How your personal information and health information is recorded and managed
Purpose
reclaim health + is committed to providing quality services to you. This policy outlines our ongoing obligations to you in respect of how we manage your Personal Information.
We have adopted the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (the Privacy Act). The NPPs govern the way in which we collect, use, disclose, store, secure and dispose of your Personal Information.
A copy of the Australian Privacy Principles may be obtained from the website of The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.aoic.gov.au
This Privacy Policy explains how personal information about you and your health is recorded and managed in our practice. We also have a written privacy policy describing how we manage personal information. You can receive a copy of our policy upon request.
Your personal information and why we collect it
What we collect
Personal information is information or an opinion that identifies an individual. The ‘personal information’ we collect may include your name, date of birth, address/es, contact details, Medicare number, healthcare identifiers, and health fund details. Medical information may include medical history and any care you may need. General Practitioners / Allied Therapists need information about your past and present health in order to provide you with high-quality care.
How we collect
This personal information is obtained in many ways including new patient forms and questionnaires, consults, correspondence, by telephone and facsimile, by email via our website www.reclaimhealth.com.au, from your website, from media and publications, from other publicly available sources, from cookies and from their parties. We don’t guarantee website links or policy of authorised third parties.
Why we collect
We collect your personal information for the primary purpose of providing our services to you, providing information to our clients and marketing. We may also use your personal information for secondary purposes closely related to the primary purpose, in circumstances where you would reasonably expect such use or disclosure. You may unsubscribe from our mailing/marketing lists at any time by contacting us in writing.
When we collect personal information we will, where appropriate and where possible, explain to you why we are collecting the information and how we plan to use it.
Medical patients – our practice follows the guidelines of the RACGP’s Handbook for the management of health information in general practice, 3rd edition (the Handbook). The Handbook incorporates federal and state privacy legislation, and the Australian Privacy Principles, which requires that your personal information is kept private and secure.
Sensitive Information
Sensitive information is defined in the Privacy Act to include information or opinion about such things as an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious or philosophical beliefs, membership of a trade union or other professional body, criminal record or health information.
Sensitive information will be used by us only:
- For the primary purpose for which it was obtained
- For a secondary purpose that is directly related to the primary purpose
- With your consent; or where required or authorised by law.
Your records
This practice takes steps to ensure that your records:
- are accurate, complete, well organised, and legible
- are up to date
- contain enough information to allow another General Practitioner / Allied Therapist to care for you
- contain a summary of your care
- can be used to remind you, with your permission, to return for follow-up, check-ups and reviews
If you are uncertain why information is being requested, please ask your General Practitioner / Allied Therapist or the practice staff.
If you wish to remain anonymous while accessing healthcare services, please talk to the practice staff.
Providing your information to other General Practitioners or therapists
Medical patients – In this practice, it is normal for all General Practitioners to have access to your medical records.
Allied therapy patients – it is normal practice for all Allied Therapists to share non-confidential information relating to musculoskeletal therapies. Counselling notes are NOT shared.
If you have any concerns about this, please discuss them with your General Practitioner / Allied Therapist, or practice staff.
It is important that other people involved in your care, such as medical specialists and other healthcare professionals, are informed of the relevant parts of your medical history, so they can provide the best care for you. Your General Practitioner / Allied Therapist will let you know when this is necessary.
Providing your information to others
General Practitioners / Allied Therapists respect your right to decide how your personal information is used or shared. For example, this may be sharing your health information with specialist doctors. Personal information that identifies you will only be sent to other people with your consent unless there are exceptional circumstances. Gaining your consent is the guiding principle used by this practice in using and sharing your information.
Our practice will not share your personal health information with anyone else or another organisation unless:
- you have consented to this sharing, or
- they are legally obliged to disclose the information, in which case your General Practitioner / Allied Therapist will first discuss with you the information that she or he is legally obliged to disclose, or
- the information is necessary for you to obtain Medicare payments or other health insurance rebates, or
- there is an overriding public health and safety interest in the release of the information
In the above cases, only information necessary to meet the requirements will be provided. Your health information will not ordinarily be sent overseas unless:
- you are informed and provide consent for this to occur, and
- the overseas country receiving the information has privacy laws that are very similar to the Australian Privacy Principles.
Using health information for quality improvement and research
This practice may use patient health information to assist in improving the quality of care we give to all our patients, by reviewing the treatments used in the practice.
Your information held by the practice may be used in research projects to improve healthcare in the community; however, this information will not include data that can identify you.
The information used for research, including the publication of research results, will not be in a form that would allow you to be identified, unless the research serves an important public interest. In such cases, identifiable medical records can be used for medical research without your consent under guidelines issued by the Australian Government. Before providing such identified information, your General Practitioner / Allied Therapist will discuss with you the information that she or he is obliged to disclose.
Security of information in the practice
Australian privacy legislation applies to all personal health information recorded in electronic and paper records. This practice complies with these requirements to protect your information.
Your personal information is stored in a manner that reasonably protects it from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
When your personal information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify your personal information. However, most of the personal information is or will be stored in client files which will be kept by us for a minimum of 7 years.
Access to your health information
You may ask practice staff about any aspect of your healthcare, including information contained in your record. You can request access to your medical record and any other information the practice records about you.
If you request access to your medical record, you will need to consider if there may be a risk of physical or mental harm to you or any other person that may result from disclosure of your health information. Your General Practitioner / Allied Therapist may need to remove any information that will affect the privacy of other individuals.
Sharing information is important for good communication between you and practice staff. Your General Practitioner / Allied Therapist can provide a full explanation of the health summary or medical record you are provided access to.
Depending on what is involved, you may be asked to contribute to the cost of providing the information.
Resolving concerns regarding the privacy of your health information
If you have any concerns regarding the privacy of your personal health information or the accuracy of the information held by the practice, you should discuss these with practice staff. Inaccurate information can be corrected, or your concerns noted in your record. For legal reasons, the original notes will be retained.
Policy Updates
This Policy may change from time to time and is available on our website.
Contacts
If you have questions or a complaint about the privacy of your personal information, please ask to speak to the privacy contact officer at the practice.
Further information on privacy legislation is available from:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
1300 363 992
www.oaic.gov.au
Office of the Health Services Commissioner
Victoria – 1300 582 113
www.health.vic.gov.au/hsc/index.htm
reclaim health +
Ph 9381 1991
www.reclaimhealth.com.au
Feedback
We welcome your feedback. Whether it is a compliment, complaint, or comment, your feedback helps us achieve our aim of providing the highest quality care and service. Please direct all feedback to: admin@reclaimhealth.com.au