Privacy Policy

Mount Zion Family Practice 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 and when your consent is necessary
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
  • 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


How do we collect your personal information?
Our practice may collect your personal information in several different ways.

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

  2. 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

  3. We may also collect your personal information when you visit our website, send us an email or SMS, telephone us, make an online appointment via booking platforms e.g HotdDoc and Health Engine or communicate with us using social media.

  4. 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:

    1. your guardian or responsible person
    2. other involved healthcare providers, such as specialists, allied health professionals, hospitals, community health services and pathology and diagnostic imaging services
    3. your health fund, Medicare, or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (as necessary).


When, why and with whom do we share your personal information?
We may disclose your personal information:

  • 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
  • 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.

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.

Our practice may use your personal information to improve the quality of the services we offer to our patients through research and analysis of our patient data.

We may provide de-identified data to other organisations to improve population health outcomes. The information is secure, patients cannot be identified and the information is stored within Australia. You can let our reception staff know if you do not want your information included.

How do we store and protect your personal information?
Your personal information may be stored at our practice in various forms e.g. paper records, electronic records, visual records (X-rays, CT scans, videos and photos), audio recordings.

Our practice stores all personal information securely electronically in a highly secure manner.


How can you access and correct your personal information at our practice?
You are entitled at any time to request details and a copy of your personal information held by us by contacting us in writing. To protect your privacy, Mount Zion Family Practice may require proof of your identity before acting upon your request. Access will be provided unless there is a legal or administrative reason for denying or limiting access, as permitted by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). We advise you of the grounds of any refusal.

If an individual asks, they may be given access to the personal information held about them unless particular circumstances apply that allow us to deny access.

Situations for denial of access include:

  • providing access would pose a serious threat to life or health of any individual
  • providing access would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of other individuals
  • the request for access is frivolous or vexatious.
  • denying access is required or authorised by law


Where we hold information that you are entitled to access we will endeavour to provide you with suitable means of accessing it (for example, by mailing or emailing it to you). Depending on the circumstances, Mount Zion Family Practice reserves the right to charge you a reasonable administrative fee for access to the personal information. We will not charge for simply making the request and will not charge for making any corrections to your personal information.

If you believe that personal information we hold about you is incorrect, incomplete or inaccurate, then you may request us to amend it. We will consider if the information requires amendment. If we do not agree that there are grounds for amendment, then we will add a note to the personal information stating that you disagree with it.


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 to the Practice Manager (please refer to contact details below)

We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our resolution procedure

Please allow up to 30 days for your request or complaint to be processed.

If your complaint relates to our failure to provide access to or to correct any personal information that we hold about you, or if you are not satisfied with the manner in which we deal with your complaint (within 30 days), you may lodge or refer your complaint directly to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (for more information, please see www.oaic.gov.au).

If your complaint does not relate to these matters, you must first lodge a complaint with us in writing and provide us with details of the incident so that we can investigate. We will treat your complaint confidentially, investigate your complaint and aim to ensure that we contact you and your complaint is resolved within a reasonable time (and in any event within the time required by the relevant privacy legislation, if applicable). We may ask you to participate in a dispute resolution scheme (such as mediation) to resolve your complaint.

Individuals enquiring about their rights and remedies for breaches of privacy, can access detailed information at the Office or the Australian Information Commissioner www.oaic.gov.au or call the OAIC on 1300 363 992

If you wish to provide us with feedback, either positive or negative, you may contact our Practice Manager on the details provided below. We take concerns and suggestions seriously and will endeavour to follow up and feedback with a reasonable timeframe.

How to contact us
If you would like to contact us or require more information concerning Mount Zion Family Practice’s approach to privacy or how Mount Zion Family Practice handles your personal information, you can write to us at below address:

Attention:
Practice Manager
Mount Zion Family Practice
U2/10-16 Mills St, Bentley 6102

Alternatively, you can email your privacy query directly to us by using the ‘contact us’ page on our website.

You are entitled to contact us anonymously or by using a pseudonym if your prefer to do so. If you choose to remain anonymous this may limit our ability to assist you with any feedback or enquiry. We will tell you if we need to collect your name or any other personal information to help further.

Policy review statement
This privacy policy will be reviewed regularly to ensure it is in accordance with any changes that may occur.