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Cataract Eye Surgery Centre Practice Privacy Policy
- Introduction
Our practice is committed to best practice in relation to the management of information we collect. This practice has developed a policy to protect patient privacy in compliance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (‘the Privacy Act’). Our policy is to inform you of:- the kinds of information that we collect and hold, which, as a medical practice, is likely to be ‘health information’ for the purposes of the Privacy Act;
- how we collect and hold personal information.
- the purposes for which we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information.
- how you may access your personal information and seek the correction of that information.
- how you may complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles and how we will deal with such a complaint.
- What kinds of personal information do we collect?
The type of information we may collect, and hold includes:- Your name, address, date of birth, email and contact details.
- Medicare number, DVA number and other government identifiers, although we will not use these for the purposes of identifying you in our practice.
- Other health information about you, including:
- notes of your symptoms or diagnosis and the treatment given to you
- Health fund and third-party insurer details
- Contact details for other healthcare providers involved in your care. (GP, Optometrist and other Specialists).
- your reports and test results
- your appointment and billing details
- your prescriptions and other pharmaceutical orders
- your genetic information
- Clinical Photography
This section does not include recordings such as angiograms and other images of the internal eye.
Occasionally it will be necessary to take photographs to be kept as part of your medical record, particularly in the subspecialty of oculoplastic.- Additional informed consent will be required in these circumstances. Consent can be withdrawn at any time.
- These images will be used for evaluation pre and post operatively and for clinical care.
- Access to you photographs will be available by written request.
- Photographs will be stored securely as with all other patient’s medical history.
- Images may be used for teaching and educational purposes of medical and optometry professionals. These images will be de identified, if a patient does not want their images used for training, consent can be refused/withdrawn.
- How do we collect and hold personal information?
We will generally collect personal information:- from you directly when you provide your details to us. This might be via a face-to-face discussion, telephone conversation, registration form or online form.
- from a person responsible for you
- from third parties where the Privacy Act or other law allows it – this may include, but is not limited to: other members of your treating team, diagnostic centres, specialists, General Practitioners, hospitals, electronic prescription services, Medicare, your health insurer, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
- Why do we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information?
In general, we collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information for the following purposes:- to provide health services to you
- to communicate with you in relation to the health service being provided to you
- to comply with our legal obligations, including, but not limited to, mandatory notification of communicable diseases or mandatory reporting under applicable child protection legislation.
- to help us manage our accounts and administrative services, including billing, arrangements with health funds, pursuing unpaid accounts, management of our ITC systems.
- for consultations with other doctors and allied health professional involved in your healthcare.
- to obtain, analyse and discuss test results from diagnostic and pathology laboratories.
- for identification and insurance claiming
- Information can also be disclosed through an electronic transfer of prescriptions service.
- To liaise with your health fund, government and regulatory bodies such as Medicare, the Department of Veteran’s Affairs and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) (if you make a privacy complaint to the OAIC), as necessary.
- Your health information may be used for research, trials and audits. This information may be published in medical journals or presented at conferences in Australia and overseas. No personal information will be disclosed unless direct consent has been obtained.
- Personal information will not be used for any marketing purposes unless consent has been obtained.
- Personal information will not be share with anyone outside of Australia without consent, unless under exceptional circumstances that are permitted by law.
- How can you access and correct your personal information?
You have a right to seek access to, and correction of the personal information which we hold about you. You will not be charged for making a request for access to your information, however, reasonable fees maybe charged to cover administration time in preparing the information and printing records.Request for information about another patient will not be granted without the patients consent. This includes access to a family members health information.
For details on how to access and correct your health record, please contact our practice as noted below under ‘Contact Details’
We will normally respond to your request within 7 days. - How do we hold your personal information?
Our staff are trained and required to respect and protect your privacy. We take reasonable steps to protect information held from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. This includes:- Holding your information in secure cloud storage. For your peace of mind our data is securely stored in Australian data centres. Our provider is also accredited with an ISO27001 security certification.
- Our staff sign confidentiality agreements.
- Our practice has document retention and destruction policies.
- Privacy related questions and complaints
If you have any questions about privacy-related issues or wish to complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles or the handling of your personal information by us, you may lodge your complaint in writing to (see below for details). We will normally respond to your request within 30 days.If you are dissatisfied with our response, you may refer the matter to the OAIC:
Phone: 1300 363 992
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
Fax: +61 2 9284 9666
Post: GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001
Website: https://www.oaic.gov.au/individuals/how-do-i-make-a-privacy-complaint - Anonymity and pseudonyms
The Privacy Act provides that individuals must have the option of not identifying themselves, or of using a pseudonym when dealing with our practice, except in certain circumstances, such as where it is impracticable for us to deal with you if you have not identified yourself. In a healthcare setting this is not always practical if a Medicare or insurance rebate is required. It should also be noted that this could be dangerous to your health. - Updates to this Policy
This Policy will be reviewed from time to time to take account of new laws and technology, changes to our operations and other necessary developments. Updates will be publicised on the practice’s website. - Privacy and websites
We do not collect any personal information when you visit our website unless you choose to provide this information to us. Certain information about site visitors is automatically recorded. Cookies analyse web traffic to help us provide a better visitor experience. - Contact details for privacy related issues
We have endeavoured to ensure that our privacy policy is transparent and easy to understand. If you require further clarification for anything related to our privacy policy, wish to notify us of a concern, update personal details or need to lodge a complaint please do so in writing toThe Practice Manager
Suite 7/860 Doncaster Road
East Doncaster, 3190.
Or Email to doncaster@cataracteyesurgery.com.au.
We will respond within 7 days of receiving your enquiry.