Atlanta-based Piedmont Healthcare has beat a lawsuit that alleged it shared patients' personally identifiable information and protected health information with Facebook, Top Class Actions reported Sept. 4.
A Georgia federal judge dismissed the class action lawsuit, which claimed Piedmont unlawfully shared patient data by using Meta Pixel, a tracking tool, on its website and patient portal. The lawsuit argued that Meta Pixel transmitted patient information to Facebook without consent.
Piedmont filed a motion to dismiss the case, which the judge granted, ruling that the complaint failed to demonstrate actual damages.
"There is no intrusion upon privacy when a patient voluntarily provides personally identifiable information and protected health information to their healthcare provider," Judge Thomas W. Thrash wrote in his decision.
Several other health systems, including New York City-based NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Milwaukee-based Froedtert Health, and Advocate Aurora Health, dually headquartered in Downers Grove, Ill., and Milwaukee, have faced similar lawsuits and paid millions in settlements over the alleged use of tracking technologies on their websites and patient portals.