OUR PRACTICE PRIVACY POLICY

You can view our Privacy Policy below. Your medical record is a confidential document.

It is the policy of this practice to maintain security of personal health information at all times and to ensure that this information is only available to authorised members of staff.

We abide by the National Privacy Principles. For more information feel free to access their website:

http://www.privacy.gov.au/health/index.html

OUR WEBSITE POLICY AND DISCLAIMER

This website is NOT connected to our medical software, as such your medical records cannot be accessed via this site, and no data such as contact information and associated communications can be shared with any third party whatsoever.

Please refer to the privacy policies of other websites linked through here as they may have a different policy.

This website and article is not a substitute for independent professional advice. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness or adequacy of the information or material in this website. All information is subject to change without notice. We and each party providing material displayed on this website disclaim liability to all persons or organisations in relation to any action(s) taken on the basis of currency or accuracy of the information or material or any loss or damage suffered in connection with that information or material. You should make your own enquiries before acting upon any of the information or material on this website. Please ensure you contact us to discuss your particular circumstances.

Pennant Hills Medical Centre privacy policy

Current as of: 01/11/2022

Introduction

This privacy policy is to provide information to you, our patient, on how your personal information (which includes your 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 who 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 your:

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
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 may collect your personal information in several different ways.

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. This information may be collected through My Health Record via Shared Health Summary, with your consent.
We may also collect your personal information when you send us an email or SMS, telephone us, make an online appointment.
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 Veterans’ Affairs (as necessary).

When, why and with whom do we share your personal information?

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
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 (eg some diseases require mandatory notification)
during the course of providing medical services, through eTP, My Health Record (eg via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary).
During the course of research programs select information may be shared but only after the express permission from the patient.
Only people who 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 is stored electronically on our computer system with a multiple back-up systems in place.

Our practice stores all personal information securely. This is achieved through personal passwords, timed screen protectors, deadlocked storage facility, secure cupboards, use of a secure destruction facility, and confidentiality agreements for all staff members.

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 and our practice will respond within a reasonable time of 30 business days. Depending upon the information required and the format this is required in there may be a reasonable charge requested of the patient. This will be discussed once the request has been actioned.

Our practice will take 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 that your personal information held by our practice is correct and current. You may also request that we correct or update your information, and you should make such requests in writing to Lachlan Humphery (Practice Manager) either by mail or email at email@phmc.com.au.

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 by telephoning, email or writing, a response will be actioned within 30 business days.

We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our resolution procedure:

Address all correspondence to Lachlan Humphery – Practice Manager

Address: 8/2 Hillcrest Road, Pennant Hills, NSW, 2120

Ph: 02 9484 1359

Email: email@phmc.com.au

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.

NSW – Information and Privacy Commission www.ipc.nsw.gov.au 1800 472 679

Privacy and our website

PHMC’s website contains links to other sites. Please be aware that PHMC is not responsible for the privacy practices of any linked sites. We encourage users who leave our site to read the privacy statements of each and every linked website that they choose to visit. All links to external sites are provided for your convenience. The information, products and advertisements contained in the linked sites are neither approved nor endorsed by PHMC, and PHMC is not responsible for such information, products or advertisements.

Policy review statement

Policy review date is 01/07/2023

This policy will be reviewed from time to time to take account of new laws and technology, changes to our operations and other necessary developments. Updates will be publicised on the practice website or will be on display at our reception desk.

Pennant Hills Medical Centre Privacy Policy

Introduction

Our practice is committed to best practice in relation to the management of the information we collect. This practice has developed a privacy policy to protect patient privacy in compliance with the privacy act 1988 ('the Privacy Act'). Our policy is to inform you of;

the kinds of information that we collect and hold, which, as a medical practice, is likely to be 'health information' for the purposes of the Privacy Act
how we collect and hold personal information;
the purposes for which we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information;
how you may access your personal information and seek the correction of that information;
how you may complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles and how we will deal with such a complaint;

What kinds of Personal Information do we collect?

The type of information we may collect and hold includes:

your name, address, date of birth, email and contact details
Medicare number, DVA number and other government identifiers, although we will not use these for the purposes of identifying you in our practice;
other health information about you including

* notes of your symptoms or diagnosis and the treatment given to you

* your specialist reports and test results

* your appointment and billing details

* your prescriptions and other pharmaceutical purchases

* your dental records

* your genetic information

* your healthcare identifier

* any other information about your race, sexuality or religion, when collected by a health service provider.

How do we collect and hold personal information

We will generally collect personal information:

from you directly when you provide your details to us. this may be a face to face discussion, telephone conversation, registration or online form
from a person responsible for you
from third parties where the Privacy Act or other law allows it - this may include but is not limited to: other members of your treating team, diagnostic centres, specialists, hospitals, the my Health record system, electronic prescription services, medicare, your health insurer, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Why do we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information?

In general, we collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information for the following purposes:

to provide health services to you;
to communicate with you in relation to the health service being provided to you
to comply with our legal obligations, including but not limited to, mandatory notification of communicable diseases or mandatory reporting under applicable child protection legislation;
to help us manage our accounts and administrative services, including billing, arrangements with health funds, pursuing unpaid accounts, management of our ITC systems;
for consultations with other doctors and allied health professional involved in your healthcare;
to obtain, analyse and discuss test results from diagnosis and pathology laboratories;
for identification and insurance claiming
My health record
Electronic transfer of prescription by erx script exchange
To liase with your health fund, government and regulatory bodies such as Medicare, the Dept of Veterans Affairs and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) (if you make a private complaint to the OAIC) if necessary.

How can you access and correct your personal information?

You have a right to seek access to, and correction of the personal information which we hold about you. If there are any fees involved you will be informed of any such cost in advance.

For details on how to access and correct your health record, please contact our practice as noted under Contact Details on this website. We will normally respond to your request within 30 days.

How do we hold your personal information?

Our staff are trained and required to respect and protect your privacy. We take reasonable steps to protect information held from misuse, loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. This includes;

Details about how we hold patients health information:

Holding your information on an encrypted database
Holding your information in a lockable cabinet
Our staff sign confidentiality agreements
Our practice has document retention and destruction policies

Anonymity and pseudonyms

The Privacy Act provides that individuals must have the option of not identifying themselves, or of using a pseudonym, when dealing with our practice, except in certain circumstances, such as where it is impracticable for us to deal with you if you have not identified yourself.

Updates to this Policy