DR GLENDA MCLAREN PRACTICE PRIVACY POLICY

PURPOSE & CONTEXT

Dr Glenda McLaren is committed to ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of all personal information affiliated with the Practice’s business undertakings. The Practice follows the terms and conditions of privacy and confidentiality in accordance to the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) as per schedule 1 of the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (Cth), forming part of the Privacy Act 1988 (‘the Act’).

The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to clearly communicate how the Practice collects and manages personal information.

AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY PRINCIPLES

As a private sector health service provider and under permitted health situations, The Practice is required to comply with the APPs as prescribed under the Act.

The APPs regulate how the Practice may collect, use, disclose and store personal information. 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 address breaches of the APPs by our practice and how we will deal with such a complaint; and
• whether we are likely to disclose personal information to overseas recipient.

In order to provide patients with adequate health care services, the Practice will need to collect and use personal and health information. It is important to be aware that if the patient provides incomplete or inaccurate information or the patient withholds personal health information, the Practice may not be able to provide the patient with the services they are requesting.

In this Privacy Policy, common terms and definitions include:

• “personal information” as defined by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).  Meaning
  “information or an opinion including information or an opinion forming part of a database, whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material format or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information or opinion”; and,

• “health information” as defined by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).  This is a particular subset of “personal information” and means:

(a) Information or opinion about the health or disability (at any time i.e. past, present or future) of an individual that can be classified as personal information;

(b) Information or opinion about an individual’s expressed wishes about the future provision of health services that can be classified as personal information;

(c) Information or opinion about health service provided, or to be provided, to an individual, that can be classified as personal information;

(d) Other personal information collected to provide, or in providing, a health service;

(e) Other personal information about an individual collected in connection with the donation, or intended donation, by the individual of his or her body parts, organs or body substances; or

(f) Genetic information about an individual in a form that is, or could be, predictive of the health of the individual or a genetic relative of the individual.

Personal information also includes ‘sensitive information’ which is information including, but not limited to a patient’s:

• race;
• religion;
• political opinions;
• sexual preferences; and or,
• health information. 

Information deemed ‘sensitive information’ attracts a higher privacy standard under the Act and is subject to additional mechanisms for the patient’s protection.

TYPES OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

The Practice collects information from each individual patient that is necessary to provide the patient with adequate health care services.

This may include collecting information about a patient’s health history, family history, ethnic background or current lifestyle to assist the health care team in diagnosing and treating a patient’s condition.

COLLECTION & RETENTION

This information will in most circumstances be collected directly from the patient through but not limited to the following mediums:

• Patient Registration Form
• Patient Consent Forms
• Face to face consultation
• Patient health questionnaires

The type of information we collect and hold includes:

• Your name, address, date of birth, email and contact details
• Medicare number and private health fund details,
• 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 genetic information
  • any other information about your race, sexuality or religion, when collected by a health service provider.

In other instances, the Practice may need to collect personal information about a patient from a third party source. This may include:

• relatives; or,
• other health service providers

This will only be conducted if the patient has provided consent for the Practice to collect his/her information from a third party source; or where it is reasonable or practical for The Practice to collect this information directly from the patient. This may include where:

• the patient’s health is potentially at risk and his/her personal information is needed to provide them with emergency medical treatment.

The Practice endeavours to store and retain a patient’s personal and health information in:

• hard copy on site; and
• in electronic format on our practice computer server and database on site

 

PURPOSE OF COLLECTION, USE & DISCLOSURE

The Practice only uses a patient’s personal information for the purpose(s) they have provided the information for unless one of the following applies:

• the patient has consented for the Practice to use his/her information for an alternative or additional purpose;
• to communicate with you in relation to the health service being provided to you;
• the disclosure of the patient’s information by the Practice is reasonably necessary for the enforcement of criminal law or a law imposing a penalty or sanction, or for the protection of public revenue;
• the disclosure of the patient’s information by the Practice will prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to somebody’s life or health; or,
• The Practice is required or authorised by law to disclose the patient’s information for another purpose.

Health Professionals to provide treatment

During the patient’s treatment at the Practice he/she may be referred to alternative medical treatment/services ie. pathology or radiology where the practice’s staff may consult with senior medical experts when determining a patient’s diagnosis or treatment.

