This Privacy Policy explains how Pear Healthcare ("Pear Health," "Pear," "we," "us") collects, uses, shares and protects information. It covers this website and the calls and text messages we make and send on behalf of our partner clinics.
What we do
Pear provides AI-assisted care-coordination services to primary-care clinics. On a clinic's behalf, we place phone calls and send text messages to that clinic's patients: for example, to help enroll them in a care program the clinic offers, to check in on how they are doing between visits, to remind them of a scheduled call, and to pass their questions and concerns back to their care team.
When we do this work, we act as a business associate of the clinic under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The clinic remains the patient's healthcare provider. Pear does not provide medical care, diagnosis or treatment.
Information we collect
- Contact and care information provided by clinics. Partner clinics share the information we need to reach their patients and coordinate their care, such as name, phone number, date of birth, preferred language, and relevant details from the patient's record.
- Call and message content. When we call or text a patient, we keep recordings and transcripts of calls and the content of text messages, along with details such as the date, time and outcome, so the clinic's care team can review them and follow up.
- Information you send us. If you contact us or fill out a form on this website, we receive the information you provide, such as your name, email address, organization and message.
- Website usage data. When you visit this website, we and our analytics provider (Google Analytics) collect standard information such as pages visited, browser and device type, approximate location, and referring pages, using cookies and similar technologies.
How patient health information is handled
Information about patients that we receive from or create for a clinic is protected health information. It is governed by:
- the clinic's own Notice of Privacy Practices, which describes how the clinic uses and shares your health information and your rights regarding it; and
- the Business Associate Agreement between Pear and the clinic, which limits what we may do with it.
We use patient information only to provide our services to the clinic: reaching patients, carrying out calls and messages, documenting them, and reporting results and follow-up items to the care team. We do not sell patient information, and we do not use it for advertising or marketing.
Text messaging
We send text messages to patients on behalf of their clinic only after the patient has provided their mobile number to the clinic and agreed to receive messages. See our SMS Terms & Conditions for details, including how to opt out.
No mobile information will be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. Text messaging originator opt-in data and consent will not be shared with any third parties. This excludes service providers that help us deliver our services (for example, the messaging and telecommunications providers that carry our calls and texts), who may use the information only to provide those services to us.
How we share information
We share information only as follows:
- With the patient's clinic, which is who we work for.
- With service providers that help us operate, such as cloud hosting, telephony and text messaging, and speech and AI processing providers. They may use the information only to provide services to us, and those that handle protected health information are bound by agreements that require them to protect it.
- When required by law, or to protect the safety of a person.
Security
We protect information with administrative, technical and physical safeguards, including encryption of data in transit and at rest, access controls that limit access to staff who need it to do their jobs. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect the information entrusted to us and will notify clinics of security incidents as our agreements and the law require.
Retention
We keep patient information for as long as we provide services to the clinic and as required by our agreements with the clinic and by law. When it is no longer needed, we return or securely delete it as our Business Associate Agreements require. Website and contact information is kept only as long as needed for the purpose it was collected.
Your rights and choices
- Patients: to access, correct or ask questions about your health information, or to stop calls from your clinic's care program, please contact your clinic. You can also contact us and we will help or pass your request to your clinic.
- Text messages: reply STOP to any message to stop receiving texts, or reply HELP for help.
- Website cookies: you can block or delete cookies in your browser settings.
Children
This website is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children through it.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. We will post the updated version on this page and change the effective date above.
Contact us
Questions about this policy or our privacy practices? Email support@pearwith.us.