Fraser Coast Radiology Privacy Statement

Fraser Coast Radiology Privacy Statement sets out how we collect, use, disclose and otherwise handle and retain personal information (including sensitive (health) information) in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) and other relevant health privacy legislation.

Our Privacy Statement also applies to personal information that we collect and hold about referring Health Professionals (and their nominees), Medical Specialists and hospital staff (and their nominees), other health service providers, individuals who supply goods and services to Fraser Coast Radiology, employment applicants and other individuals that we have dealings with.

Why we collect and hold personal information

Fraser Coast Radiology collects and retains personal information (including sensitive (health) information) about Patients (including Prospective Patients), Referring Clinicians (including their Practice Managers and Ancillary Staff), Staff, and Employment Applicants in order to provide:

quality medical imaging services, assist in the provision of medical care to patients and prospective patients; and
patient-related services to referring Health Professionals and/or other health service providers and their respective nominees.

The kinds of personal information we collect and hold

Patients and Prospective Patients

Information commonly collected and held about patients by Fraser Coast Radiology includes but is not limited to:

name, gender, address and contact details
medical history
Medicare, pension, health care card and other government identifiers
family, social and employment history and circumstances
health services requested or provided and the outcome or results
billing information/history
expressed wishes about the future provision of health services
details of feedback, complaints, suggestions

Referring Clinicians, Practice Managers and Ancillary Staff

Information we commonly collect about referring clinicians, practice managers and ancillary staff, includes but is not limited to:

name, address, telephone numbers, fax /email address and other contact details
details of IT systems and web addresses
Medicare provider numbers and billing information
area of specialisation
service delivery preferences, referral patterns and fees paid by referred patients
information gathered by client services/marketing staff during practice visits/interactions
expressed wishes about the future provision of health services
service improvement comments/preferences
details of feedback, complaints, suggestions

Staff

Information we commonly collect about Staff includes but is not limited to:

name, address, telephone numbers, email address and other contact details
employment records
performance records

Employment Applicants

Information we commonly collect about employment applicants includes but is not limited to:

name, address, email address and other contact details
letters of application/expressions of interest and associated correspondence
Curriculum Vitae/Resume
referee comments

Fraser Coast Radiology also collects and holds sensitive (health) information from others in the course of providing health services to patients including but not limited to:

the results of any tests or procedures;
information about your past clinical history (eg medication taken, previous test results, pathology results, etc)
information provided by your referring Health Professional and/or Medical Specialist that is necessary in the context of your treatment;
information provided by other third parties (such as from a family member, authorised representative, or from an Allied Health Professional (such as from a physiotherapist, chiropractor, osteopath, podiatrist, dentist, nurse, etc));
payment and administrative information (such as your Medicare number and other individual health identifiers, Workers Compensation insurance, Transport Accident Compensation, private health insurance or billing details);
information required or authorised under an Australian law or a court/tribunal order; and/or
any other information collected directly from you (including verbally) when you attend our clinics, write to or call us or contact made through our website.

If you choose not to provide your personal information (including sensitive (health) information) to Fraser Coast Radiology, we will be unable to provide you with the services you request.

Use and Disclosure of personal information

Fraser Coast Radiology does not sell or disclose personal information (including sensitive (health) information) about our patients to drug companies or other health organisations/persons who are not involved in your medical care.

Fraser Coast Radiology will sometimes need to disclose personal information (including sensitive (health) information) about patients where it is reasonably necessary and relevant in the context of their treatment to organisations outside of Fraser Coast Radiology for medical, ethical, insurance, legal and/or procedural reasons. This may include:

providing results to relevant practitioners;
advice on treatment options;
referral to another medical practitioner or health care provider;
referral to a hospital for treatment and/or advice;
sending of specimens for analysis;
account keeping, billing purposes and recovery of monies;
the management of our practice;
quality assurance, practice accreditation, research and complaint handling;
to meet our obligations of notification to our medical defence organisations or insurers;
to prevent or lessen a serious threat to an individual’s life, health or safety;
where legally required to do so, such as producing records to court, producing records to Medicare for audit purposes or the notification of diagnosis of certain communicable diseases.

