The Potomac Center for Medical Education (PCME)

Effective Date: 12/1/2020

This privacy notice discloses the privacy practices for Potomac Center for Medical Education (PCME).  This privacy notice applies to information collected as part of continuing education activities.  The following privacy policy notifies users about the type of information collected, with whom the information is shared, how the information can be corrected, how collected information is secured, how the company will identify users of policy changes, and how users can address concerns over misuse of personal data.

What information is collected?

PCME does not collect information from users of its site unless it is deliberately provided by the user. In order to participate in PCME’s Continuing Medical Education/Continuing Education (CME/CE) programs, a user must first complete the registration form. During registration, a user is required to provide certain information such as name and email address. Options are also available to provide other information such as gender, date of birth, medical degree, and medical specialty.

PCME also collects data from commenters. When users leave comments on the site, data from the comments form and the user’s IP address and browser user agent string is collected to help in spam detection.

An anonymized string created from the user’s email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service. After approval of a user’s comment, the user’s profile picture is visible to the public in the context of the user’s comment. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available at https://automattic.com/privacy

How is personal information used?

The personal information collected will potentially be used for any of the following:

User Experience: PCME may use the personal information collected to provide and improve programs, as well as conduct research supporting the development of new programs.  

Email Communication: By registering for one of PCME’s programs, a user is agreeing to the use of their registration information and other information collected, to receive email communications, advertisements, and other promotional materials.

User Profiles: PCME may associate program use information along with personal information provided by a user to create a user profile that may be updated from time to time.

User Inquiries:  A user’s information may be used to administer user accounts, respond to inquiries, fulfill requests, and send administrative communications about programs.

Data Reporting: By registering as a user of PCME’s programs, it is agreed that PCME may report completion data to accreditation boards, as may be applicable.

When is personal data shared?

PCME does not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties personally identifiable information from any users.

Embedded content from other websites

Continuing education activities may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the user has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about users, user cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor user interaction with that embedded content, including tracking user interaction with the embedded content if the user has an account and are logged into that website.

Where is personal data from international users stored and processed?

PCME is located in the United States, as is the PCME technical infrastructure. In order to provide programs to international users, PCME must transfer the user’s personal information to the United States, where it will be stored and processed in accordance with this Privacy Policy. Information may also be transferred outside the United States to service providers with operations in other countries. By participating in PCME programs, users consent to such collection, storage, and processing in the United States and elsewhere, though the United States and other jurisdictions may not afford the same level of data protection as considered adequate in a user’s own country. Reasonable steps will be taken to protect a user’s personal information.

How is personal data secured?

PCME takes precautions to protect user’s information. When users submit sensitive information via a website, their information is protected both online and offline. Wherever sensitive information is collected, that information is encrypted and transmitted in a secure way. This can be verified by looking for a closed lock icon located in front of “https://” in the web address bar.

While encryption is used to protect sensitive information transmitted online, user information is also protected offline. Only employees who need the information to perform a specific job (e.g. billing or customer service) are granted access to personally identifiable information. The computers/servers on which personally identifiable information is stored are kept in a secure environment.

How long is personal data kept?

If users leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is how follow-up comments are automatically recognized and approved so that they aren’t held in a moderation queue.

For users that register for a continuing education activity, personal information that has been provided is stored in the user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete personal information at any time (except a username cannot be changed). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

User Rights

Account Information: Users may update registration information any time through the “edit profile” feature. Users may also contact Customer Support at contact@potomacme.org and request that their registration information be updated or deleted.  This does not include any data that is obligated to be kept for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Email Communications: If users no longer wish to receive a particular type of email communication, they may unsubscribe by clicking the “unsubscribe” link located at the bottom of the email and following the instructions.

Comments: Users who have left comments or have an account on the PCME site, can request to receive an exported file of their personal data which includes any data provided to PCME. This does not include any data that is obligated to be kept for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Cookies

The websites on which continuing education activities are accessed use cookies. A cookie is a file containing an identifier (a string of letters and numbers) that is sent by a web server to a web browser and is stored by the browser. The identifier is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.

Cookies may be either “persistent” cookies or “session” cookies: a persistent cookie will be stored by a web browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date, unless deleted by the user before the expiry date; a session cookie, on the other hand, will expire at the end of the user session, when the web browser is closed.

Cookies do not typically contain any information that personally identifies a user, but personal information that is stored about users may be linked to the information stored in, and obtained, from cookies.

When users log in, several cookies are used to save login information and screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If a user selects “Remember Me”, their login will persist for two weeks. If a user logs out of their account, the login cookies will be removed.

Privacy Policy Changes

PCME reserves the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time and any changes will be effective upon posting of the modified Privacy Policy unless otherwise advised.

If any material changes to this Privacy Policy are made, PCME will notify users by email (using the email address included in account profiles) and/or by means of a notice on the PCME site prior to any changes becoming effective. All users are encouraged to periodically review this Privacy Policy for the latest information on privacy practices. By continuing to use the Services after changes are made to this Privacy Policy, users agree to such changes.

Contact Us

If you have general questions about your account or questions about the Privacy Policy that have not been answered by the information contained in this Policy, please contact Customer Support at contact@potomacme.org or at the following address:

Potomac Center for Medical Education

8335 Guilford Road, Suite A
Columbia, MD 21046

410-309-0690