BJC Health System, dba BJC HealthCare, agreed to settle a lawsuit prompted by its use of tracking tools on its website. The healthcare organization will pay approximately $9.25 million to resolve the lawsuit and give class members corresponding cash payments.
Non-profit healthcare organization, BJC HealthCare in St. Louis, Missouri, operates St. Louis Children’s Hospital and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, which are Washington University-affiliated hospitals. The John Doe et al v. BJC Health System lawsuit mentioned that BJC HealthCare manages different websites, including www.bjc.org and www.barnesjewish.org. Patients communicate with BJC HealthCare through these websites.
The plaintiffs claimed that BJC HealthCare installed tracking tools on the websites that obtained web user information, which includes personally identifiable information (PII), and that sensitive data was sent to companies like Google, Facebook (Meta), SiteScout, TradeDesk, and Invoca, without the web users’ knowledge or consent. BJC HealthCare states there was no wrongdoing or liability. Nonetheless, it decided to negotiate the lawsuit. All parties feel that a settlement is most beneficial to all parties because of the expenses, risks, and uncertainty connected with continuing the lawsuit.
BJC HealthCare will pay all users who visited its MyChart patient portal from June 2017 to August 2022. Based on the terms of settlement, the company will first create a $5.5 million settlement fund to take care of attorneys’ fees, legal fees, management expenses, class representative awards, and class member cash payments, which are likely $35 for each class member. In case the fund is not enough to cover all claims, BJC HealthCare will add $3.75 million to the settlement fund. In case $9.25 million is still not enough to settle all claims, claims will be adjusted pro rata.
The amounts that the settlement fund will pay for include: settlement management fees up to $200,000, attorneys’ fees up to $3,000,000, and $15,000 class representatives’ service awards. The last day for filing a cash payment claim is October 8, 2025. The schedule of the final fairness hearing is October 16, 2025. Individuals who want to opt out of or exempt themselves from the settlement can do so on or before September 8, 2025.
A few class action lawsuits have lately been resolved involving the use of web tracking tools, such as the lawsuits against Henry Ford Health, Eisenhower Medical Center, Mount Nittany Health, and MarinHealth. Other settlements will likely be publicized soon. Healthcare organizations need to update their policies on the use of website tracking tools and the HIPAA training they provide to avoid privacy issues.
