Code of Conduct

Thank you for being part of the AHE community. To ensure the best possible experience for all members, we have established some basic guidelines for participation.

By joining and using this community, you agree that you have read and will follow these rules and guidelines. You also agree to reserve discussions and shared files and content to that best suited to the medium. This is a great medium with which to solicit the advice of your peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in an ongoing conversation. Questions should be directed to ahe@aha.org.

Please take a moment to review these important guidelines. To preserve a climate that encourages both civil and fruitful dialogue, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate membership in this community for anyone who violates these rules.

Discussion Group Etiquette

• Discussions and comments are meant to stimulate conversation and exchange of knowledge. Be courteous and let other community members have their say. Please refrain from intimidating or attacking other users.
• Keep discussions and comments professional and relevant to the topic at all times.
• Include a signature tag on all messages. Include your name, title, and organization.
• In the subject line, state clearly and concisely the topic of your comments.
• Include only the relevant portions of the original message in your reply. Delete any header information, and put your response before the original posting. 
• Send a message to an entire group or list only when it contains information for everyone’s benefit.
• Send messages such as "Thanks for the information" or "Me, too" to individuals – not to the entire list. Do this by using the "Reply to Sender" link to the left of every message.
• Do not send administrative messages, such as remove me from the list. Instead, use the web interface to change your settings or to remove yourself from a list.
• Post your message or documents only to the most appropriate lists or libraries. Do not spam several lists or libraries with the same message.

Site Rules

• AHE reserves all rights to edit or delete posted messages it considers inappropriate, off-topic, or self-promotional. AHE may deny access to anyone who violates these rules.
• Use of the site by any member or vendor to sell, advertise, solicit, or market any products or services is prohibited. Do not upload, post, transmit, share, or otherwise make available any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, solicitations, promotional materials, or other such communications. Using the site to promote a product or service may result in immediate termination of access to the site.
• Any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive or illegal materials are strictly prohibited. Information posted on the site is subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws. AHE reserves the right to reject any message or posting for any reason.  
• Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants that they own the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants AHE and users of the site a non-exclusive license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material. Remember that all users have the right to reproduce postings on the site.
• Do not encourage or direct users to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. In accordance with federal antitrust laws and AHA antitrust policy, messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are prohibited:
• Do not harvest or collect email addresses or other contact information of users from the site by electronic or other means for the purposes of sending unsolicited emails or other communications. Do not use software or other automated means to collect information from or otherwise interact with the site.
• Do not post commercial messages on any discussion list, resource library entry, or other areas where others might see it. Contact people directly with product and service information if you believe it would help them.
• Use caution when discussing products. Information posted on the lists and in the libraries is available for all to see, and comments are subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws. 
• Do not upload, post, transmit, share, store, or otherwise make publicly available on the site any of the following: private information of any third party, including addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, or financial information; software viruses or any other computer code, files, or programs designed to interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment; content that would constitute, encourage, or provide instructions for a criminal offense, violate the rights of any party, or that would otherwise create liability or violate any local, state, national, or international law; content that restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying the site or that may expose AHE or other users to harm or liability of any type.
• AHE reserves the right to reject any message for any reason. AHE reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.
• The content available at this website is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing professional or legal advice. You should contact your attorney or otherwise qualified professional to obtain advice with respect to any particular issue or problem. The opinions expressed at or through this site are the opinions of the individual author and may not reflect the opinions of AHE or the AHA.
• To report any concerns, contact AHE at (312) 422-3860 or ahe@aha.org.

Disclaimer
This site is provided as a service for the members of AHE. AHE is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. We disclaim all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by AHE or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall AHE be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of this site.

Privacy Policy
By visiting AHA websites, including but not limited to www.ahe.org and connect.ahe.org, you are accepting the practices described in the AHA Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, and Antitrust Policy.

These guidelines may change at any time. Be sure to review these guidelines periodically to ensure familiarity with the most current version.

Community Rules & Etiquette and Privacy Guidelines

Thank you for being part of our community. To ensure the best possible experience for all members, we have established some basic guidelines for participation.

