Five more health systems have agreed to settle class action lawsuits over website tracking pixels, extending a settlement wave that has now run for more than 18 months, HIPAA Journal reported on August 7.
The largest deal involves Penn Medicine, which will fund a $9.5M settlement for patient portal users, pay up to $15 per claimant, remove Meta Pixel from its website, and refrain from analytics and advertising tools for at least two years. Emanate Health Medical Center in California agreed to a $777K fund, Bayhealth in Delaware will pay $25 per class member plus a year of data monitoring, Mount Sinai Medical Center of Florida set up a $220K fund, and Concord Hospital Health System in New Hampshire established an $800K fund. All five deny wrongdoing.
The class periods generally cover patient portal and website use between 2019 and 2025, when providers embedded Meta Pixel and Google Analytics code that sent visitor data to third parties. Settlements include medical monitoring services and small cash payments rather than large per-person awards.
The article also highlights a notable defeat for plaintiffs: a proposed class action against CRH Healthcare, which operates Peachtree Immediate Care in Georgia, was dismissed with prejudice after a judge ruled the complaint speculative because it failed to show what damages the plaintiff actually suffered. The plaintiff has 14 days to amend.
For compliance officers, the mixed outcome is a reminder that courts increasingly want concrete injury, not just proof that tracking code ran. Providers should still audit patient-facing sites for third-party trackers, because the settlement pipeline shows no sign of slowing.
