About Us

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 health care. 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.

Our practice will need to collect your personal information to provide health care 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 (e.g. Staff training).

The information we will collect about you includes your:

• names, date of birth, addresses, contact details, emergency 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.

Our practice may collect your personal information in several different ways.

• When you make your first appointment our practice staff will collect your personal and demographic information via your registration form.
• During the course of providing medical services, we may collect further personal information.
• We are registered for My Health Record, if you consent to us, we can access your health record online.
• We may also collect your personal information when you visit our website, send us an email or SMS, telephone us or make an online appointment.
• 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 health care 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 Veteran's Affairs (as necessary).

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 health care 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 (e.g. 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.

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.

Our practice may use your personal information to improve the quality of the services we offer to our patients through research and analysis of our 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 our reception staff know if you do not want your information included.

Your personal information may be stored at our practice in various forms.

We are a paperless practice and consequently we do not keep any paper records, scan films etc. We only keep electronic records.

Our practice stores all personal information securely. We have invested heavily in Medical Records Security and our Medical IT consultants are the best in the field.

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 and our practice will respond within a reasonable time.

To ensure your identification is up to date, you will be asked to provide three points of identifiers, such as full name, date of birth, and address. You will be asked each time you call or attend in person, or when we provide information telephonically. 

You may also request that we amend or update your information; this can be done in person or via email to; reception@bethanymedicalcentre.com.au.

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 email us at feedback@bethanymedicalcentre.com.au

You may also contact the 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 the OAIC on 1300 363 992.

Policy review statement

This privacy policy will be reviewed regularly to ensure it is in accordance with any changes that may occur.