The Practice’s staff may also refer the patient to other health service providers for further treatment during and following the patient’s care with The Practice. These services include, but are not limited to:

• Midwives/Lactation Consultants
• Physiotherapy;
• Psychology;
• Dietetics;
• Obstetric Physician;
• Community Health Services;

These health professionals will be designated health services providers appointed to use the patient’s health information as part of the process or providing treatment. Please note that this process will be conducted whilst maintaining the confidentiality and privacy of the patient’s personal information.

Alternative Health services

At any point a patient wishes to be treated by an alternative medical practitioner or health care service that requires access to his/her personal/health information our practice requires written authorisation. This written authorisation is to state that the patient will be utilising alternative health services and that these services have consented for a transfer of personal/health information.

Other Third Parties

The Practice may provide the patient’s personal information regarding a patient’s treatment or condition to additional third parties. These third parties may include:

• parent(s);
• child/ren;
• other relatives;
• close personal friends;
• guardians; or
• a person exercising a patient’s power of attorney under an enduring power of attorney.

Where information is relevant or reasonable to be provided to third parties, written consent from the patient is required.

Additionally, the patient may at any time wish to disclose that no third parties as stated are to access or be informed about his/her personal information or circumstances.

 Other uses of Personal Information

In order to provide the best possible environment to treat patients, the Practice may also use personal/health information where necessary for:

• activities such as quality assurance processes, accreditation, audits, risk and claims management, patient satisfaction surveys and staff education and training;
• invoicing, billing and account management;
• to liaise with a patient’s health fund and Medicare, as necessary; and
• the purpose of complying with any applicable laws – ie. in response to a subpoena or compulsory reporting to State or Federal authorities.

If at any point or for any of the aforementioned reasons the the Practice uses or discloses personal/health information in accordance with the APPs, the Practice will provide written notice for the patient’s consent for the use and/or disclosure.

ACCESS AND CHANGES TO PERSONAL INFORMATION

If an individual patient reasonably requests access to their personal information for the purposes of changing the information he/she must engage with the Practice Manager.

The point of contact for patient access to personal information is:

Practice Manager
P: 07-3832-7399
e: admin@glendamclaren.com.au

The Practice requires a written request for access to or correction of your personal information.

Once an individual patient requests access to his/her personal information the Practice will respond within a reasonable period of time to provide the information.

All personal information will be updated in accordance to any changes to a patient’s personal circumstances bought to the Practice’s attention. All changes to personal information will be subject to the patient’s consent and acknowledgement.

If an individual requests access to his/her personal information the Practice may charge reasonable costs for the provision of this information. Please note, this fee is associated with administrative costs only.

COMPLAINTS HANDLING

We encourage you to contact us if you have any questions about privacy-related issues.
If you wish to complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles or the handling of your personal information by us, you may lodge your complaint in writing to (see below for details).
We will normally respond to your request within 30 days.

The Practice Manager
Dr Glenda McLaren
Suite 6, Level 1
201 Wickham Terrace
Brisbane QLD 4001
e: admin@glendamclaren.com.au
P: 07-3832-7399

We encourage that concerns are first dealt with by the Practice however, if you are dissatisfied with our response you may refer the matter to the OAIC:

Phone: 1300 363 992

Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au

Fax: +61 2 9284 9666

Post: GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001

PERSONAL INFORMATION AND OVERSEAS RECIPIENTS

Use of Overseas Parties:

Our practice does not disclose information overseas nor is it likely to do so in the future.

DISPOSAL OF PERSONAL/HEALTH INFORMATION

If The Practice receives any unsolicited personal information that is not deemed appropriate for the permitted health situation, the Practice will reasonably de-identify and dispose of the information accordingly.

If the Practice holds any personal or health information that is no longer deemed relevant or appropriate for the permitted health situation, the Practice will reasonably de-identify and dispose of the information accordingly.

ACCESS TO POLICY

The Practice provides free copies of this Policy for patients and staff to access which can be located:

• On The Practice website: drglendamclaren.com.au
• By contacting reception on 07-3832-7399
• Hard copies provided on request

REVIEW OF POLICY

The Practice in accordance with any legislative change will review the terms and conditions of this policy to ensure all content is both accurate and up to date.

Notification of any additional review(s) or alteration(s) to this policy will be provided to patients and staff within one month of any changes. Patients can periodically check our website to ensure they are aware of the most recent version of our policy. Staff will be notified of any changes to this Privacy Policy and asked to review these changes and acknowledge they have read and understood any changes in the relevant section of the Practice manual.