The Partnership for Healthcare Excellence

Terms of Use

The Partnership for Healthcare Excellence, Inc. Terms of Use

These Terms of Use were last updated on October 23, 2007.

By accessing and using www.partnershipforhealthcare.org (the “Site”), you are agreeing to be legally bound by these Terms of Use. As used herein the term “you” means an entity or individual accessing this site.

GENERAL.

The Partnership for Healthcare Excellence, Inc. (the “Partnership”) may change any term in these Terms of Use at any time. The changes will appear in these Terms of Use, and your use of the Site after any changes have been posted will constitute your agreement to the modified Terms of Use and all of the changes. Therefore, you should read these Terms of Use each time you access the Site, before you begin using the Site. You may print a copy of these Terms of Use for your reference. You may not use the Site for any unlawful purpose or any purpose not approved by the Partnership.

COPYRIGHT AND LIMITATIONS ON USE.

The content displayed on the Site (“Content”) is the property of the Partnership or its licensors, and is protected by copyright and other intellectual property laws. You agree not to copy, reproduce, modify, display, perform, publish, translate, create derivative works based upon or store any Content from the Site for any use other than noncommercial educational purposes. You also agree not to change or delete any copyright or proprietary notice from materials downloaded from this Site or any site accessible through this Site. Any special rules for the use of certain software and other items accessible on the Site may be included elsewhere within the Site and are incorporated into these Terms of Use by reference.

“The Partnership for Healthcare Excellence” is a trademark of the Partnership in the United States. The Partnership’s trademarks may not be used in connection with any product or service which is not the Partnership’s, in any manner likely to cause confusion among customers or in any way that disparages or discredits the Partnership. Other trademarks that appear on the Site are the property of their respective owners.

The Site includes facts, views, opinions and recommendations of consultants, individuals and organizations deemed of interest. The Partnership and its Content licensors do not guarantee or warrant the accuracy, completeness or timeliness of, or otherwise endorse, these views, opinions and recommendations.

ONLINE FORUMS.

Certain areas of the Site may enable you to access online forums where you can post messages and read messages posted by other users (the “Forums”) in response to blogs posted on the Site (the “Blogs”). The Partnership does not endorse, and specifically disclaims any responsibility or liability for, any content posted on the Forums. The Forums are a free service provided to users of the Site. By posting or reading a message in the Forums, you agree to be bound by the following terms and conditions. If you do not want to be bound by these terms, then do not use the Forums.

You agree to be fully responsible for your own postings and agree to access and use the Forums at your own risk on an as-is basis. While the Partnership has no obligation to monitor the Forums, it may, from time to time, monitor the Forums to determine whether postings comply with these Terms of Use, to guide the discussion on the Forums or for other reasons. The Partnership cannot and does not guarantee that it will post or continue to post every message or other content you or other users submit to the Forums. Also, the Partnership reserves the right to edit or abridge postings for any reason and to disclose any information as necessary to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request, or to edit, refuse to post or remove any information or materials, in whole or in part, in the Partnership’s sole discretion.

You must abide by the following rules in connection with your use of the Forums:

You agree to post only messages that relate to the subject matter of the Forums.
You agree not to defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten or otherwise violate the legal rights of others.
You agree not to impersonate any person or entity, including, for example, a Partnership employee or officer or a Blog author, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity.
You agree not to post messages that contain material that is inappropriate, profane, defamatory, infringing, obscene or indecent. This includes any content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party. You agree to give attribution to others when you quote or paraphrase materials owned by others, and to limit your quotations to no more than 50 words.
You agree not to upload files, or cause users to upload files, that contain viruses, corrupted files or any other similar software or programs that may adversely affect the operation of another's computer.
You agree not to advertise or promote any goods or services in the Forums. This includes, among other things, “junk mail”, “spam”, “chain letters” and “pyramid schemes.”
You agree not to conduct contests or distribute chain letters through the Forums.
You agree not to violate any applicable local, state, national or international law in connection with your use of the Forums. This includes, among other things, any securities law or regulation.

By posting a message, uploading a file or engaging in any other form of communication through a Forum, you are granting the Partnership a perpetual, royalty-free and irrevocable right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, distribute, transmit, display, perform, sublicense, create derivative works based upon, transfer and sell any such messages, files or communications.

You agree to indemnify and hold the Partnership and its affiliates and their respective officers, directors and employees harmless from any claims, damages, losses or costs (including reasonable attorney’s fees) that arise out of any of your postings and any material contained therein.

THE PARTNERSHIP’S PRIVACY POLICY.

Data you provide and certain other information about you is subject to our Privacy Policy. For more information, see our full privacy policy at http://www.partnershipforhealthcare.org/contactus/privacy.asp.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND LIABILITY.

