Privacy Policy

Introduction

This privacy policy is to provide information to you, the patient, on how your personal information (which includes your health information) is collected and used by Bargara Occupational Therapy, and the circumstances in which it may be shared with third parties.

Why and when your consent is necessary

When you register as a patient of Bargara Occupational Therapy, you provide consent for practice staff at the clinic in which you have made your booking to access and use your personal information so they can provide you with the best possible healthcare. Only staff who need to see your personal information will have access to it. If we need to use your information for anything else, we will seek additional consent from you to do this.

Why do we collect, use, hold and share your personal information?

Bargara Occupational Therapy will need to collect your personal information to provide occupational therapy services to you or your child. The main purpose for collecting, using, holding and sharing your personal information is to manage yours or your child's therapy. We also use it for directly related business activities, such as financial claims and payments, practice audits and accreditation, and business processes (e.g., staff training).

What personal information do we collect?

The information we will collect about you includes your:

names, date of birth, addresses, contact details
medical information including medical history, medications, allergies, adverse events, immunisations, social history, family history and risk factors
Medicare number (where available) for identification and claiming purposes
healthcare identifiers
health fund details.

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 or authorised by law to only deal with identified individuals.

How do we collect your personal information?

Bargara Occupational Therapy may collect your personal information in several different ways.

When you make your first appointment we will collect your personal and demographic information via your registration.
During the course of providing occupational therapy services, we may collect further personal information through electronic transfer of prescriptions (eTP), My Health Record, e.g., via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary.
We may also collect your personal information when you visit our website, send us an email or SMS, telephone us, make an online appointment or communicate with us using social media.
In some circumstances personal information may also be collected from other sources. Often this is because it is not practical or reasonable to collect it from you directly. This may include information from:

your guardian or responsible person
other involved healthcare providers, such as specialists, allied health professionals, hospitals, community health services and pathology and diagnostic imaging services
your health fund or Medicare.

When, why and with whom do we share your personal information?

We sometimes share your personal information:

with third parties who work with Bargara Occupational Therapy for business purposes, such as accreditation agencies or information technology providers – these third parties are required to comply with APPs and this policy
with other healthcare providers
when it is required or authorised by law (e.g., court subpoenas)
when it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to a patient’s life, health or safety or public health or safety, or it is impractical to obtain the patient’s consent
to assist in locating a missing person
to establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim
for the purpose of confidential dispute resolution process
- when there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information
during the course of providing occupational therapy services

Only people who need to access your information will be able to do so. Other than in the course of providing occupational therapy services or as otherwise described in this policy, Bargara Occupational Therapy will not share personal information with any third party without your consent.

We will not share your personal information with anyone outside Australia (unless under exceptional circumstances that are permitted by law) without your consent.

Bargara Occupational Therapy and the practice will not use your personal information for marketing any of our goods or services directly to you without your express consent. If you do consent, you may opt out of direct marketing at any time by notifying the practice in writing. Bargara Occupational Therapy and the practice may use your personal information to improve the quality of the services we offer to patients through research and analysis of patient data.

We may provide de-identified data to other organisations to improve population health outcomes. The information is secure, patients cannot be identified and the information is stored within Australia. You can let practice staff know if you do not want your information included.

How do we store and protect your personal information?

Your personal information may be stored in various forms (as paper records, electronic records, visual records videos and photos), audio recordings).

Bargara Occupational Therapy stores all personal information securely. Personal information is kept in electronic format in protected information systems. All systems are password protected and staff have all signed confidentiality agreements.

How can you access and correct your personal information at the practice?

You may access the Personal Information we hold about you and to update and/or correct it, subject to certain exceptions. If you wish to access your Personal Information, please contact us in writing. Bargara Occupational Therapy will not charge any fee for your access request, but may charge an administrative fee for providing a copy of your Personal Information. In order to protect your Personal Information we may require identification from you before releasing the requested information.

Maintaining the Quality of your Personal Information

It is an important to us that your Personal Information is up to date. We will take reasonable steps to make sure that your Personal Information is accurate, complete and up-to-date. If you find that the information we have is not up to date or is inaccurate, please advise us as soon as practicable so we can update our records and ensure we can continue to provide quality services to you.

Policy Updates

This Policy may change from time to time and is available on our website.

If you have any queries or complaints about our Privacy Policy, please email or call us.

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