Cambridge Park Medical Centres
Privacy Policy
This privacy policy is to provide information to you, our patient, on how your personal and health information is collected and used within our practice, and the circumstances in which we may share it with third parties.
Why and when your consent is necessary
When you register as a patient of our practice, you provide consent for our GPs and practice staff to access and use your personal information so they can provide you with the best possible healthcare. Only staff that need to see your personal information will have access to it. If we need to use your information for anything else, we will seek additional consent from you to do this.
Why do we collect, use, hold and share your personal information?
Our practice will need to collect your personal information to provide healthcare services to you. Our main purpose for collecting, using, holding and sharing your personal information is to manage your health. We also use it for directly related business activities, such as financial claims and payments, practice audits and accreditation, and business processes (eg staff training).
What personal information do we collect?
The information we will collect about you includes:
- names, date of birth, addresses, contact details
- medical information including medical history, medications, allergies, adverse events, immunisations, social history, family history and risk factors
- Medicare number (where available) for identification and claiming purposes
- Concession details
- Health Fund details
- Healthcare identifiers
Dealing with us anonymously
You have the right to deal with us anonymously or under a pseudonym unless it is impracticable for us to do so or unless we are required or authorised by law to only deal with identified individuals.
How do we collect your personal information?
Our practice will collect your personal information:
- When you make your first appointment our practice staff will collect your personal and demographic information via your registration.
- During the course of providing medical services, we may collect further personal information correspondence, radiology reports
- We may also collect your personal information when you send us an email, telephone us, make an online enquiry through our website
- In some circumstances personal information may also be collected from other sources. Often this is because it is not practical or reasonable to collect it from you directly. This may include information from:
- your guardian or responsible person
- other involved healthcare providers, such as specialists, allied health professionals, hospitals, community health services and pathology and diagnostic imaging services
- Medicare, or the Department of Veteran’s Affairs or Centrelink (as necessary).
Who do we share your personal information with?
We sometimes share your personal information:
- with third parties who work with our practice for business purposes, such as accreditation agencies or information technology providers – these third parties are required to comply with APPs and this policy
- with other healthcare providers i.e. specialists, hospital
- when it is required or authorised by law (e.g. court subpoenas)
- when it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to a patient’s life, health or safety or public health or safety, or it is impractical to obtain the patient’s consent
- to assist in locating a missing person
- to establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim
- for the purpose of confidential dispute resolution process
- when there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information (e.g. some diseases require mandatory notification)
Only people that need to access your information will be able to do so. Other than in the course of providing medical services or as otherwise described in this policy, our practice will not share personal information with any third party without your consent.
We will not share your personal information with anyone outside Australia (unless under exceptional circumstances that are permitted by law) without your consent.
Our practice will not use your personal information for marketing any of our goods or services directly to you without your express consent. If you do consent, you may opt-out of direct marketing at any time by notifying our practice in writing.
How do we store and protect your personal information?
Your personal information may be stored at our practice in various forms. Your personal information provided to us is stored electronically and can only be accessed by individuals who need to do so. All old paper files are stored securely at our practice, locked and only accessible by people that need access to the information.
Your medical information (such as consultations, X-Ray results, specialist correspondence) is stored electronically and where appropriate or relevant, in paper format that is locked away in a secure environment and only accessible by those who need to access it. All information stored electronically is only accessible with personal usernames and logins obtained by appropriate staff. In addition to this, all staff, both clinical and non-clinical, are bound by a confidentiality agreement at the commencement of employment.
How can you access and correct your personal information at our practice?
You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information.
Our practice acknowledges patients may request access to their medical records. We require you to put this request in writing (e.g. if transferring to another practice, a medical release form from your new surgery or for the purpose of completing forms, addressed to the Centre Administrator) and our practice will respond within a 14 working days. In the instance of completing medical reports for insurance companies or for legal reasons, fees to obtain your medical record applies, this is usually paid for by the third party requesting the information, yet at their discretion.
Our practice will takes reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up-to-date. From time-to-time, we will ask you to verify your personal information held by our practice is correct and up-to-date. You may also request that we correct or update your information; this can be completed by our reception staff over the phone (once appropriately identified) or at the surgery.
How can you lodge a privacy-related complaint, and how will the complaint be handled at our practice?
We take complaints and concerns regarding privacy seriously. You should express any privacy concerns you may have in writing to the Centre Administrator. The Centre Administrator can be contacted by addressing written correspondence to Cambridge Park Medical Centre, 5/1 Stanton Place, Cambridge TAS 7140 or by email admin@rmcentre.com.au. You will receive confirmation of receipt of your complaint within 7 days. We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our resolution procedure within the shortest timeframe possible.
You may also contact the OAIC. Generally, the OAIC will require you to give them time to respond before they will investigate. For further information visit www.oaic.gov.au or call the OAIC on 1300 363 992.
This privacy policy is reviewed yearly and amended when and where appropriate.
Practice Information sheet will include last review date and expected next review date.