DIAL A LOCAL DOCTOR
Introduction
The purpose of this document is to outline how After Hours Service – Dial A Local Doctor complies with its confidentiality and privacy obligations. As an organisation, Principal concern is and always will be the health of our patients. A high level of trust and confidentiality is required to ensure the confidence of the patients we see.
Patients will be assured that:
- Their privacy will be protected when using our After Hours Service –Dial A Local Doctor.
- Clinical notes are faxed straight to their own GP for follow up treatment and care the very next day.
Health information
Dial A Local Doctor recognizes that the information we collect is often of a highly sensitive nature and as an organisation we have adopted the highest privacy compliance standards relevant to Dial A Local Doctor to ensure personal information is protected.
Personal information collected will generally include:
- the patient’s name, address, telephone number and Medicare number,
- current drugs or treatments used by the patient,
- previous/current medical history, including, where clinically relevant, a family medical history, and
- the name of their health service provider or medical specialist to send the completed consultation document to.
Use or disclosure of personal information
Personal information collected by Dial A Local Doctor may be used or disclosed:
- for the purpose advised to the patient at the time of collection of the information,
- as required for delivery of the health service to the patient,
- as required under compulsion of law, or
- where there is a serious and imminent threat to an individual’s life, health, or safety; or a serious threat to public health or public safety.
- Dial A Local Doctor may use or disclose personal information for quality assurance, training, billing, liaising with government offices regarding Medicare entitlements and payments and as may be required by the Medical Centre’s insurers.
Accuracy of your information
Dial A Local Doctor is committed to ensuring your information is accurate and has processes in place to ensure that the accuracy of this information is maintained. If you believe that the personal information Dial A Local Doctor holds about you is inaccurate, please inform the manager at Dial A Local Doctor.
Security of information collected
Other than as described in this Policy or permitted under privacy principles, Dial A Local Doctor uses its reasonable endeavours to ensure that identifying health information is not disclosed to any person unnecessarily or irresponsibly.
Due to the sensitive nature of the information collected by Dial A Local Doctor to provide its services, extra precautions are taken to ensure the security of that information. Information may be stored electronically and / or in hard copy form. All electronically stored files are password-protected on several levels, and regular backups of data are performed.
Dial A Local Doctor requires its employees to observe obligations of confidentiality in the course of their employment with all staff/contractors signing Confidentiality Agreements.
How long are medical records kept?
Dial A Local Doctor does not keep medical records as we are a service that fills the after – hours need (gap) and all consultation notes are immediately sent to patients relevant GP’s.
Accessing your information
On request, you may have access to your information held by Dial A Local Doctor except in circumstances where access may be denied under the ‘Privacy Act’ or other laws.
Changes to the Privacy Policy
Dial A Local Doctor has the right to change the Privacy Policy at any time. If there are updates to Dial A Local Doctor Privacy Policy, we will address the changes promptly and update the revision date of this document. You may visit the web site for the Australian Privacy Principles (APP)
https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy-law/privacy-act/australian-privacy-principles
Obtaining further information
If patients require more information regarding Dial A Local Doctor, its services and facilities, they can:
- Call our Head Office ,
- access Dial A Local Doctor website, or
- Request / print a copy of ‘Practice Information Sheet’ available from our website.
Contact information
If you have any queries regarding our Privacy Policy please contact:
Head Office:
Medical Administrator
Dial A Local Doctor
Suite 1.4, 3 Clunies Ross Court, Eight Mile Plains QLD 4113
Disclaimer
While we make every effort to protect your privacy, we may need to disclose personal information when required by law where we have a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our company or site.