Current as of: 22nd June 2023

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 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 (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.

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?

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.
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 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:
   • 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).

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 (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)
• during online booking of appointments, through HealthEngine.

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.

Our practice stores all personal information securely.

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 patients may request access to their medical records. We require you to put this request in writing to the practice manager – admin@mbmedical.com.au and our practice will respond within a reasonable time.

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

You may also contact the OAIC. Generally, the OAIC will require you to give them time to respond before they will investigate. For further information visit www.oaic.gov.au or call the OAIC on 1300 363 992.

Privacy and our website

This section relates only to private information provided through using mbmedical.com.au (“Website”).

Cookies and Logging

A Cookie is a small text file that our Website may place on your browser as a tool to remember details for your use of our site. As a rule, Cookies are used to make your browsing experience better and enable our Website to provide the service. Cookies are used directly by our Website and by third-party applications to monitor and improve the service provided by the Website. You can opt out of the use of cookies if you disable or refuse the cookie, disable JavaScript, or use the opt-out service provided by Google.

When you visit the Website, we log certain information about your device (“device information”), including information about your web browser, IP address, date and time, and information about how you interact with the Website, to help us monitor usage of the Website.

Personal Information and 3rd Parties

There may be occasions where we supply your details to companies we do business with. Your personal information will not be disclosed to a 3rd party other than of the following only when required:

• Moreton Bay Medical Centre partners
• couriers or parties responsible for delivery of your order
• anyone employed to provide services for Moreton Bay Medical Centre which directly involves the customer
• law enforcement agencies as required to do so by law
• 3rd party service providers who assist us in providing services to you

Our Website may provide interfaces with social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and others. If you choose to “like” or “share” information from our Website through these services, you should review the privacy policy of that service. If you are a member of a social media site, the interfaces may allow the social media site to connect your visits to our sites with other personal information.

The Website may use Google Analytics, a service which transmits website traffic data to Google servers. Information on how Google uses data when using our Website can be found at https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites. We use reports provided by Google Analytics to help us understand website traffic and webpage usage. By using our Website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner described in Google’s Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy and for the purposes set out above.

The Website uses Healthengine, a service to book appointments with our health professionals. Information on how Healthengine uses data when booking an appointment on our Website can be found at https://healthengine.com.au/privacy.php. By using the Book Appointment features on our Website, you consent to the processing of data about you by Healthengine to provide this service.

Information Security

Your personal information is private and will be treated as such. We take reasonable measures to protect your personal information where applicable. We endeavour to ensure your information is accurate, current and stored in a secure environment.

Our Website is hosted in Australia. Personal information may be transferred, stored, and processed in any country we engage service providers, including the United States. In certain circumstances, courts, law enforcement agencies, regulatory agencies, or security authorities in those countries may be entitled to access your personal information.

We do not store credit card information on the Website, nor are any payment details such as bank account details.

Policy review statement

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

All updates to the privacy policy will be on our website.

(Last Updated 28 June 2023)