Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy Statement – Related to this Webpage

Your privacy is important to us, so this website is constructed and operated to comply with the Australian Government Acts relating to Privacy and SPAM:

1. PRIVACY http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-act/the-privacy-act
2. SPAM http://www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Marketers/Anti-Spam/Ensuring-you-dont-spam/key-elements-of-the-spam-act-ensuring-you-dont-spam-i-acma
3. COPYRIGHT LAWS https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2017C00180

This Privacy Policy has been published to provide a clear and concise outline of how and when personal information is collected, disclosed, used, stored and otherwise handled by www.KidneyCentre.com.au. The Policy relates to personal information collected by the www.KidneyCentre.com.au website.

www.KidneyCentre.com.au treats the handling of your personal information very seriously. To that end, www.KidneyCentre.com.au has systems and procedures in place to protect your privacy in relation to the handling of your personal and business information collected from this website.

www.KidneyCentre.com.au abides by the National Privacy Principles, which provide a scheme in relation to the collection, disclosure, use, and storage of personal information. We handle your information responsibly and provide you with control over the way information about you is handled.

1. Collection of Personal and Business Information

Both personal and business information is information from which an individual or a business’s identity may be ascertained and confirmed. This information will include (but is not limited to) person name, land-based telephone number, registered business name, ABN number if applicable, business address and other details.

www.KidneyCentre.com.au does not collect personal or business information unless it is necessary for www.KidneyCentre.com.au to perform one or more of its functions and services being requested of it by the site user.

At all times information given to www.KidneyCentre.com.au shall be with the full consent of the site user.

2. Use & Disclosure of Personal Information

Personal or business information provided to www.KidneyCentre.com.au will not be shared with any other third party without the express consent of the owner of that personal and/or business information.

3. Personal Information Quality

www.KidneyCentre.com.au requires that all personal and business information given to www.KidneyCentre.com.au by the site user for the purpose of accessing our products and services is accurate, complete and up-to-date. To assist www.KidneyCentre.com.au in ensuring this please contact www.KidneyCentre.com.au if any of your personal or business details change.

4. Personal Information Security

www.KidneyCentre.com.au is committed to keeping your personal information secure, and we will take all reasonable precautions to protect your personal and business information from unauthorized access, loss, misuse or alteration.

Your personal information may be stored in hard copy documents, or electronically on www.KidneyCentre.com.au software or systems. Your personal and/or business information is NOT stored on the internet.

5. Access To Your Personal and/or Business Information

You may request access to your personal and/or your business information that you have provided at www.KidneyCentre.com.au in the first instance at the time of application for a www.KidneyCentre.com.au service.

The procedure for gaining access is as follows:

1. All requests for access to your held information must be made through the contact section of this website.
2. Your request will be replied to within seven working days.

6. Changes To This Policy

www.KidneyCentre.com.au may change this Policy from time to time for any reason and will update this published Privacy Policy Statement accordingly.

7. Concerns or Complaints

If you believe that your privacy may have been infringed or has been compromised in any way by www.KidneyCentre.com.au please notify us immediately. All such concerns should initially be through the contact page of this website.

Any concerns about privacy or the security of your information will be personally dealt with by the Managing Director of www.KidneyCentre.com.au.

Privacy Policy Statement – Related to any patients seeing us at our rooms located at 280 Pacific Hwy, Lindfield NSW 2070

1. Purpose

Our practice is committed to protecting the privacy of patient information. We handle your personal and health information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002 (NSW) (referred to as the Privacy Laws).

This Privacy Policy sets the standards by which we collect, use and disclose a patient’s personal and health information, as well as how a patient may access information about them and / or seek the correction of said information.

From time to time, we may make changes to our policy, processes and systems for the handling of patients’ personal information. We will update this Privacy Policy to reflect any changes. A copy of the Privacy Policy is accessible on the Practice website, or in hard copy from reception staff.

2. Scope

This policy applies to all personal and health information we collect from future, current and past patients of the Practice.

3. Policy

All references to ‘you’ are references to a patient or patients of the Practice.

4. Collection

We collect personal and health information that is necessary and relevant to provide you with medical care and treatment and to manage our medical practice. Information may be collected by medical and non-medical staff.

Wherever practicable we will only collect information from you personally. However, we may also need to collect information from other sources such as your general practitioner, treating specialists, radiologists, pathologists, hospitals, and other health care providers. In emergency situations we may need to collect information from your relatives or friends.

The information collected may include, but is not limited to, your name, address, date of birth, gender, health information, family medical history, billing information including Medicare and private health insurance particulars.

Personal and health information may be stored in our electronic medical records system and /or in handwritten hard copy medical records.

We are required by law to retain medical records for at least seven years, and in some cases for a longer period.

5. Use and Disclosure

We will only use or disclose your information for purposes directly related to your care and treatment, or in ways that you would reasonably expect that we may use it for your ongoing care and treatment. For example, the disclosure of blood test results to other medical practitioners in your treating team or requests for admission with a hospital.

Information may be shared with our service providers including IT services and occasionally an external medical billing provider. Such disclosures are limited to the information strictly necessary for them to discharge their responsibilities. All of our service providers are required to comply with the Privacy Laws.

If third parties such as insurers request your information, we will never provide your information without a current signed release from you permitting us to do so unless we are permitted or required to do so by law, for example, in answer to a notice from Medicare, a summons from the Police, subpoenas and notices to produce from courts and tribunals.

6. Data Quality and Security

We will take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is accurate, complete, up to date and relevant. For this purpose, our staff may ask you to confirm that your contact details are correct when you attend a consultation.

Please let us know if any of the information we hold about you is incorrect or out of date.

Personal information that we hold is protected by:

• Securing our premises;
• The implementation of IT systems and processes that are maintained by specialist IT providers;
• Strong password protection on our IT systems
• Storage of personal and health information on a secure central server only accessible with multi-factor authentication.
• The provision of regular training for all staff regarding the Privacy Laws and our systems and processes. Access to personal information is restricted on a “need to know” basis.

7. Access and Correction

You are entitled to request access to your medical records. We require that you put your request in writing, and we will endeavour to respond within a reasonable time.

There may be a reasonable fee for the administrative costs of retrieving and providing you with access to your medical records.

We may decline access to your medical records in certain circumstances. Should we do so, we will always tell you why access has been declined and the other options available to you.

If you believe that the information we hold about you is not accurate, complete, or up to date, we ask that you discuss this with us or alternatively contact us in writing.

8. Concerns or Complaints

If you have a concern or a complaint about how we currently handle your personal and health information, we request that you contact us in writing. Upon receipt of a complaint, we will consider the details and attempt to resolve it in accordance with our complaints handling procedures.

If you are dissatisfied with our handling of your concern or complaint you may make contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner via the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au or on 1300-363-992.