Our Privacy Policy

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 (e.g. 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.

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 individual.

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.
Through the transfer/release of your old medical records from your previous practice (with your consent)
While providing medical services, we may collect further personal information via electronic prescribing, My Health Record or health summaries.
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.
Photos and medical images may be taken using personal devices to upload, store or communicate your health information between health professionals involved in the management/treatment process. This will only be done so with your consent and by following the guidelines outlined in our guide on using personal devices for medical images.
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;

Your guardian 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 Veterans’ Affairs (as necessary).

7. AI Scribe: If Warabrook Doctors incorporates the use of AI Scribe within the clinic at any given time all patients will be notified, consent obtained and recorded as per requirements. As Warabrook Doctors is not actively using AI Scribe there is no current policy in place for the use of such, however, if AI Scribe is to be utilised at any given time a policy outlining how to handle privacy breeches, cybersecurity incidents or errors in recording will be implemented within the practice.

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 accreditation agencies or information technology providers – these third parties are required to comply with The Privacy Act 1988, Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) and this policy
With other healthcare providers such as specialists and allied health 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
In the event of a confidential dispute resolution process
When there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information (eg some diseases require mandatory reporting)
While providing medical services, through eTP, My Health Record (e.g. 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.

How do we store and protect your personal information?

Your personal information may be stored in various forms e.g. as paper records, as electronic records, as visual (X-rays, CT scans, videos and photos), or as audio recordings.

We store all personal information securely

Your records are maintained within Best Practice (BP) which is password protected and protected by firewalls and security software managed by Hunter Primary Health Network (Hunter PHN) as per RACGP requirements. Paper records from before transition to Best Practice are securely stored offsite. Hard copies of records that are no longer required are shredded by an accredited secure document destruction company.

All staff have signed a confidentiality agreement that prohibits them from divulging any information about you that they may have learnt through working with us to provide you with quality health care.

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 that patients may request access to their medical records. In order to comply with privacy legislation it is necessary to adhere to the following procedure: We require you to put this request in writing and addressed to your GP. We can provide you with a standard request form for this purpose. We will respond within 30 days or sooner, which by industry standards is considered to be a reasonable time. We will always act as quickly as possible. If it is not possible for access to be granted, you will be notified in writing. If access is refused to your medical file, you will be advised of the reasons in writing. You may contact us if you wish to discuss this further. You will not be permitted to remove any of the contents of your medical file from the practice, nor will you be permitted to alter or erase information contained in that medical record. Where practicable, a GP will be present when access is granted to your file, to address any concerns you may have. There is a fee of $45.30 for hard copies up to 33 pages, then $1.40 per page for pages thereafter, plus GST. Alternatively, you may request copies be saved to a USB, supplied by you, at a standard fee of $78.43 or request copies be securely emailed to your practice for a standard fee of $25.00. When collecting records, patients are requested to do so in person; however, in some limited circumstances (Illness or incapacity) patients may request another person to collect same. Photo identity is required to collect medical records and a letter of authority is required to collect on another’s behalf. If records are requested to be sent via email or post, patients are required to sign a declaration accepting the risks associated with these methods.

Correction of Information

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:

The Practice Manager Warabrook Doctors,

PO Box 185, HRMC NSW 2310

Or by email to: reception@warabrookdoctors.com.au

To protect your privacy and safeguard your health information from impostors and unauthorised access, ANY request to update or change contact details will require you to prove your identity with us first. We will ask you a series of questions to verify your identity before permanently changing your details.

How can you lodge a privacy-related complaint, and how will it be handled?

We take complaints and concerns regarding privacy breeches very seriously. Patients are encouraged to express any privacy concerns in writing to:

The Practice Manager,

Warabrook Doctors,

PO Box 185, HRMC NSW 2310

or by email to: PracticeManager@warabrookdoctors.com.au

We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our resolution procedure. You will receive a response within 30 days; however, we will make every effort to respond as quickly as possible. In our response we will endeavour to explain our view of the incident and any remedies we may offer. We will also explain any improvements in our processes that may have occurred due to the incident. You may also contact the OAIC. Generally, the OAIC will require time to respond, before they will investigate. For further information, visit www.oaic.gov.au or call the OAIC on 1300 336 002.

You may also contact the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) on:1800 043 159 or by going to their websitehttp://www.hccc.nsw.gov.au/Complaints/How-to-make-a-complaint/Default

Suggestions and Feedback

Our practice aims to provide exceptional care and support to all our patients. We understand that there may be times when expectations are not met and we encourage suggestions and feedback to further improve providing quality care.

Patients are supported in reporting any suggestions or feedback they may have in writing to:

The Practice Manager

Warabrook Doctors,

PO Box 185

HRMC NSW 2310

OR reception@warabrookdoctors.com.au – with the subject field as “Suggestions”.

We will endeavour to take on any suggestions and feedback and if required we may contact you to gather more information to assist in improving outcomes.

Privacy, our Website and Social Media

Our website collects your private information for three purposes:

To enable us to respond to you if you use our contact form which requires your name and email and requests your phone number
To allow you to make an appointment via our appointment plugin Health Engine. Their privacy policy can be found at: https://healthengine.com.au/privacy.php.

Generally, it states that the use of their system is completely voluntary and collects only enough information to verify your identity so that you can make an appointment in BP. The information that health engine may collect is your name, email address, date of birth, address, mobile phone number and if available, your Medicare number. •

For Google Analytics to enhance the effectiveness of our website. More information about Googles privacy policy can be found here: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245?hl=en. The information Google takes is: The city you are visiting from (taken from your IP address), what kind of device you are using, what pages you visit and how long you spend on each page. Google Analytics does use first-party cookies to do this but all information is non-personally identifiable.

We may utilise Facebook varying degrees to share health information and tips and to connect with our community. We do not collect data from our social media.

Our social media pages are public forums therefore anything added to them are available to the public. Like any social media page, ours are subject to the data collection as standard to the specific social media provider. Their policies including what, why and how they collect your data is available by visiting:

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/privacy/explanation

Quality Improvement & Research Participation

Our practice takes part in quality improvement and in select research projects from time to time. All data used for quality improvement is de-identified. Any data used for research that isn’t de-identified your consent will be obtained prior to disclosure of your personal information.

Patient participation in any research projects the practice is involved in is completely voluntary. You have the right to refuse to join, and you can change your mind at any time without giving a reason.

Choosing not to participate will not alter, delay, or affect the quality of care you receive at our practice. Your decision will not affect your relationship with your doctor or practice staff.

If you agree to join but change your mind later, you can withdraw instantly by notifying our front desk or your provider. Stopping your participation will have no impact on your future care at our practice.

De-identified data may be used for secondary purposes like research and quality improvement.

Policy Review Statement

Our privacy policy is reviewed regularly to ensure it is in accordance with any changes that may occur. New versions will be posted on our website and available in hard copy onsite. We welcome feedback if you identify any issues in our policy.