Privacy
Policy

Privacy Statement

We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). The Privacy Act governs the manner in which we handle your personal information (including health and sensitive information) and how we respond to your request to access and correct it.

Collecting Your Information

We collect information about you from; you, your treating health care professionals, and others.

Sometimes we collect information about you from referring Doctors or other health care providers who have had direct contact with you. Sometimes in an emergency, your health information may be collected from someone else, like a partner, a carer, a family member, guardian or person holding your Power of Attorney.

Personal Information We Hold

We hold personal information about you that is relevant to the provision of health care services by Dr Frederiksen and others. Such information generally includes your name, age, contact details, the nature of your injuries and/or treatment, your medical/clinical history, as well as other personal information provided to us by other health care professionals collected while we are treating you. For example: the symptoms you describe or our observations of your health prescriptions, medications, pathology reports, your Medicare number, private hospital, and day surgery admission, and discharge records, genetic information, employment details, insurance details, billing details.

We may also hold other sensitive information about you such as information or an opinion about your health status, treatment or disability either past, present or future.

How We Keep Your Information

We keep your information in electronic form. Hard copies of medical records and correspondence may be kept whilst awaiting scanning. All hard copy items are disposed of securely following conversion to electronic form.

How We Use Your Information

In order to deliver optimum health care to you we work together with other health care providers and do share information with them in accordance with professional codes of practice and professional custom. We use your personal information (including health information);
to provide you with our service and ancillary/complimentary services for other purposes such as assessments, risk management, service reviews, staff and other team training, accounting and billing, and to identify and inform you of therapies that may be of benefit to your condition and on-going care.

How We Disclose Your Information

We will only disclose your information for a purpose that is related to the service that we are providing to you or otherwise in accordance with your signed consent. This may include disclosures to other medical or health care providers, insurers or Workcover. Further, we may disclose information where you expressly permit disclosure or when we are legally required to do so, such as under a court order.

How We Secure Your Information

All hardcopy and electronic records are held in a secure manner to ensure that they are protected from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Only staff whose tasks require use of your information can access it. We delete your personal information when it is no longer needed or required to be kept by law.

It is our policy that your medical records be retained until you have reached the age of 25 (if we treated you when you were not yet 18 years old) or for a minimum of 7 years from the time of last contact, whichever is the longer.

How To Access Your Information

You may request access to your personal information at any time by completing a written request. Once your identity has been verified your request will be forwarded to our manager who will arrange for access to be provided to you in an appropriate manner within 28 days. We may charge a reasonable fee for providing access if it requires a significant amount of time to locate and collate your information.

The general right of access you have to your information relates only to your own health records. Access can occur in a number of different ways. You may: look at the information and talk though the contents with us, obtain a copy of the information (for example, a photocopy of paper records),
take notes about the content, or obtain a print-out or get an electronic copy of information stored on our computer system.

In rare circumstances we are not be able to provide you with access to your information. For example, where it will have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others, where it relates to legal proceedings, where it would be prejudicial to negotiations, or where we are required or excused by law to withhold the information.

Correcting Your Information

If you can show that your personal information is not accurate, complete or up-to-date, you may inform us of this and we will correct it for you.

Complaints

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your personal information, you are entitled to lodge a complaint with the Federal Privacy Commissioner.

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
Level 8, 133 Castlereagh Street, SYDNEY
GPO Box 5218 NSW 2001
p 1300 363 992 f (02) 9284 9666
e [email protected] web www.privacy.gov.au

However, before investigating a complaint, the Commissioner is legally required to be satisfied that you have first expressed your concern to us to afford us an opportunity to resolve the complaint directly, unless it is inappropriate for you to do so. You may lodge a complaint with our Privacy Officer:

Practice Manager
Dr Frederiksen’s Rooms