By joining and using this community, you agree that you have read and will follow these rules and guidelines. You also agree to reserve discussions and shared files and content to that best suited to the medium. This is a great medium with which to solicit the advice of your peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in an ongoing conversation. Questions should be directed to our member services department via the Contact Us link on this site.

Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important guidelines. If you have questions, contact the member services department. In order to preserve an environment that encourages both civil and fruitful dialogue, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate membership in this community for anyone who violate these rules.

The Rules

• Respect others. Focus on the content of posts and not on the people making them. Please extend the benefit of the doubt to newer guests and members; there’s no such thing as a stupid question.

• Respect the purpose of the community. Use the community to share successes, challenges, constructive feedback, questions, and goals instead of products or services that you provide. If you’ve found a product or service helpful, please share your experience with the group in a respectful way.

• Use caution when discussing products. Information posted on the discussion groups and in the libraries is available for all to see, and comments are subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws.

• All defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials are strictly prohibited. Do not post anything that you would not want the world to see or that you would not want anyone to know came from you.

• Respect intellectual property. Post content that you have personally created or have permission to use and have properly attributed to the content creator.

• When posting items in our collaborative environment, please indicate if the item is not available for reuse. It’s also advisable to contact the owner of any material if you would like to reuse it.

• Post your message or documents only to the most appropriate communities. This helps ensure all messages receive the best response by eliminating "noise."

Discussion Group Etiquette

• State concisely and clearly the topic of your comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject.

• Send messages such as "thanks for the information" or "me, too" to individuals, not to the entire list. Do this by using the "Reply to Sender" link in every message.

• Do not send administrative messages, such as “remove me from the list,” to the group. Instead, use the web interface to change your settings or to remove yourself from a list. If you are changing email addresses, you do not need to remove yourself from the list and rejoin under your new email address. Simply change your settings.

The Legal Stuff

This site is provided as a service for the members of Association for the Health Care Environment.  Association for the Health Care Environment is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. We disclaim all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by Association for the Health Care Environment or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall Association for the Health Care Environment be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.

Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials.  Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants Association for the Health Care Environment and users of this site the nonexclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material.

Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.

Association for the Health Care Environment does not actively monitor the site for inappropriate postings and does not on its own undertake editorial control of postings. However, in the event that any inappropriate posting is brought to the attention of Association for the Health Care Environment we will take all appropriate action.

Association for the Health Care Environment reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.


Privacy Policy

Any personal information you provide to us including and similar to your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address will not be released, sold, or rented to any entities or individuals outside of our organization except as noted below.

With Whom Do We Share the Personal Information We Collect Through This Site:

Our Service Providers
We may share your personal information with companies (including our affiliates) that perform services on our behalf, for example, companies that help process credit card payments. Our service providers are required by contract to protect the confidentiality of the personal information we share with them and to use it only to provide specific services on our behalf.

Business Transfers
Your personal information may be transferred to another entity (either an affiliated entity or an unrelated third party) in connection with a merger, reorganization, dissolution or similar corporate event. If such a transfer were ever to occur, the acquiring entity’s use of your personal information will still be subject to this Privacy Policy.

Government and Legal Disclosures
We may disclose the personal information we collect through this Site, when we, in good faith, believe disclosure is appropriate to comply with the law (or a court order or subpoena); to prevent or investigate a possible crime, such as fraud or identity theft; to enforce our Terms and Conditions or other agreements that govern your use of this Site; or to protect the rights, property or safety of our company, our users, or others.

External Sites
We are not responsible for the content of external internet sites. You are advised to read the privacy policy of external sites before disclosing any personal information.

Cookies
A "cookie" is a small data text file that is placed in your browser and allows us to recognize you each time you visit this site (personalization, etc). Cookies themselves do not contain any personal information, and we do not use cookies to collect personal information. Cookies may also be used by 3rd party content providers such as news-feeds.

Remember The Risks Whenever You Use The Internet
While we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to us and you are solely responsible for maintaining the secrecy of any passwords or other account information. In addition other Internet sites or services that may be accessible through our site have separate data and privacy practices independent of us, and therefore we disclaim any responsibility or liability for their policies or actions. Please contact those vendors and others directly if you have any questions about their privacy policies.  For any other information please contact us using the Contact Us page.