Policies

Privacy Policy 

Your privacy and medical information is very important and well respected by us.

Our practice is committed to maintaining the confidentiality of your health information. For more details on how we manage the patient health information, please see our Privacy Policy.

There may be times when your health information will be shared with other medical workers eg. specialists, allied health care workers etc and organisations eg. Department of Public Health. All information and personal health records are handled in accordance with current Government legislation. 

Our Privacy Policy is available in the brochure rack in our Waiting Room or it can be read at the bottom of this section.

Alpha Medical Center provides Hospital after hours service  for those patients who require a care after hours. During the Clinic opening hours, the practice GP's will offer home visits at their discretion.

Dr O offers home visits when it is appropriate ,depending on circumstances and considering safety of all staff.

To obtain a home visit during clinic hours it needs to be safe and reasonable for the GP, and within 2km radius of the clinic. When the patient is triaged and a home or other visit is deemed neither safe nor reasonable, a telephone consultation will be offered.

 

No Smoking Policy

We do have a no smoking policy within and around the practice building. 

Alpha Medical Center Kalgoorlie privacy policy 

Current as of April 2023

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 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 

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. We may also collect information through electronic transfer of prescriptions (eTP) and the My Health Record, e.g. via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary as we participate in these eHealth services.]
3. We may also collect your personal information when you visit our website, send us an email, 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). 

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

We sometimes share your personal information:

• with third parties who work with our practice 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 (eg some diseases require mandatory notification)
• during the course of providing medical services, through eTP, My Health Record (e.g. via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary).

Only people who need to access your information will be able to do so. Other than in the course of providing medical services or as otherwise described in this policy, our practice will not share personal information with any third party without your consent. Please note that our practice employs referral templates that leverage document automation technology to extract your personal information into referral letters, ensuring that only relevant medical information is included. Furthermore, we may electronically send your information to service providers electronically via accepted secure messaging systems.
We will not share your personal information with anyone outside Australia (unless under exceptional circumstances that are permitted by law) without your consent.
Our 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 our practice in writing. 

How do we store and protect your personal information?

Your personal information is stored at our practice in our electronic records, as well as the normal clinical notes taken during a consultation this may include X-rays, CT scans, videos, photos and audio recordings. 
Our practice stores all personal information securely. Your personal information is protected, held in electronic format, is protected in a secure format on our data server by firewalls, multiple passwords and physical lock and key structures.  All staff and contractors sign binding confidentiality agreements

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

You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information.
Our practice acknowledges patients may request access to their medical records. We require you to put this request in writing to the Privacy Officer, Alpha Medical Center Kalgoorlie, 36 MacDonald Street, Kalgoorlie, WA 6430. We will acknowledge your request within seven (7) days and our practice will respond within 30 days which we consider to be a reasonable time. There may be a non-Medicare rebateable fee associated with complying with a request for access; if this is the case, we will advise you when we respond.
Our practice will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up to date. From time to time, we will ask you to verify that your personal information held by our practice is correct and current. You may also request that we correct or update your information, and you should make such requests in writing to the Practice Manager, Alpha Medical Center Kalgoorlie, 36 MacDonald Street, Kalgoorlie, WA 6430. We will acknowledge your request within seven (7) days.

How can you lodge a privacy-related complaint, and how will the complaint be handled at our practice?

We take complaints and concerns regarding privacy seriously. You should express any privacy concerns you may have in writing. We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our resolution procedure. Please write to the Privacy Officer, Alpha Medical Center Kalgoorlie, 36 MacDonald Street, Kalgoorlie, WA 6430. If you are unable to do this, please come to the Practice and speak to our Practice Manager who will deal with all complaints with the utmost confidentiality.
You may also contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). Generally, the OAIC will require you to give them time to respond before they will investigate. For further information visit www.oaic.gov.au or call OAIC on 1300 363 992. You can also contact Health and Disability Services Complaints Office (HaDSCO), Western Australia – 1800 813 583 or 08 6551 7600 www.hadsco.wa.gov.au/home/index.cfm; or Health Care Complaints Commission - ecomplaints.hccc.nsw.gov.au/ (02) 9219 7444, 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Privacy and our website 

We also collect information through our practice website or if you contact us via email. Any information you provide in this manner will be secure as we do not use cookies or website analytics.

Policy review statement

This policy is reviewed annually or when changes are made to the relevant Acts or Regulation 
 

Next review date: 01 April 2024