PRIVACY Page

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Your Privacy page is designed to comply with your legal obligations and notifications relating to patient information. It can include:

Privacy Policy
Disclaimer Statement
Policy Downloads
Links to 3rd Party Statements

Privacy & Disclosure Policy

This draft content should be reviewed and edits before use

DOWNLOAD MS-WORD PRIVACY POLICY EXAMPLE

Privacy & Disclosure Policy

About this Policy

We respect our Clients' information and confidentiality. This page covers the terms of our Privacy Policy

[BUSINESS NAME]. (collectively referred to as the "Publisher", "we", "our", or "us") is subject to the National Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988.

This Privacy Policy and Disclosure Statement explains how the Publisher collects and protects the privacy of personal information about you collected by the Publisher or provided by you to the Publisher via our website or from other sources.

This Privacy Policy and Disclosure Statement does not apply in relation to acts and practices of the Publisher which relate directly to the employee records of present and former employees of the Publisher.

Collection Of Your Personal Information

The Publisher will generally collect personal information about you directly from you when you use this website or deal with the Publisher over the telephone or by letter or e-mail.

Normally, the type of personal information collected will include your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address and product preferences.

It is our privilege to offer comprehensive specialist health and surgical services in an environment that fosters honesty, trust, respect, commitment and above all clinical excellence in patient care.

It is our promise to our patients, to continue to shape our practice actively in ways that meet the challenges of changing healthcare with determination, creativity and enthusiasm.

Privacy Compliance

All medical practices must comply with the Australian Privacy Principles of the Privacy Act 1988.

The following information is aimed at providing you with a more complete understanding of the information that this practice may hold about you and the way we handle it.

Privacy Policy Inclusions

The policy statement covers the following:

What types of information are collected
Why it is collected
How the information is stored and used
Who has access to information
Informed consent
Disclosure of information
Maintaining the accuracy of information
Changes

What information do we collect?

The following information is collected, where possible, directly from the patient:

Name
Date of Birth
Address
Contact details
Next of kin
Emergency contacts
Marital status
Referrals
Medications
Ethnicity
Allergies & other sensitivities
Past & current medical history
Social history
Medical procedures
Diagnostic tests & results
Medicare number
Health insurance details
Financial details related to billing
WorkCover details
Reports from other health providers

Why do we collect this information?

This information is collected so that we have enough information to provide optimal health care services to patients on an ongoing basis. If you provide incomplete or inaccurate information to us, or if the information is withheld, we may not be able to provide you with the services you are seeking.

Where do we collect information from?

We collect most information directly from you. This can include:

On the phone
Through a medical history form emailed to you (to be filled out and brought to the consultation) or filled out prior to your appointment
During the doctor-patient relationship
Other people may also provide information about you:
Your GP or other referrers
Other health providers involved in your care e.g. allied health, other specialists
Your parent or guardian (if you are under the age of 18 years)

How is the data stored?

All forms filled out by the patient are scanned and saved in our electronic database in the patient’s electronic file. Patient electronic files are all stored on domestic servers (i.e. within Australia only). All paperwork filled out is then shredded.

How is the data used?

The information you provide is used to maintain up to date patient electronic files. The following details are updated:

Demographic data
Recall & reminder systems
Operation reports
Emergency department visits
After hours & home care
Telephone notes
Accounts

Who has access?

Only authorised doctors and administrative staff have access to data.

All computers and programs with patient information are password-protected. All staff members have signed privacy agreement forms prior to commencing work at this practice.

Patients referred to other health service providers (e.g. allied health/ other specialist services) will be aware that information relevant to their care (including medical history summary, pathology and radiology) in the referral letter is only provided if the patient gives consent. If the patient does not provide consent, he/she will not be referred to that provider.

Account details are only provided to obtain payment from Medicare and/or private health insurance organisations.

*Please note: under certain legislation, we must disclose patient information. These include:

Infectious Disease Act (Health Regulations)
Court orders, subpoenas, search warrants and Coroner’s Court cases

If the information is required for research purposes, each patient will be notified and provided with an ‘Informed Consent’ form to sign, in order to release his/her personal health information. If the patient refuses to provide consent, his/her personal health information will not be used.

Every patient has the right to access their own personal health information, under privacy legislation. To request the release of this information, an ‘Access to Medical Records by Patient’ form needs to be completed (available at reception).

