Privacy policy
At Bargo Doctors we understand how important your privacy is, so we are committed to best practice in relation to the management of information we collect. Bargo Doctors has developed a policy to protect patient privacy in compliance with privacy legislation and the Guidelines on Privacy in the Private Health Sector developed by the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner. Our policy is to inform you of:
The kinds of personal information that we collect and hold;
How we collect and hold personal information;
The purposes for which we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information;
How we communicate with you;
How you may access your personal information and seek the correction of that information;
What will happen if there is a data breach;
How you may complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles and how we deal with such a complaint.
What kinds of personal information do we collect?
The type of information we may collect and hold includes personal information about:
Names, addresses, date of birth, email and contact details including;
Mobile phone number so we can send you an SMS to confirm appointments and/or otherwise communicate with you (e.g. for recalls and reminders)
Medicare number, DVA number and concession card number if applicable for claiming purposes;
Your current and past health information and other sensitive information such as your family health history, social history and your ethnicity.
How do we collect and hold personal information?
We will generally collect personal information:
From you directly when you provide your details to us, through written questionnaires or verbally by the nurse and/or doctor;
From a person responsible for you;
With your verbal (and/or written) permission, we may source information from other healthcare and pathology providers, hospitals, specialists, allied health providers, pharmacists, as well as your MyHealth record (where applicable);
From third parties where the Privacy Act or other law allows it; and we hold information in your electronic health record which is stored in a computer database secured by firewalls, pass codes, and maintained by an up-to-date secure on- and off-site back-up system.
When you visit our website, telephone us, make an online appointment through our website or Health Engine or when you communicate with us using social media.
Why do we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information?
In general, we may collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information for the following purposes:
To provide health services to you or the person you care for with necessary services;
To allow other health care providers to be involved in your care through sharing of selected information with your consent;
To communicate with you;
To claim financial and Medicare/DVA claims and payments;
To comply with our legal obligations such as mandatory notification of communicable diseases or in suspected child abuse;
To educate health care workers-in-training with your consent for the benefit of patients in the future;
To participate in the analysis of health data in our community by authorised bodies, only ever for de-identified information or with your consent;
To partake in practice audits, quality improvement and accreditation purposes;
For processed related to quality, safety, improvement and business processes (e.g. staff training); and
To help manage our accounts and administrative services.
How do we communicate with you?
We aim to receive your incoming telephone call in a private reception area to minimise the risk of conversations being overheard. Our staff may need to contact you by telephone for the purpose of administrative or clinical issues and this will generally be in a private area in our practice. With your consent we may also contact you via letter to your home address or via SMS.
Communication via email of identifiable information about you to health professionals involved in your care is done using an encryption program. You may choose to have direct email communication with staff at the practice or allow direct email communication with other providers but you need to be aware that this is not secured. For this communication we will need your consent. We will take steps to reduce the risk of unsecured information being seen by others including confirming the email address of the intended recipient. We will not use this communication for sensitive information.
How can you access and correct your personal information?
You have the right to request access to and correct your personal information. Subject to the exceptions set out in the Privacy Act, you may seek access to and correction of personal information which we hold about you in accordance with our access policy.
We generally require you to put this request in writing but may (at our discretion) accept your request verbally. Our practice will respond within a reasonable time, which is generally within 30 days. We reserve the right to charge a reasonable administrative fee to provide you with a copy of your records.
Some circumstances which may restrict this access include if your doctor believes there may be a risk of any physical or mental harm to you or any other person. In most cases this is managed by the doctor going through the health record with you.
Our practice will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up-to-date. From time-to-time, we will ask you to verify your personal information held by our practice to make sure it is correct and up-to-date. You may also request that we correct or update your information. We cannot, however, delete clinical information, but we can append your corrections.
What will happen if there is a data breach?
If a data breach that is likely to cause serious harm occurs, the practice will notify you and inform you of the type of data breach and information involved as soon as practicable. The practice will also notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
How can you make a privacy related complaint?
We will take reasonable steps to protect the security of your information and comply with our legal obligations. Our staff are trained and required to respect your privacy. We take reasonable steps to protect information held from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
If you have any questions about privacy-related issues or wish to complain about a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles or the handling of your personal information by us, please contact us at the practice on 4684 2168 or in writing and we will attempt to resolve it in accordance with our resolution procedure. We aim to have a turnaround time of 30 days.