You can contact Fraser Coast Radiology if you have any questions around the disclosure of your personal information.

Accuracy of your personal information

Fraser Coast Radiology endeavours to ensure that the personal information (including sensitive (health) information) we collect, use and disclose is accurate, up-to-date and complete. The accuracy and completeness of that information depends on the information you provide to us. We recommend that patients:

tell us if there are any errors in the information we hold; and
inform us of any changes to your information (such as your name, address or Medicare number).

Access to and correction of your information

The best way to obtain your results is in consultation with your referring Health Professional, so that they can interpret the results and explain them to you in the context of your health care. Your imaging findings are only one aspect of your health assessment. Your referring Health Professional is in the best position to discuss the imaging results and balance it with your other examination findings and other health test results.

You will, however, have access to personal information we hold about you by way of our Illume Patient Portal using your unique User-Id and personal password. You are solely responsible for the security of your Illume Patient Portal password.

You may request that we correct the personal information we hold about you if you consider it to be inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading.

You may request access to, and/or correction of, your personal information by contacting Fraser Coast Radiology. In order to maintain the security of your personal information, confirmation of your personal details will be required before any information will be supplied.

Where requested, Fraser Coast Radiology may provide a confidential film/disk delivery service. This service may be provided by our own staff, commercial couriers, taxis or post. If this is unacceptable to you, please arrange with our staff to collect your own films/disks. If you intend to have another person collect your films/disks on your behalf, you must provide written consent to this collection, including the name of the person collecting your films.

Data security

All reasonable steps are taken to protect your personal information (including sensitive (health) information) within Fraser Coast Radiology from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Records are held securely for future retrieval in accordance with applicable regulatory and legislative requirements and good business practice. If Fraser Coast Radiology no longer needs, or is required, to retain information, Fraser Coast Radiology will take reasonable steps to destroy the information or will ensure that the information is de-identified.

Fraser Coast Radiology is subject to strict obligations under State and Territory laws as to the retention of health information and records. Generally, as a minimum, we retain health information as follows:

in the case of health information collected while an individual was an adult – for 7 years from the last occasion we provided health services to the individual; or
in the case of health information collected while an individual was under the age of 18 years – until the individual turns 25.

Online access by registered Health Professionals to your medical images and reports

Your personal information (including sensitive (health) information) will be accessible online to your Health Professional, who Fraser Coast records show is involved in your care (eg to your family doctor or specialist).

Fraser Coast Radiology provides a secure password-protected transfer of specialist medical reports and images to registered Health Professionals to their Practice Management systems or via our picture archiving and communications system (PACS). Your personal information (including sensitive (health) information) (such as images and reports) may be made available through these means. Users of these services are subject to an obligation to collect health information with your consent and, in many cases, are bound by codes of practice that deal with obligations of professional confidentiality relevant to their profession.

Health Professionals will apply to Fraser Coast Radiology for a username and password in order to access these services. Before a Health Professional is granted online access they must accept the terms set out in a User Access Agreement stating that the information is required in order to provide a medical service and that it will not otherwise be used or knowingly shared or disclosed. Our systems trace, record and store indefinitely all access activity on every patient file.

With your express consent, or the express consent of another person acting for you (such as a parent acting for a child), or in situations where Fraser Coast Radiology is informed that there is a serious threat to life, health or safety, we may also provide access to other Health Professionals. You may also elect to give express consent to Fraser Coast Radiology providing access to your personal information (including sensitive (health) information) (such as images and reports) to Medical Specialists or hospital medical staff generally.

Complaints

You can complain about how we have treated your personal information or privacy generally. Please send your complaint to the Managing Radiologist, Fraser Coast Radiology. The complaint will be investigated and a response will be sent to you as quickly as possible (generally within 30 days of receipt of the complaint). If you are dissatisfied with the response, you can refer the matter to the Office of the Australian Privacy Commissioner. See http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/making-a-privacy-complaint for more information.

Your privacy is important to Fraser Coast Radiology.