Do we inform patients of the intended use of the information?

Yes; we will always inform patients of the intended use of their information. A ‘Privacy Form’ is attached to all new patient registration forms, which every patient must read and complete prior to receiving health care at our practice. A copy of this form is available from reception.

Do we obtain a patient’s consent?

Every patient attending our practice must read and complete a ‘Privacy form’ prior to receiving any health care at our practice.

Is the data we collect accurate, up to date and complete?

The following procedures are in place to ensure that the data we collect is accurate, up to date and complete:

For new patients:

When entering demographic data electronically,
information is cross-checked with the ‘Medical History’ form.
For new patient registrations, patients are required to present at reception with their Medicare and health insurance card (if applicable). Demographic details provided on the completed ‘Medical History’ form is cross-checked with these cards, to ensure that our practice records have correct details. This is particularly important for patients from cultures where transliteration of names and details into English may result in misspelt words.
Medicare numbers are verified online.
The surgeon cross-checks relevant health information with the patient during the initial consultation.

For returning patients:

Patients are asked if any of their personal details or GP details have changed since their last appointment.

In the event that a patient requests the practice to release results of any pathology or radiology to his/her next of kin, the next of kin details are confirmed with the patient; on contacting the next of kin, our staff always confirms that they are speaking to the person appointed by the patient prior to releasing any health information.

An updated referral letter from the patient’s general practitioner (GP) is required annually (excluding gastric band, breast cancer and colon cancer patients). This is to ensure that our practice has up to date information on the patient’s current GP.
Patients returning to the practice after 3 years are required to complete a new ‘Medical History’ form.
Consultation notes are saved in the patient’s file. These cannot be altered; however, amendments to the notes can be added later if a step has been omitted or for clarification purposes.
Letters addressed to other health care providers are typed and cross-checked by a qualified medical typist. A sample of these letters is also checked on a monthly basis by the Practice Manager to ensure accuracy.
Our practice conducts audits of pathology and radiology on a monthly basis. This is performed by the Practice Manager.

How do we protect data from misuse, loss and unauthorised access?

All computers at our practice are password-protected and only authorised staff have access to this information. Backup information is stored on

On-site on computer programs
Off-site on an external hard drive which is retained by the Practice Manager
Off-site on a cloud, only accessible by authorised persons
In addition to this, we have the following measures in place to protect information:
Firewalls and antivirus software
Secure work environments
Encryption of data in transit
Storage of electronic information on domestic servers only
Management of access privileges

How do we maintain and update our Privacy Policy?

At our practice, we have an appointed Privacy Officer. The duties of the Privacy Officer include but are not limited to:

Investigation of any complaints lodged
Co-ordinate, implement & monitor the privacy policy
Promote privacy policy to all interested parties including patients, GPs and staff
Act as liaison officer for all privacy issues and patient requests for record access
Formulate and update the privacy policy
Conduct privacy reviews (analyse what data collected, how, storage, disclosure, consent)

Disclosure Agreement

Disclosure of Information Gathering

The Publisher collects personal information for some or all of the following purposes:

to monitor or improve the quality and standard of service provided to you or other consumers by the Publisher and any entities related to the Publisher, (collectively called "Authorised Disclosees");
to provide marketing information to you about products and services of any one or more of the Authorised Disclosees; and
arrange for delivery of products of any one or more Authorised Disclosure to you.

If you do not provide any information requested, the Publisher or one or more of the Authorised Disclosees may not be able to either provide you with information about [BUSINESS NAME]. products or to fulfil one or more other purposes of collection of your personal information.

Information & Website Disclosure

The Publisher may collect personal information about you from a third party source. The Publisher will take reasonable steps to contact you and make you aware of the purposes for which the Publisher has collected your personal information which has been obtained from a third party source.

This website is owned by the Publisher and content is published by the Publisher. You must not access, browse or use this website unless you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions set out below. If you do not agree to these terms and conditions, you must not use this website. For an explanation of the practices and policies of the Publisher relating to the collection, use, and storage of information of users of this website, users should refer to the Privacy Policy and Disclosure Statement of the Publisher on this website.

