All Your Questions Answered

Please note that a full version is available upon request and that our privacy policy is reviewed and updated regularly in line with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

Mermaid Central Medical Clinic is committed to ensuring your personal information is professionally managed according to the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

This policy exists to provide our patients with an open and clear explanation of how we collect, use and disclose health information and how we share information with third parties within our practice.

What personal information we collect and why:

• Upon initial registration or arrival to our practice, our health team will collect relevant personal information so we can provide you with the best possible healthcare.
• We may use it for directly related business activities, such as financial claims and billing procedures, payments, practice audits including accreditation and normal business processes.

The personal information we collect and hold generally includes:

• Your full name, date of birth and contact details including Next of Kin for emergencies.
• Information about your health conditions, medical history, social and family history, risk factors, medications, allergies, adverse events, immunisations and treatment you may have already received.
• Medicare number and Concessional card details or DVA number for claiming purposes.

All practice staff have signed a Confidentiality Agreement as part of their employment with Mermaid Central Medical Clinic and will only see the personal information that is relevant to their role within the practice.

How we collect your personal information:

• Directly in person
• Over the phone
• By SMS
• Through our website via online bookings
• Hard copy forms

When you first attend our practice our staff will collect your personal and demographic information from our new patient form.

If it is not possible to collect it from you directly, we may also collect this information from:

• Your guardian or responsible person, carer or relative.
• Other healthcare providers involved in your healthcare such as specialists, allied health professionals, hospitals, community health services and pathology or diagnostic imaging services.
• Medicare or Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

Who we share your personal information with and when:

• Other healthcare providers involved in your care.
• Third parties who work with our practice for business purposes (such as IT providers and accreditors).
• Statutory requirement to lawfully share certain personal information, such as notifiable diseases.
• Court subpoenas required or authorised by law.
• When necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to a patient’s life, health or safety, or to public health or safety, or it is not possible to obtain the patient’s consent.
• During the course of providing medical services through secure Electronic Transfer of Prescriptions (ETP), the My Health Record system or other secure transmission software.

Our practice will not use your personal information for marketing any of our goods or services to you without your express consent.

If you have provided consent you may opt-out at any time by notifying our practice in writing.

Only those people that need to access your personal information will be able to do so. Other than in the course of providing medical treatment, or as otherwise described in this policy, our practice will not share personal information with any third party without your express (i.e. written) consent.

We will not share your personal information with anyone outside Australia (except under circumstances permitted by law) and only with your express consent.

How we store and protect your personal information:

• Your personal information may be stored at our practice as paper records, electronic records, audio recordings, X-rays, CT scans, photos and videos.
• Our practice stores all information securely, and has strict policies and procedures and accountability to ensure your personal information is protected from misuse, loss interference or authorised access.
• Electronic format is encrypted and password protected and therefore email is not used.
• Hard copy information is stored in secured locked locations.
• All staff and contractors sign confidentiality agreements prior to commencing work with or for our practice.

How you can access and correct your personal information at our practice:

• Our practice will take steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up to date. We will regularly ask you to verify your information for accuracy.
• You have the right to access and correct personal information that we hold about you in electronic or hard copy formats.
• Access to your personal information should be requested in writing to the Practice Manager and if you prefer we can supply a form so that you can indicate the specific aspects you would like to access.
• It is our policy that direct access by a patient to their medical record will involve their treating doctor.
• Requests for access to a record may not be immediate depending on the size of the request and the treating doctor’s commitments. However, we will meet any request within a time frame that does not exceed 30 business days.
• You may be charged an administration fee to reasonably cover our costs in fulfilling your request.

How you can lodge a privacy-related complaint at our practice:

• If you have any concerns about your privacy or wish to make a complaint about a breach, please contact our Practice Manager Wendy Van Alphen at (07) 55 752 444.
• Please provide us with sufficient details regarding your complaint and any supporting information.
• The Practice Manager will acknowledge the issue and notify you in writing of the outcome within 30 days of receiving the complaint.
• If you are dissatisfied with the outcome, you can contact us directly to further discuss your concerns, or lodge a complaint with the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au or by calling 1300 3636 992.

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 by law to only deal with identified patients.
• We will try to accommodate this request when possible.

Policy review statement

• This Privacy Policy will be reviewed regularly to ensure it is in accordance with any changes that may occur.
• We will notify our patients of any changes via our website and our hard copy Privacy Policy available at our practice premises.
• This Privacy Policy is available on our website and a hard copy can be printed out upon request. Please ask at reception.
• An extended hard copy of the Privacy Policy is also available upon request from the Practice Manager.