Collection and Use of Personal Data
As a part of our commitment to providing quality health care it is necessary for us to maintain files pertaining to your health. We will only collect personal data that is needed to identify you to provide an accurate health record.
The files contain the following types of information:
- personal details (your name, address, date of birth, Medicare, Pension or Health Care Card numbers)
- your medical history
- notes made during your ultrasound examination
- worksheets and typed letters which are the results of your ultrasound scan.
The information held about you is provided by you or arises as a consequence of information provided by you during your ultrasound scan.
The results of your ultrasound scan will be sent to your referring doctor within 3 working days, with copies to other doctors who may be involved with looking after your medical condition.
Security of Data
Your medical file is handled with the utmost respect for your privacy. Our computer files are only accessed by staff with a password. Any paper files are dealt with in accordance with our Patient Confidentiality Policy. The file will be accessed by medical practitioners and sonographers in the practice. It may also be necessary for other staff to handle your file to address the administrative requirements of running a medical practice.Our staff are bound by strict confidentiality requirements regarding your medical records as a condition of employment.
Medical files need to be kept by law for at least seven years for adults and up to 25 years for children from the date the patient was last provided with a service. After this time we will destroy paper files by secure shredding, and securely delete any electronic files.
Release of Medical Records
Ordinarily we will not release the contents of your medical file without your consent. However there may be occasions where we will be required to release information from your file irrespective of whether your consent to the disclosure of the information is given. This will occur where the law requires disclosure, such as a pursuant to a subpoena.
Access to Personal Information
We advise that as a patient of this practice, you have the right to access any information we hold concerning you. Should you wish to access this information please send us your request in writing.
Privacy Statement
We recognise the importance of protecting the privacy of information collected about visitors to our sites, in particular information that is capable of identifying an individual ("personal information"). This Internet Privacy Policy governs the manner in which your personal information, obtained through the web site, will be dealt with. This Privacy Policy should be reviewed periodically so that you are updated on any changes.
Your Personal Information
Personal information about visitors to our sites is collected only when knowingly and voluntarily submitted. For example, we may need to collect such information to provide you with further services or to answer or forward any requests or enquiries. It is our intention that this policy will protect your personal information from being dealt with in any way that is inconsistent with applicable privacy laws in Australia.
How We Collect Personal Information
In the course of providing our services, we collect personal information in a variety of ways. For example, information is collected when you:
- ask to be placed on one of our mailing lists,
- apply for a job with us,
- make an enquiry about our services,
- visit our web site, or
- become a client or debtor of the company.
How we use the information we collect
Personal information that visitors submit to our sites is used only for the purpose for which it is submitted unless we disclose other uses in this Internet Privacy Policy or at the time of collection. Copies of correspondence sent from the web site, that may contain personal information, are stored as archives for record-keeping and back-up purposes only. You should be aware that we may use your email address to contact you in the future. We will not sell or pass on your details to third parties.
Use of the information for a secondary purpose
We may sometimes use the personal information we collect for a secondary purpose, that is, for use in a way different from the original reason for collection. We will only do this in the following circumstances:
- where you have consented,
- where the secondary purpose is directly related to the primary purpose, and you would reasonably expect us to use or disclose the information in such a way, or
- where we are permitted or required by law, or
- it is in the interests of public safety to do so.
Correcting information
You can also request that information about you be corrected or deleted. This is part of our commitment to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the information we hold about you is accurate, complete and up-to-date.
Disclosure
You should be aware that we may use your email address to contact you in the future. We will not sell or pass on your details to third parties.
Security
We strive to ensure the security, integrity and privacy of personal information submitted to our site. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be totally secure.
However, we will endeavour to take all reasonable steps to protect the personal information you may transmit to us or from our online products and services. Once we do receive your transmission, we will also make our best efforts to ensure its security on our systems.
In addition, our employees and the contractors who provide services related to our information systems are obliged to respect the confidentiality of any personal information held by us. However, we will not be held responsible for events arising from unauthorised access to your personal information.
Links to other sites
We provide links to Web sites outside of our web site, as well as to third party Web sites. These linked sites are not under our control, and we cannot accept responsibility for the conduct of companies linked to our website. Before disclosing your personal information on any other website, we advise you to examine the terms and conditions of using that Web sites and its privacy statement.
Further Privacy Information
For more information about privacy issues in Australia and protecting your privacy, visit the Australian Federal Privacy Commissioner's website.