The information contained on this website is intended for general information only and should not be considered to be complete or definitive. Information on this website may contain technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. The Publisher accepts no responsibility regarding the accuracy of information that is provided by the Publisher on this website and use of such information is at your own risk.

Disclosure Changes

The Publisher reserves the right to make changes at any time, without notice, to any element of the website. All content and functionality on this website is provided "as is" and without warranties of any kind by the Publisher, express or implied. This website contains links to sites maintained by other organisations, and the Publisher does not take any responsibility for the content or functionality of those sites. You should take appropriate action to ensure that your access to, and use of this website and other sites is protected against, and free from viruses (including macro viruses), worms, trojan horses and other harmful and destructive material.

The Publisher does not want to receive confidential or proprietary information from you through this website. All information or material sent to the Publisher will be deemed not to be confidential. You grant the Publisher an unrestricted irrevocable licence to use, reproduce, display, perform, modify, transmit and distribute that information or material, for any purpose.

The Publisher will not be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, special or other consequential damages arising out of any use of this website, or any other hyperlinked website, and including, but without limitation, loss of profits, interruption of business, loss of data on your information handling system or otherwise, even if the Publisher has been expressly advised of the possibility of such damages.

Disclosure Representations

The Publisher provides no representations or warranties, express or implied, including any implied warranties of fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability or otherwise in relation to any information provided by the Publisher on this website.

All statutory or implied terms, conditions or warranties concerning the quality or condition of this website or any information, service, material, advice or recommendation supplied by Publisher to you through this website is limited to the fullest extent permitted by law. If the Publisher breaches any term, condition or warranty which is implied by law and cannot lawfully be excluded, the liability of the Publisher for a breach of the applicable term, condition or warranty is limited to, at the election of the Publisher:

the resupply of the relevant advice, service, recommendation or information; or
the payment to you of the cost of having the relevant advice, service, recommendation or information supplied again

Except to the extent that liability may not lawfully be excluded, the Publisher will not be under any liability to you (or any of your officers, agents or employees) for any loss of profit or anticipated profit, loss of data, loss of use, damage to goodwill and loss due to delay, or other direct or indirect loss or damage (including without limitation consequential loss or damage,) however caused (including without limitation due to breach of contract, negligence and/or breach of statute) which may be suffered or incurred or which may arise from or in connection with your use of this website or your use of or reliance upon any of the information, services and/or materials contained in it or provided by it to you or negligence or breach by the Publisher of the Publisher obligations under these Terms of Use. the Publisher does not warrant that any of the functions contained in the website or your access to the website will be uninterrupted or error-free, or that any notifications (such as may be selected in the investor relations section of the website), will be made in a timely manner, or at all.

The information contained in this website is derived from sources believed to be true and accurate. However, the content may include errors and changes or events may occur which cause the information to be inaccurate or out of date. For various reasons substantial delays may occur before particular information on the website is updated. Accordingly, the Publisher does not warrant the reliability, accuracy, currency or completeness of that information and any reliance by you upon that information is at your sole risk.

You should satisfy yourself as to the currency and accuracy of any information provided through this website. You must indemnify the Publisher and hold the Publisher harmless against all loss, actions, proceedings, costs, expenses (including legal fees), claims and damages arising from any breach by you of these Terms of Use, your access and/or use of the website or reliance on its contents or information received through it by yourself or any person accessing any content through your website.

to monitor or improve the quality and standard of service provided to you or other consumers by the Publisher and any entities related to the Publisher, (collectively called "Authorised Disclosees");
to provide marketing information to you about products and services of any one or more of the Authorised Disclosees; and
arrange for delivery of goods of any one or more Authorised Disclosees to you.

The Publisher may at any time revise these terms and conditions by updating this website. By using this website you agree to be bound by all revisions and you should therefore periodically visit this page to determine the then-current terms which govern your relationship with the Publisher.

The materials displayed on this website, including without limitation all information, text, graphics, names, logos, trademarks, design, software and advertisements ("Content") are protected by copyright, trademark and other intellectual property laws unless expressly indicated otherwise on the website. You may access and display these pages on a computer or a monitor only for your personal and non-commercial use.

All other use (including without limitation reproduction on any other website) of any part of this website is prohibited without express written permission of the Publisher. You must not use this website in any manner or for any purpose which is unlawful or which violates the rights of any owner of any content.

