Privacy Policy
Website Privacy Policy
Fountain Hills Emergency Room and Medical Center
An Instinctive Healthcare Solutions company
Effective date: September 12, 2026
Fountain Hills Emergency Room and Medical Center (“FHMC,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect through our website, https://fhmcaz.com (the “Site”), how we use and share it, and the choices you have. By using the Site, you agree to the practices described in this Policy.
If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. Please do not use website forms or email to request emergency assistance.
The Short Version
- We collect the information you choose to give us (for example, through contact and appointment request forms) and standard technical data (such as cookies and analytics).
- We use it to respond to you, schedule and support your care, operate our Site, and meet legal obligations.
- We do not sell your personal information, and we never share your SMS opt-in information with third parties for marketing.
- Your medical records are protected by HIPAA and our Notice of Privacy Practices, which is a separate document.
- Questions? Email [email protected] or call (602) 671-7981.
1. Scope of This Policy
This Policy covers personal information collected through the Site and through the calls and text messages described below. It does not replace or modify our HIPAA Notice of Privacy Practices (“NPP”), which describes how we use, disclose, and protect protected health information (“PHI”) created or received in the course of your medical care. If anything in this Policy conflicts with the NPP as it relates to PHI, the NPP controls. You may request a copy of our NPP at our front desk or by contacting us using the information in Section 14. [ADD LINK: Notice of Privacy Practices]
2. Information We Collect
Information you provide directly. When you submit a contact or appointment request form, register for our Patient Portal, call or text us, leave a comment on our blog, apply for a job, or otherwise communicate with us, we collect the information you choose to share. This may include your name, phone number, email address, preferred appointment times, and the content of your message. Please avoid including detailed medical information in general website forms — our secure Patient Portal is the appropriate place for that.
Information collected automatically. Like most websites, we automatically collect certain technical data when you visit, including your IP address, browser and device type, operating system, the pages you view, the site that referred you, dates and times of access, and approximate general location derived from your IP address. We collect this through cookies and similar technologies described in Section 5.
Blog comments. If you leave a comment, we collect the name, email address, and website you provide, along with your IP address and browser user agent string to help detect spam. An anonymized hash of your email address may be provided to the Gravatar service to check for a profile picture; Gravatar’s privacy policy is available at https://automattic.com/privacy/.
3. How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect to:
- Respond to your inquiries and appointment requests;
- Schedule, confirm, and send reminders about appointments and follow-up care;
- Route billing and insurance questions to the right team;
- Send communications you have opted into, including text messages (see Section 4);
- Operate, secure, maintain, and improve the Site and understand which content is most useful to visitors;
- Comply with legal obligations and protect the rights, safety, and security of our patients, staff, and Site; and
- Fulfill any other purpose we describe to you at the time of collection, or with your consent.
4. Text Messaging (SMS) Program
By providing your mobile number through our website forms, in person, or by opting in through any other channel, you consent to receive calls and text messages from Fountain Hills Emergency Room and Medical Center about your appointments, account, and care — including appointment confirmations, reminders, follow-ups, and billing communications. Consent to receive text messages is not a condition of receiving care or services.
- Message frequency varies based on your interactions with us.
- Message and data rates may apply. Contact your wireless provider for details about your plan.
- Opt out at any time by replying STOP or UNSUBSCRIBE to any message from us. You will receive one final message confirming you have been unsubscribed, and you will no longer receive texts from us.
- Need help? Reply HELP to any message, call (602) 671-7981, or email [email protected].
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. The information-sharing practices described elsewhere in this Policy exclude your SMS opt-in data and consent.
5. Cookies, Analytics, and Online Tracking
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
- Essential and functional cookies that make the Site work — for example, remembering your comment details for convenience or supporting secure logins.
- Analytics. We may use analytics services (such as Google Analytics) to understand, in aggregate, how visitors use the Site so we can improve it.
We do not use third-party advertising or marketing trackers on pages of the Site where you can enter health-related information, such as contact or appointment request forms, and we do not permit analytics providers to use Site data to identify you for their own purposes.
Your choices. Most browsers let you block or delete cookies through their settings, and Google offers a browser opt-out for Google Analytics at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. Because there is no uniform industry standard for “Do Not Track” signals, the Site does not currently respond to them, but the controls above remain available to you.
6. How We Share Information
We do not sell your personal information. We share it only in the following circumstances:
- Service providers. With vendors that perform services on our behalf — such as website hosting, appointment scheduling and Patient Portal platforms, phone and messaging systems, analytics, and billing support — under agreements that limit their use of your information to providing those services.
- Our healthcare family. Within the Instinctive Healthcare Solutions family of facilities where needed for operations or continuity of your care, consistent with applicable law.
- Legal compliance. When required by law, regulation, subpoena, or other lawful request, or to respond to government or regulatory authorities.
- Safety and security. To protect the rights, property, or safety of our patients, staff, visitors, or others, and to detect and prevent fraud or security threats.
- Business transfers. In connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, subject to appropriate confidentiality protections.
As noted in Section 4, your SMS opt-in data and consent are excluded from all of the sharing described above.
7. Patient Portal, Scheduling, and Payment Tools
Our secure Patient Portal, online scheduling, and payment tools are provided through third-party healthcare technology vendors acting on our behalf. Information you submit through those tools — including health information — is protected health information governed by HIPAA, our Notice of Privacy Practices, and the safeguards required by our agreements with those vendors.
8. Data Security
We maintain administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect your information, including encryption of data in transit and limits on who can access it. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, however, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If you have reason to believe your interaction with us is no longer secure, please contact us immediately using the information in Section 14.
9. Data Retention
We keep personal information collected through the Site only as long as needed for the purposes described in this Policy, to comply with legal and regulatory obligations, to resolve disputes, and to enforce our agreements. Medical records are retained in accordance with Arizona law and our records retention policies, as described in our Notice of Privacy Practices.
10. Your Choices and Rights
You may contact us at any time to ask what information we hold about you from your use of the Site, or to request that we correct or delete it, subject to legal and recordkeeping requirements. You can unsubscribe from marketing emails using the link in any message, stop text messages by replying STOP, and manage cookies through your browser. Rights relating to your medical records — including access, amendment, and an accounting of disclosures — are described in our Notice of Privacy Practices. Where applicable law provides you additional privacy rights, we will honor valid requests as required.
11. Children’s Privacy
We proudly care for patients of all ages, including children. Our Site, however, is intended for use by adults and by parents or guardians acting on a child’s behalf. We do not knowingly collect personal information online from children under 13 without verifiable parental consent. If you believe a child has provided us personal information through the Site, please contact us and we will delete it.
12. Links to Other Websites
The Site may link to websites we do not operate, including social media platforms. We are not responsible for their content or privacy practices, and we encourage you to review the privacy policy of any site you visit.
13. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Policy from time to time. When we do, we will post the revised version here with a new effective date, and for material changes we will provide a more prominent notice on the Site.
14. Contact Us
Fountain Hills Emergency Room and Medical Center
9700 N. Saguaro Blvd, Suite 100
Fountain Hills, AZ 85268
Medical Clinic: (602) 671-7981
Emergency Room: (602) 671-7990
Billing: (480) 339-4825