Privacy Policy

Privacy and confidentiality obligations
Policy

All information collected by this practice is deemed to be private and confidential. The right of every patient is respected.

This practice complies with federal and South Australian privacy regulations including the Privacy Act 1988 and Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 as well as complying with standards set out in the RACGP Handbook for the management of health information in general practice (3rd edition).

Under no circumstances are members of the practice team to discuss or in any way reveal patient conditions or documentation to unauthorised staff, colleagues, other patients, family or friends, whether at the practice or outside it, such as in the home or at social occasions. This includes patient’s accounts, referral letters or other clinical documentation.

General practitioners and other practice team members are aware of confidentiality requirements for all patient encounters, and recognise that significant breaches of confidentiality may provide grounds for disciplinary action or dismissal.

Every member of the practice team is aware of our Privacy Policy and has signed a privacy statement as part of their terms and conditions of employment or contract. This privacy statement continues to be binding even after the
employment or contract has terminated.

Procedure

All members of the practice team are issued with the practice’s Privacy Policy and sign a privacy statement as part of their terms and conditions of employment or contract. The policies and procedures of the practice are further explained during the induction of new practice team members, and the induction form is signed by the new team member as confirmation that they understand and accept their obligations in relation to patient privacy and the confidentiality of personal health information.

PRIVACY POLICY
MAYLANDS MEDICAL CLINIC

Staff and doctors of the Maylands Medical Clinic abide by the Privacy Act 1988 and its 2012 amendments. For further information, go to http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-news. This Act formalises the already existing and acknowledged privacy obligations of our practice.

At this practice we collect personal information from our patients for the purposes of providing health care services. Personal information includes but is not limited to things like names, addresses, DOB, contact details, and information pertaining to your health such as personal and social history, past medical history, health risk factors, anything that may impact on your health. This information will be collected generally as a result of your attendances at the practice. Personal information may be collected during your registration with our practice, during the course of providing you with medical services, during your communications with us via phone/email/social media and in some circumstances from other sources when it is not practical or reasonable to collect it from you eg guardians, specialists, hospitals. Relevant personal and medical information will be provided to allied health providers for pathology, radiology, to specialists and any other health care services necessary for the appropriate treatment of you and your health issues.

The confidentiality of personal information held at this practice has always been of paramount concern. Our staff are aware of the importance of patient confidentiality. We will only use or disclose your personal information when necessary to provide you with health services, for limited related purposes, or where required to by law or when it is necessary to lessen or prevent serious threat to your life. Doctors in this practice are members of medical defence organisation and may need to disclose some personal information to these organisations from time to time. In other situations we would not disclose your personal information without obtaining your consent. All staff sign confidentiality agreements on employment. All efforts will be taken to maintain confidentiality whilst acknowledging that you have the right to be treated in a respectful and friendly manner on entering the premises. Any obsolete patient related information will be destroyed by chemical destruction.

In other situations we would not disclose your personal information without obtaining your consent. All staff sign confidentiality agreements on employment. All efforts will be taken to maintain patient confidentiality whilst acknowledging that patients have the right to be treated in a respectful and friendly manner on entering the premises. Any obsolete patient related information will be destroyed by chemical destruction.

We will endeavour to ensure that all personal information collected by this practice is accurate and complete. To ensure that your information is accurate and up to date, members of the practice team may ask you to verify information from time to time. Please assist by advising us of any changes to your personal information if you think we have out of date or inaccurate information.

Under the Privacy Act, patients have the right to anonymity. This will impact on your ability to receive rebates from Medicare as well as potentially impact on your health outcomes. Please discuss this with your treating GP.

If you wish to access your personal information held at this practice please contact the surgery in writing stating your request. Acknowledgement of your request will be sent to you within seven (7) days, stating a date (approximately 30 days) when access will be available, and should access be denied a reason for this denial will be provided to you. Patient will be requested to attend in conjunction with a doctor for access to their information, so that any queries can be answered privately. As such attendance for this purpose will not be claimable through Medicare and any cost will need to be met by the patient. Photocopy of patient notes may also require payment of a nominal fee.

To ensure the security of personal information held in this practice all records are stored electronically within the practice environment. Information stored on the computers is password protected and only accessible to authorised staff. The practice ensures that our IT system has up to date security measures in place as well as procedures to ensure that information is backed up and stored securely.

This practice will only use the Medicare numbers collected from patients for the purpose of billing for medical services provided to its patients. Similarly we would not use or disclose any other government identifying number which you may give to us.

Should it be necessary to transmit your personal information overseas we will endeavour to ensure that your personal information is adequately protected. It is preferable that should this need arise, a copy of the information will be given to the patient to personally take with them.

Should a patient have concerns about privacy issues include breaches or would like to read our full policy, please contact our practice manager, Mrs Deborah Docking, in the first instance. Patients can also contact AHPRA 1300 419 495 or Office of Australian Information Commissioner ph 1300363992