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Trinity Medical Centre Privacy Policy & Collection Statement

 

 

This statement sets out Trinity Medical Centre policies relating to the collection and use of personal information as is available to anyone upon request. Your health record is a confidential document and contains your personal information. Once you register at the clinic we will collect your personal information for the purpose of providing your health care. We will securely maintain your health information and restrict its access to authorised staff. Information is kept electronically and protected by passwords, backups and up to date internet security. Trinity Medical Centre complies with confidentiality and privacy laws.

 

The type of information we record about you generally includes:

  • Name, Address, Phone number, Email, Medicare Details, Private health insurance details

  • Previous and current medical history including family medical history if relevant

  • Correspondence to and from specialists

  • Reports and test results

  • Consult billing details

 

The information we collect helps us to identify you accurately, contact you when required eg to return for abnormal test results, for appointment reminders, to reschedule an appointment, record signs and symptoms, support diagnosis, to justify management decisions, for accreditation purposes, to collate and review statistics, quality assurance, professional development and research. We may disclose information about you to outside contractors to carry out activities on our behalf such as an IT service provider, solicitor or debt collection agent. We impose security and confidentiality requirements on how they handle your personal information. Outside contractors are required not to use information about you for any purpose except for those activities we have asked them to perform. Your information would only be disclosed to someone outside of Australia in exceptional circumstances where the law permits.

We will treat your personal information as strictly private and confidential. We will only use or disclose it for purposes directly related to your care and treatment, or in ways that you would reasonably expect that we may use it for your ongoing care and treatment. For example, the disclosure of blood test results to your specialist or requests for x-rays. Our practice uses document automation technologies so that only the relevant medical information is included in referral letters.  Your information is available for all Doctors and other healthcare professionals within the practice to enable you to be seen by all servicers at Trinity Medical Centre. For billing and administrative tasks it may be necessary for administration staff to have access to records. 

 

 

You can request access to your health information, we require a request in writing from you and will respond in a reasonable time frame, please allow up to 28 days, this will incur an administration fee. Alternatively an appointment can be made with the GP to discuss.  Your health record is kept is permanently on file. If you require this information to be sent to a different GP Surgery, we require a written request signed by you and photo ID. A fee may be charged depending on the size of the record. If you need to correct any information in your health record please make an appointment with your GP to discuss.

 

There are circumstances where we may be permitted or required by law to disclose your personal information to third parties. For example, to Medicare, Police, insurers, solicitors, government regulatory bodies, tribunals, courts of law, hospitals, debt collection agents, the electronic transfer of prescriptions service or to the My Health Record system. We may also from time to time provide statistical data to third parties for research purposes. To protect the rights or property of the Trinity Medical Centre, any user, or any member of the public. To lessen a serious threat to a person's health or safety and where we believe it necessary to provide you with a service that you have requested.

 

New patients are made aware of the privacy arrangements via the practice webpage and the practice information sheet. You will be asked to disclose your name, DOB and address when booking and arriving for each appointment so we can correctly identify you.

 

Email correspondence with patients is discouraged as it is not a secure platform. If email is the only method for contact you we will inform you of the risks involved and ask you to confirm you have understood the risks of sending personal information using an unsecure platform.

How much information you contribute it at your discretion however failing to provide full details may impact on the quality of healthcare we are able to provide.

 

Complaints regarding privacy that cannot be resolved initially or need further internal investigation should be addressed to the manager in writing Practice Manager, Trinity Medical Centre, 28 College Street, Port Adelaide SA 5015 or emailed to feedback@trinitywestcare.com.au, if these are an unsuitable medium for the complainant to use, it can be taken verbally. You can communicate anonymously if you wish, via our suggestion box, as an unnamed letter sent in to the clinic or verbally without giving your name.

For more information about privacy issues in Australia and protecting your privacy, visit the web site of the Australian Federal Privacy Commissioner https://www.oaic.gov.au/ or call 1300 363 992

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Current as of 13/02/2024

Review annually - review date 12/02/2025

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