Nothing contained in this website should be construed as a licence or right of use of any trademark displayed on the website without the express written permission of the owner of the trademark.

This agreement is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of New South Wales. You irrevocably and unconditionally submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales. If any provision of this agreement is found to be invalid or unenforceable by a court of law, such invalidity or unenforceability will not affect the remainder of this agreement, which will continue in full force and effect.

Use Or Disclosure Of Your Personal Information

The Publisher will use and disclose personal information for the primary purpose for which the personal information was collected or for purposes related to or ancillary to that primary purpose. The Publisher does not disclose collected personal information to third parties other than Authorised Disclosees, for the purpose of allowing such third parties to directly market products and services to you.

The Publisher may from time to time engage third party contractors to carry out work for the Publisher. Third-party contractors are prohibited from using collected personal information about you, except for the specific purpose for which that personal information has been supplied by the Publisher to the contractor.

Personal Information About Other People

You must not provide personal information to the Publisher about another person, unless that person has authorised the Publisher, through you, to collect, use and disclose personal information about that person for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and Disclosure Statement.

Sharing Information

The Publisher may disclose personal information to Authorised Disclosees upon the basis that any Authorised Disclosure may only collect, use or disclose the information for the purpose for which that information was originally collected by the Publisher.

Access To Personal Information

The Publisher will, on request, provide you with access to personal information held by the Publisher about you, subject to any limitations or exceptions in the Privacy Act.

The Publisher will deal with requests for access within a reasonable time. You must pay the Publisher for reasonable costs incurred by the Publisher in providing you with access.

If the Publisher refuses to provide you with access to personal information about you, The Publisher will provide you with reasons for the refusal, in accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act.

Your Consent

We understand that when you visit our website you may not wish to become a member. We respect that and have provided you the option to not sign up as a member and to drop out at any time you no longer wish to be a member of the website.

Up-to-Date Information

The Publisher will take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is up-to-date when collected or used by the Publisher. If any personal information held by the Publisher about you is incorrect, you should contact the Publisher immediately, so that the Publisher can take reasonable steps to correct incorrect information about you.

Security of Personal Information

The Publisher protects your personal information from misuse and unauthorised disclosure.

Personal information about you may be stored in hard copy or electronically in data information storage systems of the Publisher.

The Publisher maintains physical security, as well as network and computer security over paper and electronic data information storage systems.

Children and young people

The website is accessible to people of all ages. However, we are mindful that some customers who register as members may be under the age of 18. In the interests of their personal safety, we urge children to check with their parents before entering personal information on any website and ask parents to discuss these issues with their children.

The Publisher will also ensure that appropriate disclosures are made at the time of collection of other information from minors, and will only collect this information where it is appropriate to do so. Information collected will only be used for appropriate purposes.

Contacts

You may gain access to your personal information, make a complaint about breach of your privacy rights, or make enquiries about collection or use of your personal information by contacting the owners of this website via the Contact Page

The Publisher will respond to your query or complaint in a timely fashion.

No part of this site may be reproduced in any manner without express written permission of the Publisher. Privacy &

Privacy & Disclosure Policy - edited March 2022

Disclaimer Statement

This draft content should be reviewed and edits before use

DOWNLOAD MS-WORD DISCLAIMER EXAMPLE

Disclaimer Statement

Introduction

1.1 This disclaimer shall govern your use of our website.

1.2 By using our website, you accept this disclaimer in full; accordingly, if you disagree with this disclaimer or any part of this disclaimer, you must not use our website.

1.3 Our website uses cookies; by using our website or agreeing to this disclaimer, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with the terms of our privacy and cookies policy.

2.2 Subject to the express provisions of this disclaimer:

(a) we, together with our licensors, own and control all the copyright and other intellectual property rights in our website and the material on our website; and

(b) all the copyright and other intellectual property rights in our website and the material on our website are reserved.

Licence to use website

3.1 You may:

(a) view pages from our website in a web browser;

(b) download pages from our website for caching in a web browser; and

subject to the other provisions of this disclaimer.

3.2 Except as expressly permitted by Section 3.1 or the other provisions of this disclaimer, you must not download any material from our website or save any such material to your computer.

3.3 You may only use our website for your own personal purposes, and you must not use our website for any other purposes.

