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 doctors 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.

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. For Medicare and insurance purposes it is not practicable to be an anonymous patient, and it may be adverse to your health to be treated anonymously.

How do we collect your personal information?

Our practice may collect your personal information in several different ways, including:

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 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 your GP, other 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 Australian privacy laws.

• 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.

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. We will take all reasonable steps to protect your privacy if your information is to be sent outside Australia.

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.

How do we store and protect your personal information?

Your personal information may be stored at our practice in various forms including, as paper records, electronic records, visual records (X-rays, CT scans, videos and photos), and audio recordings.

Our practice stores all personal information securely.

We make every effort to ensure personal information is kept secure and take reasonable steps to protect it from misuse, loss, interference, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

In terms of system security, here are some of the things we do to protect your personal information:

• we store personal information in a variety of formats including on databases, in hard copy files and on personal devices, including laptop computers;

• we retain personal information in secure hard copy and electronic files;

• we use software protection programs, password access protections and secure servers;

• we regularly review our security arrangements to ensure we are taking reasonable and technically feasible steps available at the time to protect your personal information; and

• we take reasonable steps to destroy, erase or permanently de-identify personal information as soon as practicable if it is no longer required by us (including being required for record keeping or legal purposes).

As you will appreciate, since no system is 100% secure or error-free, we cannot guarantee that your personal information is totally protected, for example, from hackers, interference or misappropriation. You acknowledge that the security of online transactions and the security of communications sent by electronic means or by post cannot be guaranteed. You provide information to us via the internet or by post at your own risk. We cannot accept responsibility for misuse or loss of, or unauthorised access to, your personal information where the security of information is not within our control.

If you suspect any misuse or loss of, or unauthorised access to, your personal information, please contact us immediately.

In the event of a data breach involving a loss of, unauthorised access to or misuse of your personal information, we will report such breach to you and any relevant authority as required by law.

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 practice@nielsenspine.com and our practice will respond within 30 days.

Our practice will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up to date. From time to time, we will ask you to verify that your personal information held by our practice is correct and current. You may also request that we correct or update your information, and you should make such requests in writing to practice@nielsenspine.com.

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 your concerns. Please contact:

practice@nielsenspine.com
+61 7 3184 2420
PO Box 75, Morningside, Queensland 4170, Australia

We will endeavour to respond to your concerns within 30 days.

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

Our Internet Service Providers record certain statistical information about users of our websites. This information is reviewed by us for statistical purposes and is not disclosed to third parties. We do not identify you or your browsing activities except, in the event of an investigation, where a law enforcement agency may exercise a warrant or other such power to inspect the internet service provider’s server logs.

We use cookies on our websites to identify repeat viewers and make it easier for you to navigate our site. If you reject cookies, you may still use our site, but your ability to use some features of our site may be limited.

Policy review statement

This privacy policy will be reviewed regularly to ensure it is in accordance with any changes that may occur. This policy was last updated on 27 December 2022.