More Information
Further information on Privacy Legislation is available from:
The Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner on 1300 363 992, https://www.oaic.gov.au
The Health Care Complaints Commission on 1800 043 159. http://www.hccc.nsw.gov.au/
Feedback
If you have questions or concerns about our privacy policy or our personal information management system, we would be happy to answer them for you. Please do not hesitate to contact the practice on 4684 2168.
Communication policy & procedure
Policy
Our practice endeavours to provide patients with access to timely advice or information about their clinical care via the telephone. The urgency of a patients needs are determined promptly. We aim to communicate effectively over the telephone and use simple, straight forward language and check that patients have understood what has been said.
Electronic communication provides a useful and alternative point of access for our patients. Our patients have the option to contact or be contacted by our practice through electronic means via SMS. Our patients are informed of the risks associated with some methods of electronic communications and that their privacy and confidentiality may be compromised. Patients must agree via signing our new patient form. Our practice adheres to the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), the Privacy Act 1988, Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) Health Records Act 2002 (NSW). Our Practice uses Fax as its main communication tool.
Our practice aims to ensure all patient messages or other communications including emails that require subsequent follow-up by a doctor or other staff member are responded to in a timely manner. All messages from patients, to patients, or about patients become part of the patient’s health record, in addition to any actions taken in response to the message.
Our aim is to facilitate optimal communication opportunities with our patients. Patients who do not speak or read English or who are more proficient in another language, or who have special communication needs are offered the choice of using the assistance of a language service to communicate with the GPs or clinical team members.
Our practice encourages and supports the use of digital technology to enable our patient with 24-hour access to our appointment system. Our practice allows patients to book their healthcare appointment with their preferred healthcare provider online via the booking page on this website or directly through the HealthEngine phone application.
Procedure
Communicating by telephone
All telephone calls are answered by a member of the practice who must adhere to the following guidelines:
• Staff follow the practice booking system for all patient appointments
• Before any calls are placed on hold staff must first ask if the matter is an emergency
• Staff follow the practice triage system for patients requesting urgent appointments
• Staff make sure that the patient is correctly identified by using three of the approved patient identifiers (full name, date of birth and address)
• Staff are mindful of confidentiality and the patient’s right to privacy. No names are openly stated
over the telephone within earshot of other patients and/or visitors
• Staff members are aware of each doctor’s policy on accepting or returning calls
In non-urgent situations, patient calls need not interrupt consultations with other patients, but a message containing the information is given to the person in a timely manner
Communicating by electronic means
Our practice email account is not provided for patient communication due to privacy principles. Only appropriate non-clinical matters are dealt with via email exchanges between reception staff and doctors if needed.
No consulting or advice services are conducted by email. This must be communicated face to face by a medical
practitioner or other appropriate health professional unless there are exceptional circumstances.
This email account will be routinely checked throughout the business day by our receptionists.
Our practice uses SMS messaging to remind patients of their upcoming appointments. There is no medical or identifying information used in these messages. It is the patient’s responsibility to contact the practice and follow up
on the message.
Communication conducted with a patient via electronic means will be added to the patient’s medical record by the team member resolving the enquiry.
Informing the clinical team of communications
All communications documented for a staff members attention and action, or in their absence to the designated person who is responsible for that team member’s workload is contained in our appointment screen, sent via our practice software’s messaging system, or any documents for patients’ charts are placed in the pigeon hole for the doctor’s attention.
The appointment screen, our practice software’s messaging system, the patient chart and/or the doctor’s pigeon hole is used to document all significant and important telephone conversations or electronic communications including after hours contacts and medical emergencies and urgent queries.
The log records:
• The name and contact phone number of the patient/caller
• The date and time of the call
• The urgent or non-urgent nature of the call
• Important facts concerning the patient’s condition
• The advice or information received from the doctor
• Details of any follow up appointments
All documented communications are provided to the staff member on the day of receipt and must be responded to within a timely manner or within 24 hours.
Communicating with patients with special needs
A contact list of translator and interpreter services and services for patients with a disability is maintained, updated
regularly and readily available to all staff at reception. These include:
• National Relay Service (NRS) - 1800 555 660
• Auslan services - 1300 AUSLAN
• Translation and Interpreter Service (TIS) Doctors Priority Line - 1300 131 450