Due to the number of sources from which the Content is obtained, and the inherent hazards of electronic distribution, there may be delays, omissions or inaccuracies in such Content and the Site. THE CONTENT AND THE SITE ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE”, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. THE PARTNERSHIP AND ITS AFFILIATES, AGENTS AND LICENSORS CANNOT AND DO NOT MAKE ANY REPRESENTATION WITH RESPECT TO OR WARRANT THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, CURRENTNESS, TIMELINESS, NONINFRINGEMENT, TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OF THE CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE, OR THE SITE ITSELF, AND THE PARTNERSHIP HEREBY DISCLAIMS ANY SUCH EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES. NEITHER THE PARTNERSHIP NOR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES, AGENTS OR LICENSORS WILL BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FOR ANY LOSS OR INJURY, OTHER THAN DEATH OR PERSONAL INJURY RESULTING DIRECTLY FROM USE OF THE SITE, CAUSED IN WHOLE OR PART BY ITS NEGLIGENCE OR CONTINGENCIES BEYOND ITS CONTROL IN PROCURING, COMPILING, INTERPRETING, REPORTING OR DELIVERING THE SITE AND ANY CONTENT ON THE SITE. IN NO EVENT WILL THE PARTNERSHIP, ITS AFFILIATES, AGENTS OR LICENSORS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FOR ANY DECISION MADE OR ACTION TAKEN BY YOU IN RELIANCE ON SUCH CONTENT OR THE SITE. THE PARTNERSHIP AND ITS AFFILIATES, AGENTS AND LICENSORS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FOR ANY DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT OR SIMILAR DAMAGES), OTHER THAN DIRECT DAMAGES (NOT TO EXCEED US $1,000.00), EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. ANY CLAIMS ARISING IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE SITE MUST BE BROUGHT WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR OF THE DATE OF THE EVENT GIVING RISE TO SUCH ACTION OCCURRED. BECAUSE SOME STATES OR JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES OR THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN TYPES OF WARRANTIES, PARTS OR ALL OF THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

LINKS TO THIRD PARTY SITES.

This Site may contain hyperlinks to sites operated by persons other the Partnership. Such hyperlinks are provided for your reference and convenience only and do not mean that the Partnership endorses the content on or the operators of these sites. You agree not to hold the Partnership responsible for the content or operation of such sites. You are solely responsible for determining the extent to which you may use any content at any other sites to which you might link from this Site.

US GOVERNMENT END USERS.

The software and documentation available on this Site are “commercial items,” as that term is defined in 48 C.F.R. 2.101 (October 1995), consisting of “commercial computer software” and “commercial computer software documentation,” as such terms are used in 48 C.F.R. 12.212 (September 1995). Consistent with 48 C.F.R. 12.212 and 48 C.F.R. 227-7202-1 through 227.7202-4 (June 1995), all U.S. government end users acquire the software and documentation with only those rights set forth herein.

TERMINATION.

You agree that the Partnership, in its sole discretion, may terminate your use of the Site, and remove and discard any Content, for any reason, including without limitation, if the Partnership believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of these Terms of Use. The Partnership may also in its sole discretion and at any time discontinue providing services under the Site, or any part thereof, with or without notice. You agree that any termination of your access to the Site under any provision of these Terms of Use may be effected without prior notice, and acknowledge and agree that the Partnership may immediately bar any further access to the Content and the services provided in the Site. Further, you agree that the Partnership shall not be liable to you or any third party for any termination of your access to the Site.

INDEMNIFICATION.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless each of the Partnership, its affiliates, officers, directors and employees, from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your use of this Site, the violation of these Terms of Use by you, or the infringement by you of any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity.

SUBMISSIONS VIA EMAIL.

If you submit any business information, idea, concept or invention to the Partnership by e-mail, you automatically grant – or warrant that the owner of such content or intellectual property has expressly granted – the Partnership a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, world-wide, nonexclusive license to use, reproduce, create derivative works from, modify, publish, edit, translate, distribute, perform, and display the communication or content in any media or medium, or any form, format, or forum now known or hereafter developed. The Partnership may sublicense its rights through multiple tiers of sublicenses. If you wish to keep any business information, ideas, concepts or inventions private or proprietary, do not submit them to the Partnership by email.

GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION.

This Site is owned and operated by the Partnership from its offices in Massachusetts. Your use of this Site, and any related legal action, shall be governed by the laws of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, without regard to conflict of laws principles. The sole jurisdiction and venue for any litigation arising out of your use of or inquiries to the Site shall be an appropriate federal or state court located in The Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

ADDITIONAL LEGAL TERMS.

No waiver of any of these Terms of Use shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or any other term or condition.

If any provision in these Terms of Use is invalid or unenforceable under applicable law, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect, and the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision.
All rights not expressly granted herein are hereby reserved. These Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy are the entire and final agreement regarding this Site and its Content, and supersede any prior or contemporaneous communications between the Partnership and you with respect to the use of the Site.