurse or a doctor and does not replace a call to us. For questions about your child’s health, call the office at 409-299-8889. After hours and on holidays, call our nurse line at 855-264-3503. In an emergency, call 911.

Ask Hardin’s software loads from Teddy Chat (app.teddy.chat) each time you visit our home page or our Resources page, and Teddy Chat records that visit (the page, the time, a shortened IP address and the browser type) and how the assistant is used, for example when it is opened or a tool is started, even if you never type anything. What you type or choose in Ask Hardin, including your answers in the symptom checker and the medicine guide, is sent to Teddy Chat and processed by the AI model provider Teddy Chat uses to write answers, and Teddy Chat keeps a record of chat conversations. Ask Hardin does not set cookies, use your browser’s storage, or run advertising. Please don’t include your child’s name, date of birth or other details that identify your family, and don’t use the chat for urgent medical concerns or emergencies. If the chat service can’t load, the home page shows a set of ready-made questions instead; those are not sent anywhere.

Outside services and links

Everything on this website, including its fonts, images, styles and scripts, is served from the website’s own address, with one exception: the Ask Hardin chat assistant, which loads from Teddy Chat (see above). The website does not load content from advertising networks, social media sites, map services or other outside companies.

Links to other services

Some links take you to services run by other companies. They open only if you choose to follow them, and each has its own privacy policy:

• Patient Portal, run by PCC (Physician’s Computer Company).
• Online payments, on a secure payment page run by CardPointe.
• New patient forms, on IntakeQ.
• Map directions, on Google Maps.
• Health information links, on HealthyChildren.org (American Academy of Pediatrics), cdc.gov and other public health websites, listed on our Resources page.

We do not control how those companies handle your information once you leave this website.

How we use information

We use the limited information this website handles only to:

• Run the website and keep it secure.
• Remember your language and display choices on your device.
• Help you reach our office by phone, through the Patient Portal, or through the other services linked above.

We do not sell or rent information collected through this website. We do not use it for advertising or to build profiles of visitors.

California privacy rights (CCPA / CPRA and CIPA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), gives you the right to:

• Know what personal information we collect about you and how it is used.
• Request deletion of personal information we hold about you.
• Correct inaccurate personal information.
• Opt out of any sale or sharing of personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. We do not sell or share personal information for advertising.
• Be free from discrimination for exercising these rights.

Apart from what you type or choose in the Ask Hardin chat assistant and the basic visit record described above, which Teddy Chat handles for us as our service provider, this website does not collect personal information from you. To exercise these rights or ask a question, contact us using the details at the bottom of this policy.

California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA)

We do not use advertising pixels, session replay or advertising trackers on this website. The only script that loads from an outside company is the Ask Hardin chat assistant from Teddy Chat, our service provider, described above; everything else on these pages runs from this website’s own address. Because the chat assistant loads with our home page and our Resources page, Teddy Chat receives a basic record of each visit to those pages (the page, the time, a shortened IP address and the browser type) even if you never open the chat, and uses it only to run and measure the chat service for our practice.

Children’s privacy

This website provides information for parents and caregivers about pediatric care. It is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children through the website. Information that parents share with us as part of their child’s medical care is handled under HIPAA and our Notice of Privacy Practices.

Security

We serve this website over HTTPS. We rely on our hosting provider, and on the services linked above, to maintain reasonable, industry-standard security for the limited data they receive. No method of sending information over the internet is 100% secure.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when our website or the services we use change. When we do, we will update the effective date at the top of this page. Material changes will be highlighted.

How to reach us

For any privacy question, request or concern about this website: