All patient information collected and held at our practice is private and confidentiality of patient information is paramount and must be maintained at all times. The rights of every patient are to be respected. All information collected by this practice in providing a health service is deemed to be private and confidential. Our practice complies with Federal and State privacy regulations including the Privacy Act 1998, the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000 and Victorian Health Records Act 2001 as well as the standards set out in the RACGP Handbook for the Management of Health Information in Private Medical Practice 1st Edition (2002). (Refer Section 6 Privacy and Security of Health Information).
Under no circumstances are employees of our practice to discuss or in any way reveal patient conditions or documentation to unauthorised staff, colleagues, other patients, family or friends, whether at the practice or outside it, such as in the home or at social occasions. This includes patient's accounts, referral letters or other clinical documentation.
Doctors and staff are aware of confidentiality requirements for all patient encounters and recognise that significant breaches of confidentiality may provide grounds for disciplinary action or dismissal. All employees of our practice are issued with the privacy policy and sign a privacy statement as part of their terms and conditions of employment. This privacy statement continues to be binding on employees even after their employment has terminated.
Your personal health information and your medical record may be collected, used and disclosed for the following reasons:
- For communicating relevant information with other treating doctors, specialists or allied health professionals
- For follow up reminder/recall notices
- Accounting/Medicare/Health Insurance procedures
- Quality Assurance activities such as accreditation
- For disease notification as required by law (eg: infectious diseases)
- For legal related disclosure as required by a court of law (eg: subpoena etc)
- For research purposes (de identified, meaning you cannot be identified from information given)
This practice has a written privacy policy which is available to view at the practice.