3.4 Unless you own or control the relevant rights in the material, you must not:

(a) republish material from our website (including republication on another website);

(b) sell, rent or sub-license material from our website;

(d) exploit material from our website for a commercial purpose; or

(e) redistribute material from our website.

3.5 We reserve the right to restrict access to areas of our website, or indeed our whole website, at our discretion; you must not circumvent or bypass, or attempt to circumvent or bypass, any access restriction measures on our website.

Acceptable use

4.1 You must not:

(a) use our website in any way or take any action that causes, or may cause, damage to the website or impairment of the performance, availability or accessibility of the website;

(b) use our website in any way that is unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful, or in connection with any unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful purpose or activity;

(c) use our website to copy, store, host, transmit, send, use, publish or distribute any material which consists of (or is linked to) any spyware, computer virus, Trojan horse, worm, keystroke logger, rootkit or other malicious computer software;

(d) conduct any systematic or automated data collection activities (including without limitation scraping, data mining, data extraction and data harvesting) on or in relation to our website without our express written consent;

(e) access or otherwise interact with our website using any robot, spider or other automated means[, except for the purpose of search engine indexing

(f) violate the directives set out in the robots.txt file for our website or

(g) use data collected from our website for any direct marketing activity (including without limitation email marketing, SMS marketing, telemarketing and direct mailing).

4.2 You must not use data collected from our website to contact individuals, companies or other persons or entities.

4.3 You must ensure that all the information you supply to us through our website, or in relation to our website, is true, accurate, current, complete and non-misleading.

Limited warranties

5.1 We do not warrant or represent:

(a) the completeness or accuracy of the information published on our website;

(b) that the material on the website is up to date; or

5.2 We reserve the right to discontinue or alter any or all of our website services, and to stop publishing our website, at any time in our sole discretion without notice or explanation; and save to the extent expressly provided otherwise in this disclaimer, you will not be entitled to any compensation or other payment upon the discontinuance or alteration of any website services, or if we stop publishing the website.

5.3 To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law and subject to Section 6.1, we exclude all representations and warranties relating to the subject matter of this disclaimer, our website and the use of our website.

5.4 This website contains links to other websites. [BUSINESS NAME] is not responsible for the privacy policies or practices of any third party.

Limitations and exclusions of liability

6.1 Nothing in this disclaimer will:

(a) limit or exclude any liability for death or personal injury resulting from negligence;

(b) limit or exclude any liability for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation;

(d) exclude any liabilities that may not be excluded under applicable law.

6.2 The limitations and exclusions of liability set out in this Section 6 and elsewhere in this disclaimer:

(a) are subject to Section 6.1; and

(b) govern all liabilities arising under this disclaimer or relating to the subject matter of this disclaimer, including liabilities arising in contract, in tort (including negligence) and for breach of statutory duty, except to the extent expressly provided otherwise in this disclaimer.

6.3 To the extent that our website and the information and services on our website are provided free of charge, we will not be liable for any loss or damage of any nature.

6.4 We will not be liable to you in respect of any losses arising out of any event or events beyond our reasonable control.

6.5 We will not be liable to you in respect of any business losses, including (without limitation) loss of or damage to profits, income, revenue, use, production, anticipated savings, business, contracts, commercial opportunities or goodwill.

6.6 We will not be liable to you in respect of any loss or corruption of any data, database or software.

6.7 We will not be liable to you in respect of any special, indirect or consequential loss or damage.

6.8 You accept that we have an interest in limiting the personal liability of our officers and employees and, having regard to that interest, you acknowledge that we are a limited liability entity; you agree that you will not bring any claim personally against our officers or employees in respect of any losses you suffer in connection with the website or this disclaimer (this will not, of course, limit or exclude the liability of the limited liability entity itself for the acts and omissions of our officers and employees).

Variation

7.1 We may revise this disclaimer from time to time.

7.2 The revised disclaimer shall apply to the use of our website from the time of publication of the revised disclaimer on the website.

Severability

8.1 If a provision of this disclaimer is determined by any court or other competent authority to be unlawful and/or unenforceable, the other provisions will continue in effect.

8.2 If any unlawful and/or unenforceable provision of this disclaimer would be lawful or enforceable if part of it were deleted, that part will be deemed to be deleted, and the rest of the provision will continue in effect.