Hospital pixel tracking settlements are class action payouts from health systems and digital health companies accused of embedding Meta and Google tracking code on their websites and patient portals, quietly transmitting appointment details, search terms, and other sensitive information to advertisers without patient consent. Since 2022, more than two dozen of these cases have settled, with funds ranging from under $1 million to $21.5 million, and several still have open claim deadlines in 2026.
What the Lawsuits Are About
The technology at the center of every one of these cases is the Meta Pixel, a snippet of JavaScript that website owners install to measure Facebook and Instagram ad performance, along with similar Google tools. On hospital sites, the pixel logged clicks, form entries, and searches in real time and sent that data to Meta along with the user’s IP address. When a visitor was also logged into Facebook, cookies allowed Meta to match the activity to that person’s profile.
A 2022 investigation by The Markup documented pixels capturing doctor names, fields of medicine, specific conditions patients searched for, medications and dosages, and personal contact information entered into forms. A class action filed in Northern California that same year identified at least 664 hospital systems or medical provider websites where the Meta Pixel had been receiving patient data, including data from inside password-protected portals like MyChart.
Plaintiffs argue the transmissions violated the federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, HIPAA (because Meta had no business associate agreement with the hospitals), and a range of state wiretap and medical confidentiality laws. Hospitals have overwhelmingly chosen to settle while denying wrongdoing.
Who Qualifies as a Class Member
Each settlement defines its class by two things: the specific hospital website, portal, or app you used, and the dates you used it. If you had a MyChart, FollowMyHealth, or similar portal account with a settling provider during the class period, or in some cases simply visited the provider’s public website or booked an appointment online, you are likely eligible.
You do not have to prove your data was shared or that you suffered any specific harm. In most of these settlements, submitting a valid claim form on time is enough. If the settlement administrator has your contact information, you should receive a notice by mail or email containing a Class Member ID. If you think you qualify but never got a notice, you can contact the settlement administrator directly. Kroll Settlement Administration handles many of these cases.
Settlements With Open Claim Deadlines
Several pixel settlements are still accepting claims. Deadlines and payment amounts as reported in the case notices:
- Southern Illinois Healthcare — claims due June 15, 2026. Approximately 79,215 patients are eligible for $17.50 plus one year of privacy monitoring. Final approval hearing set for August 2026.
- Derick Dermatology — claims due July 21, 2026. Up to $12.50 per claimant.
- St. Joseph Hospital (Nashua, New Hampshire) — claims due August 14, 2026. $50 per claimant.
- Duke University Health System — claims due August 16, 2026. $3.74 million fund covering MyChart portal and MyDuke Health mobile app users between February 2019 and June 2022. Final hearing August 27, 2026.
- Columbus Regional Health — claims due September 19, 2026.
Payments go out only after the court grants final approval and any appeals are resolved, which can add months to the timeline.
Recent and Pending Settlements
Even if a claim deadline has passed, several recently approved settlements are still moving through the payment stage, and knowing where a case stands can explain why a notice arrived or a check hasn’t.
Sutter Health — $21.5 Million
The largest healthcare pixel settlement to date covers California residents who logged into Sutter Health’s MyHealthOnline portal between June 2015 and March 2020. The Sacramento County Superior Court granted final approval on March 6, 2026. Eligible class members who filed claims could receive up to $90 each from the net fund after $7,095,000 in attorneys’ fees and administration costs.
Aspen Dental Management — $18.5 Million
Filed in the Northern District of Illinois, this settlement is split into two groups: about 621,370 people share a $2.8 million fund, and roughly 1.625 million people in the second group are offered $15 each from a $15.67 million fund. A final fairness hearing was scheduled for October 2025.
Mass General Brigham — $18.4 Million
One of the earliest major pixel settlements, agreed to in January 2022.
Henry Ford Health — $12.3 Million
Covers more than 819,000 patients who had MyChart accounts between January 2020 and December 2023. The suit alleged Henry Ford embedded Meta Pixel, Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, and Google DoubleClick on its website. Eligible members were offered $15 in cash and one year of privacy monitoring.
Advocate Aurora Health — $12.225 Million
Covers patients whose data flowed through Advocate Aurora’s websites, LiveWell app, and MyChart portal between October 2017 and October 2022. A class member objected that a proposed $4 million attorneys’ fee (35% of the fund) was disproportionate to per-person payouts. In its July 2024 final approval order the court reduced the fee to $2.8 million (30% of the net fund). With 565,543 validated claims, individual payouts came in well below the $50 cap the settlement had originally described.
Northwell Health
Filed in Kings County, New York, the settlement offered $15 and 12 months of privacy monitoring to patients who logged into the FollowMyHealth portal or booked appointments on northwell.edu between January 2020 and December 2023, and monitoring only for a broader group. The court granted preliminary approval in December 2025 and final approval on April 23, 2026, but a notice of appeal was then filed. As of mid-2026 the settlement’s payment status remains on hold pending that appeal.
