Privacy

Collected

Guardian Medical collects personal information related to patients in the delivery of quality medical care. You have the right to know what information is being collected, by whom and for what purpose. Health information is a particular type of personal information. Due to the sensitive nature of health information you will be asked, where appropriate, to give your consent for the information to be collected. You also have the right to know whether the information you give may be provided to other parties and for what purpose.

Use and Disclosure

Your personal information will only be used or disclosed for purposes related to your health, or to inform you of general health matters. To deliver the best quality of care to you, there may be occasions where the information is shared with other treating health professionals and as such you will be aware of these situations. In cuircumstances where it is necessary to provide information to related parties, such as your employer if you have work related injury or illness, you will be asked to provide your consent. Consent is not required for some practical related purposes, such as providing basic information to Medicare, your health fund, or for billing and account management. In certain limited circumstances, such as emergencies or when required by law to disclose basic information. consent is also not required.

Data Quality, Security and Storage

All reasonable steps are taken to ensure that personal information held by us will be accurate and upto date. Care is taken in the storage, use and transfer of all personal information. Access to your personal health information is limited to those people who need it and systems and processes are in place to protect the information.

Openness and Access

Details of how we manage your personal health information are available to you. You have the right to seek information from us about the privacy policy of the organisation. Patients may request access to their health information and can update or correct information held by us. A charge may apply to access information. On request, and with your consent, information held by us may be provided to another health provider. There are some circumstances where access to health information is restricted and in these cases reasons for this will be explained to you.

Complaints

Please discuss any concerns with us. In the event your concerns have not been addressed you can lodge a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner. Identifiers, Anonymity and Transborder Data Flows There are some additional requirements under the Privacy Act that do not generally impact in the provision of medical services. These include: Limiting the use of commonwealth identifiers to thoses uses necessary. Recognition of the right to anonymity (although in the context of medical care this is not likely to be practicable). Protection of privacy when information is sent interstate or outside Australia.

Summary

The Federal Privacy Act incorporates 10 National Privacy Principles that set out the rules for handling personal information in the private sector. In the interests of providing qualtiy health care we have developed a privacy policy that complies with the legislation adn recognises the rights of our patients to privacy.