Two health systems are responding to a report that they shared data on website visitors with Twitter.
A report this month from digital ad tracking firm Adalytics said Silver Spring, Md.-based Holy Cross Health and the Stamford (Conn.) Hospital Foundation were transmitting data on website visitors to the social media giant through the Twitter Pixel advertising tracking tool.
The report said more than 70,000 websites — representing government agencies and officials, universities, media companies and other top brands — had the pixels on their pages as well.
"That is incorrect," a Stamford Health spokesperson responded in an emailed statement to Becker's. "We have confirmation from our website vendor that neither Pixel nor Google Tracking is being used on our Stamford Health Foundation website."
"At Holy Cross, the confidentiality of people’s information is a high priority," a health system spokesperson emailed Becker's. "Recognizing the increased security concerns with Twitter, Holy Cross no longer uses the Twitter pixel on its site."
"While we sometimes utilize digital and social media strategies to help people access the health care and related resources they need, the information sharing practices used on our websites are communicated in our terms of use."
Adalytics founder Krzysztof Franaszek, PhD, confirmed in an email to Becker's that neither health system had the Twitter pixel on their websites now but says he has digital proof that both did earlier this year.
Hospitals and health systems have come under public scrutiny — and encountered legal problems — in recent months over similar allegations that they were sending patient data to Facebook parent company Meta.