The Christ Hospital — $4.5 to $7 Million
A sliding-scale fund for Cincinnati patients who used the hospital’s portal, mobile app, or online forms between December 2018 and January 2023. Eligible claimants were estimated to receive at least $37.50 plus a year of privacy monitoring.
HealthPartners — $6 Million
Covers people who logged into healthpartners.com and virtuwell.com between January 2018 and November 2023. Final approval came in June 2025, and distribution checks went out in September 2025. Class members received pro rata cash payments from the net fund after up to $2 million in attorneys’ fees.
Smaller Recent Settlements
- Inova Health Care Services — $3.15 million for patients who visited Inova websites and held MyChart accounts between April 2022 and April 2024. Final approval hearing April 2026 in the Eastern District of Virginia.
- MarinHealth — $3 million for website visitors between August 2019 and May 2025. The hospital agreed to remove Meta Pixel and obtain user consent for any future tracking code.
- Loyola University Medical Center — $2.67 million for MyChart users between January 2018 and December 2022. Closed in 2026.
- Mount Nittany Health System — $1.8 million for Pennsylvania residents who accessed Mount Nittany websites or portals between January 2007 and January 2025. Checks mailed in September 2025.
- Eisenhower Health — $875,000 for MyChart users and online form submitters between January 2019 and May 2023.
- NorthBay Healthcare — $15 plus one year of privacy monitoring for roughly 33,540 California residents affected between November 2020 and May 2024. Final approval hearing scheduled for early 2026.
How To File a Claim
Each settlement has a dedicated website where class members submit claim forms online. The form usually asks for your name, contact information, and a Class Member ID printed on the notice you received by mail or email. If you never received a notice or lost it, contact the settlement administrator listed on the case’s official website.
You don’t need medical records, screenshots, or any documentation of what was shared. That has been one of the defining features of pixel settlements: the payment structure treats the fact that you were in the class as the qualifying event. Payment methods vary by case but commonly include check, PayPal, Venmo, and Zelle. You can generally choose your preferred method on the claim form.
Watch two dates on the notice: the claim deadline and the final approval hearing. Missing the claim deadline forfeits your payment. The final approval date, and any appeal that follows, controls when checks actually go out. Northwell is a live example of a settlement fully approved but paused by an appeal.
What You Actually Get Paid
Cash amounts in pixel settlements have ranged from a few dollars per person to $90. The variation comes from three things: the total fund size, the number of people in the class, and whether the settlement caps individual payouts or splits the fund pro rata among everyone who files.
Fixed-amount settlements (like Henry Ford’s $15 or St. Joseph Hospital’s $50) pay each valid claimant that specific figure. Pro rata settlements divide whatever is left of the fund after fees and costs by the number of valid claims, which can push individual payouts well below any “up to” figure quoted in the notice. Advocate Aurora is the clearest cautionary example: with more than half a million validated claims, the actual per-person payout landed far below the settlement’s $50 ceiling.
Most settlements also offer one year of credit or privacy monitoring, commonly through a service called CyEx Privacy Shield Pro. Non-cash relief typically requires the hospital to remove tracking pixels or restrict how data flows through analytics tools, and in some cases to add prominent consent disclosures before deploying any new tracking code.
Attorneys’ fees routinely consume around a third of the total fund. The Advocate Aurora reduction, from 35% to 30% of the net fund after a class member objected, is one of the few instances where an objection led to a meaningful cut. Class members who think a fee request is excessive can file written objections; the deadlines and procedures are listed in every settlement notice.
The Meta Case and What Comes Next
While hospitals have chosen to settle, the consolidated case against Meta itself is still being litigated. In re Meta Pixel Healthcare Litigation, filed in the Northern District of California in June 2022, alleges Meta knowingly received sensitive patient data from hundreds of hospital websites and used it for advertising. Judge William Orrick has allowed claims under the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, breach of contract, intrusion upon seclusion, and trespass to chattels to move forward. In spring 2025, a magistrate judge ordered CEO Mark Zuckerberg to sit for a limited deposition, calling him a “final decisionmaker” on consequential privacy decisions, and reaffirmed that order in May 2025 after Meta sought reconsideration.
No settlement with Meta is on the table. If and when one arrives, it would be separate from the hospital settlements and would likely have its own claims process. For now, the hospital cases are where money is actually reaching patients, and new filings against providers such as Derick Dermatology, Columbus Regional Health, and St. Joseph Hospital continue to move through preliminary and final approval. If you receive a notice from a settlement administrator about a hospital or portal you used, the notice itself is the roadmap: check the class definition, the claim deadline, and the payment amount, and file directly through the case’s official website.