Patient Privacy

Introduction

This Privacy Policy is current from August 2023

We are committed to protecting the privacy of patient information and to handling your personal information in a responsible manner in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles and relevant State and Territory privacy legislation (referred to as privacy legislation).

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use and disclose your personal information, how you may access that information and how you may seek the correction of any information. It also explains how you may make a complaint about a breach of privacy legislation.

From time to time, we may make changes to our policy, processes and systems in relation to how we handle your personal information. We will update this Privacy Policy to reflect any changes. Those changes will be available on our website and in the practice.

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 radiologists and 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).

To protect your privacy, we will:

only obtain health information necessary to provide our services to you;
take all reasonable steps to keep your health information secure;
give you access to the information we have about you in accordance with our obligations under privacy laws;
not disclose your personal information to external parties except in accordance with this Privacy Policy, or with your consent, unless we are legally authorised or required to do so;
provide you with an accessible complaints mechanism;
provide procedures and training to staff to ensure that privacy processes are followed;
take steps to ensure our external agents and contractors comply with privacy laws; and
continue to review and improve our privacy practices.

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 your clinical history such as medications, allergies, adverse events, immunisations, social history, family history and risk factors
Results of any tests or procedures
Information from your referring health professional and/or medical specialists that is necessary for the services we provide
Information from other third parties (such as a family member, authorised representative or allied health professional)

Payment and administrative information, including Medicare number (where available) for identification and claiming purposes, healthcare identifiers, health

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 may collect your personal information in several different ways.

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

During the course of providing medical services, we may collect further personal information. Note: This practice participates in eHealth and information may also be collected through electronic transfer of prescriptions (eTP), My Health Record, e.g., via your Shared Health Summary, Event Summary.

We may also collect your personal information when you send us an email or SMS, telephone us, or make an online appointment.

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 or responsible person, other involved healthcare providers, such as your GP, specialists, allied health professionals, hospitals, community health services and pathology and diagnostic imaging services, your health fund, Medicare, or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

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 APPs and this policy
with other healthcare providers
when it is required or authorised by law (e.g. 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 (e.g. some diseases require mandatory notification)
during the course of providing medical services as this practice participates in eHealth 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 at our practice in various forms, e.g. as paper records, electronic records, visual records and/or audio recordings.

Our practice stores all personal information securely e.g. electronic format, in protected information systems or in hard copy format in a secured environment, use of password protection, lockable secure data server cabinets, and confidentiality agreements for staff and contractors.

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.

The best way for you to obtain your medical imaging results is via your referring practitioner. They will have your complete history and be best placed to diagnose you based on the clinical information they have and the imaging information provided by us in the report. The report on its own may not provide all the answers and may need to be interpreted and explained by your doctor.

You may request access to your information and we will provide this information, except in certain circumstances where the request will be denied due to legal reasons as set out in the privacy legislation, including if the request is vexatious or if a criminal proceeding is under way.

We understand you may request access to their medical records. We require you to put this request in writing addressed to:

The Practice Manager – ‘in confidence’

Advicon Imaging

admin@iconradiology.com.au

and the practice manager will respond within a reasonable time, being no more than 30 days from the date of your request.

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 address above.

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

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.

Our contact details are:
The Practice Manager – ‘in confidence’
Advicon Imaging
admin@iconradiology.com.au

The practice manager will respond within a reasonable time frame, being no more than 30 days from date of correspondence. Some requests may require a more urgent response, however we have set this as a maximum timeframe for all requests. Please let us know if your concern is time sensitive.

Responses will be forwarded to the address provided in your correspondence.
You may also contact the OAIC. For further information visit www.oaic.gov.au/privacy-law/privacy-act (Privacy Act 1988) or call the OAIC on 1300 363 992.

Policy review statement

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

The website, products and services offered by us are intended to be viewed by residents of Australia. In the event of any dispute arising out of or in relation to the website, you agree that the exclusive venue for resolving any dispute shall be in the courts of New South Wales, Australia.

Contact Us

If you have any questions or would like more information about career opportunities at Advicon Imaging, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.