Willagee Medical Centre

Privacy Policy

Introduction

This privacy policy is to provide information to you, our patient, on how your personal information (which includes your health information) is collected and used within our practice, and the circumstances in which we may share it with third parties.

Why and when your consent is necessary

When you register as a patient of our practice, you provide consent for our GPs and practice staff to access and use your personal information so they can provide you with the best possible healthcare. Only staff who need to see your personal information will have access to it. If we need to use your information for anything else, we will seek additional consent from you to do this.

Why do we collect, use, hold and share your personal information?

Our practice will need to collect your personal information to provide healthcare services to you. Our main purpose for collecting, using, holding and sharing your personal information is to manage your health. We also use it for directly related business activities, such as financial claims and payments, practice audits and accreditation, and business processes (eg staff training).

What personal information do we collect?

The information we will collect about you includes your:

names, date of birth, addresses, contact details including phone numbers and email address

medical information including medical history, medications, allergies, adverse events, immunisations, social history, family history and risk factors

Medicare number (where available) for identification and claiming purposes

healthcare identifiers

health fund details.

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 authorized by law to only deal with identified individuals.

How do we collect your personal information?

Our practice may collect your personal information in several different ways.

When you make your first appointment our practice staff will collect your personal and demographic information via your registration.

During the course of providing medical services, we may collect further personal information. Information can also be collected through electronic transfer of prescriptions (eTP), My Health Record, eg via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary.

We may also collect your personal information when you visit our website, send us an email or SMS, telephone us, make an online appointment or communicate with us using social media.

In some circumstances personal information may also be collected from other sources. Often this is because it is not practical or reasonable to collect it from you directly. This may include information from:

your guardian, next of kin, emergency contact or responsible person.

other involved healthcare providers, such as specialists, allied health professionals, hospitals, community health services and pathology and diagnostic imaging services.

your health fund, Medicare, or the Department of Veteran's Affairs (as necessary).

When, why and with whom do we share your personal information?

We sometimes share your personal information:

with third parties who work with our practice for business purposes, such as allied health providers, accreditation agencies or information technology providers – these third parties are required to comply with APPs and this policy

with third parties for data collection. This information is de-identified to maintain patient confidentiality

with other healthcare provider

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

to establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim

for the purpose of confidential dispute resolution process

when there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information (eg some diseases require mandatory notification)

during the course of providing medical services, through eTP, 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. In the event of overseas travel, and you require medical treatment. Your travel insurance company may contact us with signed consent from you, to release medical information to ensure you receive prompt treatment. 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.

How do we store and protect your personal information?

Your personal information may be stored at our practice in various forms. Your medical records are stored in electronic format. When we receive records in paper format these are scanned into your electronic medical file and destroyed by an approved document destruction company. Radiology and pathology results are received in electronic format. Our practice stores all personal information securely in electronic format and is protected by firewalls and passwords which is monitored by our IT department. All staff and contractors have signed confidentiality agreements to ensure your information is protected.

How can you access and correct your personal information at our practice?

You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information.

Our practice acknowledges patients may request access to their medical records. We require you to put this request in writing. This can be sent to us via post to 1, 60 Archibald Street Willagee WA 6156 or emailed directly to our administration email willageemc@perthgp.com.au and our practice will respond within a reasonable time. We will respond to your request within 30 days of receiving your letter. Fees may apply.

Our practice will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up to date. From time to time, we will ask you to verify that your personal information held by our practice is correct and current. You may also request that we correct or update your information, and you should make such requests in writing to willageemc@perthgp.com.au please mark this to the attention of the practice manager.

How can you lodge a privacy-related complaint, and how will the complaint be handled at our practice?

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. Please address any concerns either by post or email to Willagee Medical Centre, 1, 60 Archibald Street Willagee WA 6156 (08) 9331 1760 or willageemc@perthgp.com.au your concerns will be addressed and a response will be provided within a minimum of 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

Privacy and our website

We are committed to safeguarding your privacy online. willageemedical.com.au will not pass on your details to any third party unless you give us permission to do so. www.willageemedical.com.au collects three kinds of information from visitors to www. willageemedical.com.au: registration information, feedback information and Website usage information, from session cookies and log files. (Neither session cookies nor log files contain any personal information). By emailing willageemedical.com.au your details or by entering your details in an online form, you allow willageemedical.com.au to provide you with services and notifications. Every time you submit such personal information, willageemedical.com.au will treat that information in accordance with this privacy policy.

willageemedical.com.au will act in accordance with current legislation and aim to meet current Internet best practice. During any visit to willageemedical.com.au, the pages you see, along with the possibility of a cookie, are downloaded to your computer. The vast majority of Websites do this, as cookies provide the Website author certain benefits, for instance, like finding out whether the computer (and probably its user) has visited the Website before. This is done on second and future visits to the Website by checking to see, and finding, the cookie left there on the previous visit. If using cookies worries you (it does not worry most people), then you should either set your browser preferences to reject cookies or leave willageemedical.com.au.

When you supply any personal information to willageemedical.com.au, we have legal obligations towards you in the way we deal with that data:

We must collect the information fairly: and

We must let you know how we will use it; and

We must tell you in advance if we decide to pass the information on to anyone else.

We will ensure that all personal information supplied is held securely, in accordance with the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA).

willageemedical.com.au may contain links to other Websites. This privacy policy applies only to willageemedical.com.au, so you should always be aware when you are moving to another Website and read the privacy statement of any Website, which collects your personal information. willageemedical.com.au does not pass on any personal information you have given us to any other Website. Please note that any information you provide to willageemedical.com.au will only be used within willageemedical.com.au. It will never be supplied to third parties without first obtaining your consent unless we are obliged by law to disclose information. If you wish to see our records of any correspondence you have sent to us, or if you have a query or complaint about this privacy policy, you can contact us. If this privacy policy changes in any way, willageemedical.com.au will place an updated version on this page. willageemedical.com.au recommends that you regularly review this policy to ensure you are always up to date on what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we will share it with other parties.

Policy review statement

Our privacy policy is reviewed yearly or as required. Any changes made to our policy will be immediately be uploaded to our website.

Current as of: 08/12/20