Privacy Policy

Northwest Private Nurse Partners LLC ("NW Private Nurse Partners," "we," "our," or "us") operates nwrns.com and provides concierge home nursing services in the Chicagoland area. We take the privacy and security of your personal and health information seriously. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use and protect it, with whom we share it, and the rights you have regarding your data.

By using our website or services, you agree to the practices described in this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use our website or services.

1. Information We Collect

A. Information You Provide Directly

When you use our website, book a visit, or contact us, you may provide:

• Contact information: name, email address, phone number, and home address
• Health and medical information: reason for visit, medical history, current medications, allergies, diagnoses, and other clinical information necessary to provide care
• Demographic information: date of birth, sex
• Emergency contact information: name, phone number, and relationship
• Payment information: credit or debit card details, which are collected and processed directly by Stripe, Inc. — we do not store full card numbers on our servers
• Communications: messages you send us via our contact form or email
• Appointment preferences: preferred nurse, scheduling preferences, and service type

B. Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our website, we may automatically collect:

• Log data: IP address, browser type, pages visited, referring URL, and timestamps
• Device information: operating system, device type, and screen resolution
• Cookies and similar technologies: session cookies necessary for the website to function (see Section 7)

C. Information From Third Parties

We may receive limited information from third-party services used to operate our platform, including address verification data from Google Maps and bot-detection signals from Cloudflare Turnstile.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

• Schedule, coordinate, and deliver home nursing visits
• Communicate with you about your appointments, including confirmations, reminders, and follow-up care instructions
• Process payments and maintain billing records
• Create and maintain your patient record and clinical documentation
• Share relevant clinical information with your nurse prior to and during visits
• With your explicit consent, share visit summaries with your designated clinician or primary care provider
• Respond to inquiries submitted through our contact form
• Send appointment reminders via SMS, if you have provided SMS consent
• Improve our website, services, and patient experience
• Comply with applicable legal obligations, licensing requirements, and professional standards
• Protect against fraudulent, unauthorized, or illegal activity

We do not use your health information for marketing purposes, and we do not sell your personal information to any third party.

3. Health Information & HIPAA

NW Private Nurse Partners is a healthcare provider subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and its implementing regulations. Health information you share with us in connection with nursing services constitutes Protected Health Information (PHI) under HIPAA.

Your HIPAA Rights

With respect to your PHI, you have the right to:

• Access and receive a copy of your health information held by NW Private Nurse Partners
• Request corrections to your health information if you believe it is inaccurate or incomplete
• Request restrictions on certain uses and disclosures of your PHI, though we are not always required to agree
• Receive an accounting of certain disclosures of your PHI made in the six years prior to your request
• Receive a paper copy of our Notice of Privacy Practices upon request
• File a complaint with us or with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) if you believe your privacy rights have been violated — we will not retaliate against you for filing a complaint

Permitted Uses of PHI

We may use and disclose your PHI without your authorization for the following purposes:

• Treatment: to provide, coordinate, or manage your nursing care, including sharing information with your care team
• Health care operations: for quality assessment, training, and business activities necessary to operate our nursing practice
• As required by law: to comply with federal, state, or local law, including public health reporting obligations
• Emergency circumstances: to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety

All other disclosures of your PHI require your written authorization. You may revoke an authorization at any time in writing, except to the extent we have already relied on it.

AI-Assisted Clinical Documentation

NW Private Nurse Partners uses AI-assisted tools to help nurses document visit notes more efficiently. Any AI tool that processes PHI operates under a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) with the applicable vendor, as required by HIPAA. AI-generated notes are reviewed, edited, and approved by your nurse before becoming part of your clinical record.

To exercise your HIPAA rights or request our full Notice of Privacy Practices, contact us at [email protected] or by mail at the address in Section 11.

4. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We share information only in the following circumstances:

Service Providers

We work with carefully selected third-party vendors who assist us in operating our business, and we share with each one only the minimum information its service requires:

• Stripe, Inc. — Payment processing. Card data is transmitted directly to Stripe and governed by Stripe's Privacy Policy.
• Google LLC — We use Google Maps to locate visit addresses and plan our nurses' routes. Only the street address is shared with Google — never your name, date of birth, contact details, or any health information. Governed by Google's Privacy Policy. We also use Google Analytics on our public marketing pages only, as described in the Cookies section below.
• Twilio, Inc. — SMS appointment reminders, sent only if you have provided explicit SMS consent. Governed by Twilio's Privacy Policy.
• Cloudflare, Inc. — Website security, bot protection (Turnstile), and content delivery. Governed by Cloudflare's Privacy Policy.
• Anthropic, PBC — AI-assisted clinical documentation. This is the one vendor that processes your health information itself, and it does so only under a signed Business Associate Agreement; your information is not used to train Anthropic's models.

Clinician Chart Sharing (With Your Consent)

If you give us your explicit written consent during the booking process or through your patient profile, we may share a summary of your visit with your designated primary care provider or treating clinician. You may withdraw this consent at any time by contacting us.

Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid requests by public authorities (e.g., a court order or government agency), or when necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of NW Private Nurse Partners, our patients, or others.

5. SMS Communications

If you provide your mobile phone number and opt in to SMS communications during the booking process, we may send you appointment reminders and care-related notifications via text message. Standard message and data rates may apply.

You may opt out of SMS messages at any time by replying STOP to any message we send, or by contacting us at [email protected]. After opting out, you will receive a one-time confirmation message. No further messages will be sent unless you opt in again.

We do not share your mobile number with third parties for their marketing purposes, and we do not send promotional SMS messages — only care-related communications.

6. Data Security

We implement administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect your personal and health information from unauthorized access, use, alteration, or destruction. These measures include:

• Encrypted data transmission using TLS/HTTPS for all website communications
• Access controls limiting patient data to authorized personnel only
• Payment card data handled exclusively by PCI-DSS compliant processors (Stripe)
• Regular review of security practices and vendor agreements

No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security. In the event of a data breach affecting your PHI, we will notify you as required by HIPAA and applicable state law.

7. Cookies & Tracking Technologies

Our website uses cookies — small text files stored on your device — to operate correctly and improve your experience.

• Strictly necessary cookies: Required for core website functionality, including session management, security (CSRF protection), and form submission. These cannot be disabled without breaking the site.
• Functionality cookies: Remember your preferences within a session (e.g., booking progress).
• Analytics cookies: We use Google Analytics on our public marketing pages (such as the homepage, services, FAQ, and articles) to understand how visitors find and use the site. Google Analytics is deliberately not loaded on the booking flow or on any signed-in patient, nurse, or admin page — no health information, appointment details, or account activity is ever shared with an analytics service.

We do not use advertising cookies. We do not sell data derived from cookie tracking to advertisers.

Most browsers allow you to refuse or delete cookies through your browser settings. Disabling strictly necessary cookies may prevent some features of our website from functioning properly.

8. Data Retention

We retain personal and health information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this policy and to comply with our legal obligations:

• Clinical records (PHI): Retained for a minimum of 10 years from the date of service, or longer if required by Illinois law or applicable professional standards
• Billing and payment records: Retained for 7 years in compliance with tax and accounting requirements
• Contact and inquiry records: Retained for 3 years, or until you request deletion
• Website logs: Retained for up to 12 months

When retention periods expire, data is securely deleted or de-identified.

9. Your Privacy Rights

In addition to your HIPAA rights described in Section 3, you have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Right to access: You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Right to correction: You may request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
• Right to deletion: You may request deletion of personal information we hold about you, subject to our legal and professional obligations to retain certain records (particularly clinical records).
• Right to restrict processing: You may ask us to limit how we use your information in certain circumstances.
• Right to data portability: You may request your information in a portable format where technically feasible.
• Right to withdraw consent: Where we process your data based on consent (e.g., SMS communications, clinician chart sharing), you may withdraw that consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.

Illinois residents may have additional rights under the Illinois Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and other applicable state laws. We honor these rights to the fullest extent required.

To exercise any of the above rights, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling a request.

10. Children's Privacy

Our website and services are not directed to children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately at [email protected] and we will delete it promptly.

When nursing services are provided for a minor patient, we require the consent of a parent or legal guardian and handle all health information in accordance with HIPAA's minor patient provisions and applicable Illinois law.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or for other business reasons. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, notify active patients by email.

We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of our website or services after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us: