Last Updated: October 2, 2023
TERMS OF USE
PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE (sometimes referred to as "TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE,” "TERMS AND CONDITIONS,” or “TERMS” ) CAREFULLY.
YOUR USE OF THE GNANOW.ORG WEBSITE AND YOUR DECISION TO CONTACT OR HIRE ANY INDIVIDUAL OR ENITITY LISTED IN THE GNANOW.ORG NATIONAL DIRECTORY IS CONDITIONED UPON YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF USE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS, DO NOT USE THE GNA WEBSITE AND DO NOT CALL OR EMAIL ANY ADVOCATE VIA THEIR LISTING ON GNANOW.ORG.
We reserve the right to revise these Terms of Use at any time. If we revise these Terms of Use, we will notify you by updating their effective date. Your use of the GNA website after any changes to these Terms of Use will constitute your acceptance of them. If you do not agree to any revisions to these terms, please immediately stop using the GNA website and directory.
ABOUT GREATER NATIONAL ADVOCATES
Greater National Advocates, Inc. (sometimes referred to as “GNA” or “GNANOW.ORG”) is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt private foundation. GNANOW.ORG is a directory and marketing website for the field of Independent Patient Advocacy. The GNA mission is to spread the word about independent patient advocacy and make it available to everyone. To further that mission, GNA provides free profile listings for advocates. We provide advocacy listings for free in order to grow the field and remove the monetary barriers that can prevent or delay entry into the profession for many would-be advocates. GNA is also free for users. Members of the public can search the GNA directory free of charge and initiate direct contact with any of the advocates listed in the directory.
PROFESSIONAL INDEPENDENCE
GNA members are free to use whatever forms, templates, contracts, scheduling software, or billing programs they choose, and they can communicate with clients, manage their business affairs, and submit invoices in any manner they are comfortable with. GNA will never ask an advocate to sign a nondisclosure agreement as a condition of membership or to receive referrals. There are no tiered levels of advocates on GNANOW.ORG. Search results are randomized, and every advocate listed on the directory is visible to anyone searching the directory.
Advocates listed on GNANOW.ORG pay nothing to receive referrals. GNA does not charge advocates for higher placement in directory search results. GNA is not a middleman or matchmaker for advocates. We do not get involved in relationships between advocates and their clients. Website users don’t have to provide personal information or payment method before speaking with an advocate. Instead, we allow site users to search on their own and contact advocates directly, without interference. GNA does not control any aspect of any advocate’s business relationships with clients. This means advocates may partner, refer, and subcontract with whomever they desire without restriction.
GNA does not employ any of the advocates listed on GNANOW.ORG. GNA does not charge advocates to be listed in the directory. GNA does not pay or otherwise compensate any advocate in exchange for being listed. Greater National Advocates does not exercise any control over any aspect of any advocate’s practice. GNA does not and will never mandate, require, or control any work performed or tools used by advocates. For the avoidance of all doubt, this means that GNA does not have any interest in your templates, tools, reports, package designs, client data, client services, and client relationships.
GNA requires the same background, experience, training, and credentials from advocates as other directories that serve the profession. We encourage advocates to be listed on as many other directories as possible, and we do not suggest, encourage, or require advocates to list their services exclusively on the GNA platform.
ETHICAL STANDARDS
Each advocate listed on GNANOW.ORG must subscribe to and abide by the PACB Ethical Standards as a condition for inclusion in the directory. The complete text of the PACB Ethical Standards can be found here: https://chcao.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/20220607-COE-Published-compressed-1.pdf
INSURANCE
Although insurance for Independent Patient Advocates is not required by any state law, federal law, or by the Patient Advocate Certification Board, if an advocate indicates on their application that they are insured, GNA will display on the advocate’s profile that they are insured. GNA does not mandate that advocates carry insurance and GNA is not a provider of insurance. But, we recognize that whether an advocate is insured may factor into the decision making process for potential clients. For that reason, GNA displays, but does not require, liability insurance for advocates.
GNANOW.ORG DIRECTORY DISCLAIMER
The information displayed in each member’s GNANOW.ORG profile was created and submitted by the member advocate without alteration or modification from GNA. Greater National Advocates does not guarantee or make any representations regarding the competence, integrity, qualifications, quality of advice, or the ability or suitability of any patient advocate. The patient advocates listed in the GNA Directory are not employed by Greater National Advocates and GNA does not exercise any control over how any patient advocate provides services to the public. GNA does not make referrals to patient advocates or services.
Users of the GNANOW.ORG website and directory are encouraged to research, interview, check backgrounds and references, verify credentials and licensures, and otherwise investigate and confirming the accuracy of information contained in any GNA directory listing. Website users have complete discretion in deciding which patient advocate to retain, if any. GNA expressly disclaims and you expressly release GNA from any and all liability for any act or omission occasioned by the information offered or provided within or through the GNANOW.ORG website.
ADVOCATES ARE NOT EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS OF GNA
Greater National Advocates does not employ any of the patient advocates listed in the GNA National Directory. None of the advocates listed on GNANOW.ORG receive any compensation, financial or otherwise, from GNA. Greater National Advocates does not exercise any control over any aspect of any patient advocate’s practice.
NO DIRECT SERVICES PROVIDED BY GNA
Greater National Advocates is an information service and directory. GNA does not perform any direct professional services. GNA is not a representative or an agent for the consumer or for any of the advocates listed in the directory and GNA does not act on either's behalf.
NO PROFESSIONAL ADVICE GIVEN BY GNA
The content (including profile listings, links, advertisements, and blogs) on GNANOW.ORG is not intended to replace or substitute medical, legal, financial, or other professional advice. You should consult with an appropriately trained and licensed specialist for all concerns that require medical, legal, financial, or other professional advice.
PRIVACY POLICY/ HOW WE MANAGE GNA WEBSITE VISITOR INFORMATION
When a website visitor calls a patient advocate using the number displayed on the advocate’s GNANOW.ORG directory profile, the call is immediately forwarded to the advocate’s phone number of choice. When a website visitor calls or messages an advocate using the GNANOW.ORG Directory, the advocate is notified via email and/or text message and prompted to respond. GNA has no access to the content of any of the communications between website users and the patient advocates listed in the directory. GNA does not read or retain inquiries sent to advocates through the GNA site. GNA has no direct interaction between site visitors and any of the advocates in the directory. User information is not stored on any publicly accessible servers.
GNA maintains logs of site usage to evaluate our users' interest level in areas of the website, which and how many pages they look at, how long they stay on the website, and what web browsers are used. Site usage data is tracked in aggregate form, not at an individual user level, and is not uniquely identifying. We do not share or sell any personally identifiable information about website visitors. We have the ability to track the number of email inquiries sent to every advocate listed on the site and the number of phone calls placed to each advocate’s directory phone number, but we have no ability to determine whether an advocate has responded to any inquiries from website users.
We may use a software technology called "cookies" to create a personalized web experience for our users. We may use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. When you click on links and/or ad banners that take you to third-party websites, the third party may collect information about you at their website. The third party may have its own privacy policies that differ from ours. We encourage you to read the posted privacy statement whenever interacting with any website you visit.
HOW WE MANAGE GNA MEMBER INFORMATION
When an advocate submits a profile for listing in GNA directories, we use that information to create the advocate’s profile in the GNANOW.ORG directory, such as name, address, email address, and professional information such as qualifications, certifications, demographic region of practice, and fields of specialty. Once an advocate is listed in the directory, their information becomes available for public consumption on our website. Advocates can edit their own information at any time by logging into their personal GNA advocate dashboard to make changes. GNA retains the right to remove, edit, suspend, or terminate the publication of any profile at any time, with or without notice, for any reason, including violation of these terms and conditions.
We do not disclose, share, sell, or trade any member’s personal information, including personal phone numbers and email addresses with third parties for any purposes without explicit consent from the member, unless required by law or to fulfill contractual obligations.
The materials posted by advocates listed on the GNA website, such as blogs, directory information, and comments, are made available to be seen and read by other users of the website. No such materials are treated confidentially. We will remove your materials from the website at your request, but we cannot ensure that such materials will not still be available from servers maintained by others (such as search engines or proxy servers) or that others have not already downloaded and stored such materials.
SMS TEXT ALERTS AND MESSAGES FOR GNA MEMBERS
BY SIGNING UP TO RECEIVE TEXT (SMS) NOTIFICATIONS (“SMS SERVICES”), YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ, UNDERSTOOD, AND AGREED TO THE FOLLOWING:
When you opt in to receive SMS alerts, GNA will automatically send you a text message every time a potential client/website user calls or messages you from your GNA profile listing. Text message alerts are sent to the cell number you provide on your profile form, and they are designed to alert you and encourage you to check your GNA dashboard so that you can respond to potential client inquiries in a timely manner. Text messages may be sent using an automatic telephone dialing system or other technology.
