FOREST LAKE FEMALE GP DOCTORS
Clinic Policy
Current as of: August 2020
Communication policy
Most issues are best dealt with in consultation with your doctor. All urgent phone calls or results will be communicated to the doctor and dealt with in a atimely manner.
All results are viewed by the treating doctor. We use an SMS service or phone call to advise you if you need to see your doctor about your test result, routine recalls and reminders.
Health Information
As port of our commitment to providing quality healthcare we maintain files containing information concerning your health history. The following types of information are maintained.
- Personal details(eg name, date of birth, medicare number) for claiming purposes.
- Medical information including medical history, medications, allergies, immunisations, social history, family history and risk factors
- A patient’s personal and health information are held in electronic health records.
Telephone interpreter and national relay service
If you or a family member requires an interpreter, please advise our reception staff when making an appointment. We use Telephone interpreter service (TIS) 1300 131 450 for patients of non English speaking background. We use National Relay Service for patients with a hearing impairment.
Privacy Policy
Introduction
This privacy policy is to provide information to you, our patient, on how your personal information (which includes your health information)
is collected and used within our practice, and the circumstances in which we may share it with third parties.
Why and when your consent is necessary?
When you register as a patient of our practice, you provide consent for our GPs and practice staff 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?
Our practice will need to collect your personal information to provide healthcare services to you. Our main purpose for collecting, using, holding and sharing your personal information is to manage your health. We also use it for directly related business activities, such as financial claims and payments, practice audits and accreditation, and business processes (eg 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 info including medical history, medications, allergies, adverse events, immunisations, social history, family history and risk factor.
· 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?
Our practice may collect your personal information in several different ways.
1. When you make your first appointment our practice staff will collect your personal and demographic information via your registration.
2. During the course of providing medical services, we may collect further personal information eg electronic transfer of prescriptions (eTP), My Health Record, eg via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary.
3. We may also collect your personal information when you telephone us or make an online appointment.
4. 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, Medicare, or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (as necessary).