Bondi Platinum Physio Privacy Policy
Current as of 1/11/2024
Introduction
We are committed to handling personal information about you, including health information about you, in accordance with the requirements of the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988. In this Policy, we explain:
- what kind of information we collect and hold about you
- how and why we collect it
- what we do with that information and who we share it with (and when)
- your right to seek access to, and if required correction of, the records we hold about you
- your right to make a privacy complaint, to us and others
- whether we are likely to disclose information about you to overseas recipients.
Why do we collect, use, hold and share your personal information?
We primarily collect and use personal information about you to provide our physiotherapy services to you and to communicate with you and others involved in your care in relation to those services.
We also sometimes use that information for other purposes, including:
- to help us manage our accounts and administrative services, including billing, arrangements with health funds, pursuing unpaid accounts, management of our IT systems and
- to conduct accreditation, quality assurance or internal audits.
What personal information do we collect?
We collect and hold the following kind of information about you:
- your name, address, date of birth, email and contact details
- information about your family or relatives
- information about other health professionals involved in your care
- any government identifiers such as Medicare number, DVA number. However,
we do not use these for the purposes of identifying you in our practice - other health information about you such as: a record of your symptoms, your relevant medical history, the diagnosis made and the treatment we give you:
- specialist reports
- test results
- your appointment and billing details
- your prescriptions
- your healthcare identifier
- your help fund details
- other information about you collected for the purposes of providing care to you.
Your right to receive treatment from us anonymously
(or by using a pseudonym)
Where it is lawful and practicable for us to do so, you can be treated anonymously or through use of a pseudonym (a name other than yours).
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?
We will generally collect personal information about you in these ways:
- directly from you when you give us your details (eg, face-to-face, over the phone,
via registration form or an online form) - from a person responsible for you
- from a third party where we are permitted by law to do that (eg. other health care professionals involved in your care, from your health insurer, Medicare, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, or from the My Health Record system etc.).
When and why might we share your personal information?
We may sometimes share your personal information to others outside of our practice as permitted or required under law. This will include disclosing information about you:
- 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 (eg 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
- for the purpose of confidential dispute resolution process
- when there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information
- during the course of providing physiotherapy services, through My Health Record (eg via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary).
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.
Security: How do we store and protect your personal information?
We take reasonable steps to protect the information we hold about you. These are designed to
prevent unauthorised access, modification or disclosure and to prevent misuse and loss.
This includes:
- holding information in a lockable cabinet
- holding information on an encrypted database
- holding information in secure cloud storage
- getting staff to sign confidentiality documents
- providing staff with training or induction etc. about confidentiality and (in particular)
security issues - access to information restricted on a ‘need to know’ basis and
- password protections when accessing the information on a computer.
How can you access and correct your personal information at our practice?
You have the right to request access to your personal information. You need to put this request in writing and we will normally respond within 30 days. We have a small fee for transfer of your clinical record which is $75 as at 1 November 2024 If you think that the information we hold about you is not correct, let us know in writing. We will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up-to-date. From time to time, we may also ask you to verify that the information we hold about you is correct and current. And please notify us if and when your contact details change (see ‘how to contact us’).
If you have a privacy-related concern about us
We take complaints and concerns regarding privacy seriously. You should express any privacy concerns you may have in writing. We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our resolution procedure. Your concerns will be dealt with as a matter of priority and you can expect to hear back from us within 30 days. 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.
Updating this policy
This policy will be reviewed regularly to ensure is in accordance with any changes that may occur. When changes occur, you will see updated policy on our website and at our reception.
How to contact us
To contact us about any privacy related issues, please contact the practice owner Jasper Donald at admin@bondiplatinumphysio.com.au.
