The Privacy Act incorporates the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) that set out the rules for the handling of personal information in the private health sector. In the interests of providing quality health care this practice has implemented this privacy policy that complies with the Privacy Act (1988) and the APPs (2014)
Any enquiries regarding this Policy should, in the first instance, be directed to Practice Management.
This page aims to explain clearly how personal information about you and your health is recorded and managed in this practice. Your doctor will be happy to discuss this further with you.
The ways in which this practice complies with the Australian Privacy Principles are set out below:
It is necessary for us to collect personal information from patients and sometimes others associated with their health care in order to attend to their health needs and for associated administrative purposes.
A patient’s personal health information is used or disclosed for purposes directly related to their health care and in ways that are consistent with a patient’s expectations. In the interests of the highest quality and continuity of health care this may include sharing information with other health care providers who comprise a patient’s health care team
from time to time. In addition, there are circumstances when information has to be disclosed without patient consent, such as:
Emergency situations
There are some necessary purposes of collection for which information will be used beyond providing health care, such as professional accreditation, quality assessments, clinical auditing, billing, service monitoring activities, improving the administration of the practice and disclosure to a clinical supervisor. In general, a patient’s health information will not be used for any other purposes without their consent.
All patient information held by this practice relevant to the functions of providing health care will be maintained in a form that is accurate, complete and up to date.
The storage, use, and where necessary, transfer of personal health information will be undertaken in a secure manner that protects patient privacy. It is necessary for the practice to keep patient information after a patient’s last attendance for as long as is required by law (7 years or until a minor turns 25 years) or is prudent having regard to administrative requirements.
This practice has made this and other material available to patients to inform them of our policies on the management of personal information. On request this practice will, generally, let patients know what sort of personal information we hold, and for what purposes, and how we collect, hold, use and disclose that information (See our “Pt information regarding use and Collection of Health information” sheet)
Patients may request access to their personal health information held by this practice.
All requests for access to personal health information will be referred to the nominated
practice Privacy Officer. The practice encourages patients to ensure that information held is accurate and up to date and to amend any information that is inaccurate. There are some circumstances in which access will be restricted or denied and the reason for this will be explained. A charge may be payable where the practice incurs a cost in providing access. This is for administrative costs such as photocopying, etc. This practice acknowledges the right of children and young people to privacy of their health information. Based on the professional judgement of the doctor and consistent with the law, it might be necessary at times to restrict access to personal health information by parents or guardians
These are numbers or symbols that are used to identify patients with or without using a name e.g. Medicare or DVA numbers. The practice will limit the use of identifiers assigned by other agencies to those uses necessary to fulfil our obligations to those agencies e.g. Medicare claims.
A patient has the right to be dealt with anonymously, provided that this is lawful and practical. However, in the health context this is unlikely to be practical and may in some circumstances be dangerous to the person’s health. All requests of this nature will be referred to the nominated practice Privacy Officer.
The individual’s privacy is protected by federal privacy legislation and State privacy legislation. If patient information is sent by the practice outside of Western Australia, we will take all steps to protect patient privacy.
Health information is sensitive information for the purposes of the privacy legislation.
This means that generally patients’ consent will be sought to collect the information that is needed to make an accurate medical diagnosis, prescribe appropriate treatment and to be proactive in patient health care.
For further information you can speak to the Privacy Officer: Practice Manager – Rachael Hadlow on the premises, by phone 9272 5533 or contact via email rhadlow@3rdave.com.au
The best way to deal effectively with concerns and complaints is to communicate openly and respectfully. This often reduces the likelihood of the problem escalating and becoming more difficult to deal with. The Practice Privacy Officer or the treating doctor can allay concerns and complaints at a local level. If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of our Privacy Policy, and satisfaction is not gained with consultation with our Practice, you may complain to:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC)
Phone: 1300 363 992
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
MyMedicare allows you to build a stronger relationship with your GP.
You can now register with MyMedicare. This can be done by logging into the myGov site and navigating to MyMedicare > Register for MyMedicare.
From there, you can select Third Avenue Surgery as your designated practice or you can register at the reception desk during your next visit to the clinic. Alternately, you can use this QR code to register.
