Privacy Policy
Forbes Medical Centre recognises the importance of privacy, confidentiality and security of information for our patients.
Forbes Medical Centre will make this policy available to anyone who asks for it.
Our primary concern is for the health and wellbeing of patients who visit our Practice. To ensure our patients feel confident about providing personal information we are committed to maintaining high standards with regard to privacy and confidentiality of patient information.
Our strong culture of confidentiality is in line with the Federal Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles which we abide by.
How we use and disclose personal information collected
Understanding that the information we collect is often of a highly sensitive nature, our Practice team ensure that we are compliant with privacy standards to keep all personal information secure.
All information that is stored securely is password protected on several levels. All paper- based information is held securely and only accessed by authorised personnel who have a legitimate reason to do so.
All staff, medical students and contractors who perform work on our premises or have access to any form of patient data are required to sign a confidentiality agreement.
To ensure we can provide our patients with the best treatment possible, the Practice on behalf of the practitioners, and the practitioners themselves, may collect personal information including health information from our patients.
The personal information that may be collected will include (but is not limited to):
- Patient’s name
- Address
- Telephone number(s)
- Medicare number
- Health Care/Pension Card number
- Current drugs/medication or treatment(s) used by the patient
- Current and previous medical history including where clinically relevant, family medical history
- The name of any health service providers or medical specialists to which the patient is referred
- Copies of any referral letters and reports relating to the patient
Patient information will be shared within our Practice for administrative and billing purposes and also to enable the patient to be seen by other practitioners who provide services from our Practice.
The practice may access information:
- Provided directly by the patient
- Provided on the patient’s behalf with their consent
- Provided or obtained from health service providers that patients are referred to
- From health service providers who refer a patient to medical or allied health professionals working within our practice
Collection of personal information by the Forbes Medical Centre may be used or disclosed if required by law, if there is a serious threat to the health or safety of an individual or to public health and safety, for referral of patients to other health service providers or medical specialists, for the purpose of which the patient was advised and to provide the patient with the best health treatment.
The collection and disclosure of information may also be used for the purpose of billing, liaising with Government departments regarding Medicare, training purposes, quality assurance activities, research and to facilitate any improvements in our services. Where data is used for research purposes the data will generally be de-identified however specific patient consent will be obtained if identified data is to be used.
Health information is kept for a minimum of 7 years for adults from the last occasion that health services were provided to the patient. If a person is under the age of 18 years then records must be kept until the person has attained the age of 25 years.
Information is also collected about the medical and allied health practitioners who provide services within our practice, either directly from them or with their consent. This information includes:
- Name
- Address
- Telephone number(s)
- Qualifications and experience
- Insurance information
Other than what is stated in this policy we will not sell, distribute or disclose any personal information to any third party unless consent is obtained.
Website Security
Forbes Medical Centre maintains high standards for electronic data security. We endeavour to ensure our website is as secure as possible however users should be aware that internet security cannot be guaranteed.
Forbes Medical Centre accepts no liability for any interference or damage to a user’s computer system, software or data occurring as a result of accessing our website.
The Privacy Policy posted on our website applies only to activity undertaken on our website. If users access any links to other websites our privacy policy no longer applies.
Use of Email
Forbes Medical Centre has a separate policy which outlines our position on the use of email.
Our practice policy is that we do not send or receive any patient information via email. A copy of this policy is available on request.
Online Appointment Booking, Reminder and Recall Systems
Our practice uses Hot Doc for our online appointment booking, reminder and recall system.
Hot Doc do not share or sell any patient information to third parties for any reason.
Accessing our policy or your personal information, lodging a complaint
If you wish to make a complaint regarding a breach of privacy you can do so by contacting the Practice Manager at the address below.
Patients may gain access to their personal information held by this Practice by making a written request to the Practice Manager. See Privacy Notice for Patients for details regarding this process.
All such requests will be assessed by a senior Clinician and access to records will be allowed under supervision and in accordance with the relevant Privacy Principle/s.
The Practice Manager
Forbes Medical Centre
4-6 Elgin Street
FORBES NSW 2871
PO Box 432
Phone: 02 6851 1300
Fax: 02 6851 2120
OR contact
National Privacy Commissioner
Privacy Hotline 1300 363 992
GPO Box 5218
SYDNEY NSW 2001
http://www.privacy.gov.au/complaints
Privacy Notice for Patients
Your personal health information and your medical record may be collected, used and disclosed by this practice for the following reasons:
- For communicating relevant information with other treating doctors, specialists or allied health professionals
- For follow up reminder or recall notices
- For National/State or Territory registries, for example: Immunisation data
- For State/Territory reminders systems, for example: cervical screening (pap smear) reminders or familial cancer registries
- Accounting / Medicare / Health Insurance procedures
- Administrative purposes such as the transcribing of reports and letters
- Quality assurance activities such as Accreditation
- For disease notification as required by law, for example: infectious diseases
- For use by all Doctors and clinical staff in this practice when consulting with you
- For legal related disclosure as required by a court of law, for example: subpoena, court order, suspected child abuse
- For research purposes – your data will be de-identified which means you are not able to be identified from the information given. In the event that identified data is used for research purposes specific consent will be obtained from you prior to disclosing any information
If you have any concerns, or wish to restrict access to your personal health information please discuss this with your Doctor, Nurse or Receptionist.
This practice adheres to principles of the RACGP Handbook for the Management of Health Information in Private Medical Practice and has written a Privacy policy which is available to all patients for inspection.
Requests from patients to access their personal health information held by this practice must be made in writing to the Practice Manager (see below for details). Such requests are managed in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 and Australian Privacy Principles, specifically Information & Privacy Commission Fact Sheet “How to access health information from private sector health service providers (eg: dentists, GPs, private hospitals). Please note the practice has 45 calendar dates from the receipt of your request to provide a response.
Please note also that fees apply to requests for the release of any patient information.
The Practice Manager
Forbes Medical Centre
4-6 Elgin Street
FORBES NSW 2871