PRIVACY ACT

Patient consent to collect & disclose information

Collection

The below list is the information we will collect if it is necessary to properly advise and treat you

• Contact information – Address, phone & email
• Personal information – Date of birth
• Medicare, DVA & concession card details,
• Immunisation history
• Background & ethnicity Significant health factors – Smoking & alcohol

The information will normally be collected directly from you. There may be occasions when we will need to obtain information from other sources, such as:

• Medical practitioners - former GPs and Specialists
• Healthcare providers - Physiotherapists, Occupational therapists & Pharmacists
• Hospitals and Day Surgery Units, Dentists, Nurses, Psychologists,
• National / State / Territory reminder systems & registers

In emergency situations we may need to collect personal information from relatives or other sources where we are unable to obtain your prior express consent. Both our practice staff and the medical practitioners may participate in the collection of this information.

Use & Disclosure

With your consent, the practice staff will use and disclose your information for purposes such as:

• Account keeping and billing purposes and the management of our practice
• Referral to another medical practitioner or health care provider
• Sending of specimens, such as blood samples or pap smears, for analysis
• Referral to a hospital for treatment and / or advice
• Advice on treatment options
• Quality assurance, practice accreditation and complaint handling
• To meet our obligations of notification to our medical defense organizations or insurers
• To prevent or lessen a serious threat to an individual’s life, health or safety
• Where legally required to do so, such as producing medical records to court, mandatory reporting of child abuse or the notification of diagnosis of certain communicable diseases
• To meet our obligations to companies in pre-employment and other medicals.

Access

Medical records can be released to the patient if a consent to release medical records form is signed.

Access can be denied where:

• Providing access would create a serious threat to life or health
• There is a legal impediment to access
• The access would unreasonably impact on the privacy of another
• Your request is frivolous
• The information relates to anticipated or actual legal proceedings and you would not be entitled to access the information in those proceedings
• There is an interest of national security

Electronic communication

We prefer not to email medical records due to encryption policies but this can still be done in special circumstances such as, patient currently overseas. In this case the patient will be notified that our emails are not encrypted and a signed consent form will need to be completed before documents are released.

Complaints

Where you dispute the accuracy of the information recorded you are entitled to correct that information. It is our practice policy that we take all steps to record all of your corrections, and place them with your file but will not erase the original record. The Practice takes complaints and concerns about the privacy of patient’s personal information seriously. Patients should express any privacy concerns in writing; you may speak directly with the practice manager or address concerns anonymously by writing it down and placing it in the ‘suggestion box’ in reception. The Practice will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with its complaint resolution process.

Recalls

Our clinic has a recall system to send reminder letters for repeat tests such as cholesterol, blood sugars, pap smears & follow up vaccines. Please advise reception if you do not wish to be included on our recall system or any other national / state or territory registers.