Privacy Policy

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This page states ABIM’s Privacy Policy. By using this website you agree to its terms.

Pages not requiring a login. ABIM does not collect personally identifiable information from users of those parts of its website that do not require a login, except for emails sent to ABIM. ABIM retains such emails indefinitely, including the email sender’s name, e-mail address and any other information in the email. ABIM regards such information as confidential and does not use or disclose it without the permission of the sender except as specifically necessary for ABIM to carry out its certification and evaluation functions or to investigate possible violations of ABIM rules. ABIM also collects non-personally identifiable website use information as described below.

ABIM collects information concerning use of its website for purposes of internal management and quality improvement. This information is collected in an aggregated form that does not personally identify the user. The information is used to measure number of visits, average time spent on the site, pages viewed, and other relevant statistics and is maintained indefinitely. In addition, the website places temporary cookies in the user’s browser during the use of the website. These cookies are automatically deleted when the user’s browser is closed or upon log out.

Pages requiring physician login. Beginning with the “Physician Login” on the website, ABIM requires detailed, personally identifiable information from physicians who seek Certification or participation in Maintenance of Certification. The types of information are identified in detail in the application for Certification. ABIM also may require (or the physician or others may submit) additional information, which is also retained indefinitely.

ABIM logs the major actions taken by physicians who log onto the website, including pages visited, information entered, time spent on the Site, and the IP address of the system which took the action.

ABIM maintains personally identifiable information and any other information submitted by or about a physician indefinitely. ABIM maintains the confidentiality of this information in accordance with the ABIM Confidentiality Policy. In general, ABIM publicly discloses the certification status of physicians, discloses to training program directors a physician’s prior training and examination performance, and discloses and uses de-identified information for research. Information is not disclosed to other third parties without the physician’s consent, except as may be required by subpoena or as specifically necessary for ABIM to carry out its certification and evaluation functions or to investigate possible violations of ABIM rules. Please read the Confidentiality Policy for details.

ABIM takes physical, electronic and managerial precautions to secure against unauthorized access and use of data sent to ABIM. For example, social security numbers and credit card information are maintained in encrypted form.

As with its rules concerning Certification, ABIM will modify this policy from time to time as may be required by changes in its processes and services. Such modifications will be effective upon posting on this website.

Updated January 18, 2008.