GNA may also send SMS messages to your cell phone to inquire if you are able to accept a client inquiry or to inform you about website matters that require your attention. We do not charge members for SMS Services, but you may be responsible for charges and fees imposed by your wireless provider.
You may opt out of receiving SMS text messages and alerts at any time by logging in to your GNA dashboard and changing your SMS alert preferences.
BLOGS
For members who submit blogs: You warrant that you will not post any materials that would (a) constitute or encourage conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any local, state, national, or international law, including any threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, or indecent messages of any kind; (b) violate or infringe upon the rights of others, including their privacy or publicity rights, or which is protected by copyright, trademark, or other proprietary rights, without first obtaining permission from the person who owns or holds that right; (c) contain a virus or other material of a destructive nature; and (d) violate any law, statute, ordinance, or regulation including but not limited to misrepresentation, fraud, deception, anti-discrimination, and/or false advertising.
You grant GNA a perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive, worldwide license to use, disseminate, distribute, post, and publish your blog submission and any name, username, or likeness provided in connection with your submission in all media formats and channels now known or later developed without compensation to you. When you post or otherwise share your submission on or through our website, you understand that your submission and any associated information will be visible to others. GNA retains the right to edit, remove, suspend, or terminate the publication of any blog and blog imagery at any time, with or without notice, for any reason, including violation of these terms and conditions.
For GNA website visitors: The opinions expressed by the bloggers are their own and are not our opinions or endorsed by us. Bloggers who post articles to our site are not employed by GNA. Each blogger is solely responsible for the content of his or her articles. We explicitly disclaim any responsibility for the accuracy, content or availability of information found on a site that links to or from a third-party site.
LINKS TO EXTERNAL WEBSITES
GNANOW.ORG may contain links to external websites ("External Websites"). Links to external websites may be included in blogs written by GNA advocates and in the individual advocate profile listings. GNA does not control such external websites and GNA is not responsible for the content of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site. Our inclusion of links to external websites does not imply any endorsement of any such third party who advertises their goods or services through the sites. GNA makes no claim or representation regarding, and accepts no responsibility for the quality, content, nature, or reliability of external websites.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OWNERSHIP
The marks GREATER NATIONAL ADVOCATES, GNA, and the Plus Sign logo are federally registered trademarks of Greater National Advocates, Inc. © 2023 Greater National Advocates.
TERMINATION
We may terminate or suspend website access at any time, with or without cause, and with or without notice.
DISCLAIMER
THE GNANOW.ORG WEBSITE, INCLUDING ALL THIRD-PARTY CONTENT, LINKS, INFORMATION, MATERIALS, RECOMMENDATIONS, SERVICES, AND PRODUCTS PROVIDED ON OR THROUGH THE SITES, ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT USE OF GNANOW.ORG IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. GNA DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT AS TO THE SITE, THE SITE MATERIALS, LINKS, INFORMATION, MATERIALS, SERVICES, AND PRODUCTS AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH ON THE SITE AND/OR SERVICES.
GNA EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES THAT THE INFORMATION ON GNANOW.ORG, INCLUDING PROFILE LISTINGS AND BLOGS, IS ACCURATE, COMPLETE, RELIABLE, CURRENT, OR ERROR-FREE. IN NO EVENT SHALL GNA BE LIABLE TO ANY USER AS A RESULT OF SERVICES PROVIDED OR INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE, OR FOR THE ACT OR OMMISSION OF ANY ADVOCATE LISTED IN THE GNANOW.ORG DIRECTORY.
ARBITRATION
Any claim arising out of or relating to the use of the GNANOW.ORG website and directory, or any allegation related to the services or lack thereof regarding any of the advocates listed on GNANOW.ORG shall be solely adjudicated by arbitration in accordance with the commercial rules of the American Arbitration Association. The party demanding arbitration shall, as a condition precedent, prior to initiating a claim, deliver a detailed written notice of claim via registered mail or hand delivery to the respondent within 30 days of the occurrence giving rise to the claim. Any demand for arbitration must be made within 6 months of the occurrence giving rise to the claim, or said claim is forever time-barred. The maximum compensation allowed for any claim is limited to the jurisdictional limits of the small claims court in the state and county of the respondent.