Patient’s Privacy Policy
Introduction
This policy is to provide information to you, the patient, on how your personal and health information is collected and used at The Doctors at Lavington and Thurgoona.
1: Who can you contact about this policy?
For enquiries regarding this policy, you can contact our Business Manager Jenny Shipard on 02 6057 7100 or jshipard@thedoctors.net.au
If you would like to make a complaint, please see section 14 of this document.
2: When and why is your consent necessary?
When you register as a patient of this practice, you provide consent for the GPs and practice staff to access and use your personal information to facilitate the delivery of healthcare. Access to your personal information is restricted only to the doctors and specific practice staff who require it for your care. If we ever use your personal information for purposes other than healthcare provision, we will obtain additional consent from you.
It is important to us that as the patient, you understand why we collect and use your personal information.
3: Why do we collect, use, store and share your personal information?
The practice collects, uses, stores, and shares your personal information primarily to manage your health safely and effectively. This includes providing healthcare services, managing medical records, and ensuring accurate billing and payments. Additionally, we may utilise your information for internal quality and safety improvement processes such as practice audits, accreditation purposes, and staff training to maintain high-quality service standards.
4: What personal information is collected?
The information we will collect about you includes your:
- names, date of birth, addresses, contact details
- medical information including medical history, medicines, allergies, and adverse reactions immunisations, social history, family history and risk factors
- Medicare number (where available) for identification and claiming purposes
- healthcare identifier numbers
- health fund details.
5: Dealing with us anonymously
You can 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.
6: How do we collect your personal information
When you make your first appointment, the practice staff and your GP will collect your personal and demographic information via your registration.
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, including:
- 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 (if relevant).
- While providing medical services, further personal information may be collected via:
- electronic prescribing
- My Health Record
- online appointments.
Various types of images may be collected and used, including:
- CCTV footage: Collected from our premises for security and safety purpose
- Photos and medical images: These can be taken using personal devices for medical purposes, following the guidelines outlined in our guide on using personal devices for medical images.
7: When, why and who do we share your personal information?
We sometimes share your personal information:
- with third parties 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 (e.g. In referral letters)
- 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 it is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information (e.g. some diseases require mandatory notification)
- When it is provision of medical services, through electronic prescribing, My Health Record (e.g. via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary).
Only people who need to access your personal information will be able to do so. Other than providing medical services or as otherwise described in this policy, the practice will not share personal information with any third party without your consent.
We do not share your personal information with anyone outside Australia (unless under exceptional circumstances that are permitted by law) without your consent.
8: Will your information be used for marketing purposes?
The practice will not use your personal information for marketing any goods or services directly to you without your expressed consent. If you do consent, you may opt out of direct marketing at any time by notifying the practice in writing.
9: How do we use your information to improve services?
The practice may use your personal information to improve the quality of the services offered to patients through research, analysis of patient data for quality improvement and for training activities with the practice team
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 reception staff know if you do not want your information included.
10: How are document automation services used?
Document automation is where systems use existing data to generate electronic documents relating to medical conditions and healthcare.
The practice uses document automation technologies to create documents such as referrals, which are sent to other healthcare providers. These documents contain only your relevant medical information.
These document automation technologies are used through secure medical software, Best Practice.
All users of the medical software have their own unique user credentials and password and can only access information that is relevant to their role in the practice team.
The practice complies with the Australian privacy legislation and APPs to protect your information.
All data, both electronic and paper are stored and managed in accordance with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Privacy and managing health information guidance.
11: How are Artificial Intelligence (AI) Scribes used?
The practice uses an AI scribe tool to support GPs take notes during their consultations with you. The AI scribe uses an audio recording of your consultation to generate a clinical note for your health record. The practice AI scribe service is Lyrebird Scribe.
Lyrebird Scribe:
- Does not share information outside of Australia
- Destroys the audio file once the transcription is complete.
- Removes sensitive, personal identifying information as part of the transcription
The practice will only use data from our digital scribe service to provide healthcare to you.
12: How is your personal information stored and protected?
Your personal information may be stored in various forms.
The practice stores all personal information securely.
If you would like further detailed information on the storage and protection you can contact us for a dull copy of our storage policy.
13: How can you access and correct your personal information at the practice?
You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information.
The practice acknowledges patients may request access to their medical records.
The practice will respond to any requests to access or correct your personal information within 24-48 hours. Access to your record may to longer to this depending on whether you record is entirely electronic or if there may be paper components to your record.
The practice will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up to date. Sometimes, we will ask you to verify your personal information held by the practice is correct and current. You may request we correct or update your information. To do this please contact 02 6057 7100.
14: How can you lodge a privacy-related complaint, and how will the complaint be handled?
We take complaints and concerns regarding privacy seriously. You should express any privacy concerns you may have. We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with the resolution procedure.
If you do not feel we have resolved your issue You may also contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner will require you to give them time to respond before they investigate. For further information visit www.oaic.gov.au or call the OAIC (Office of the Australian Information Commissioner) on 1300 363 992.
Policy review statement
This policy is current as at 25/02/2025.
The privacy policy is regularly reviewed to ensure compliance with current obligations.
If any changes are made:
- They will be reflected on the website.
- Significant changes may be communicated directly to patients via email or other means.
Please check the policy periodically for updates. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.
Email Policy
Introduction
This policy is to provide information to you, the patient, on how email is used at The Doctors at Lavington and Thurgoona.
The Doctors at Lavington and Thurgoona recognises the practice team requires professional access to email to assist in the efficient and safe delivery of healthcare services to our patients.
- General Email Usage:
- Email should be used for professional communication purposes only. Personal use of email is discouraged and should be kept to a minimum.
- All email communications must adhere to the practice’s standards of professionalism, confidentiality, and integrity.
- Team members must use their designated practice email accounts for all practice-related communications. Personal email accounts should not be used for practice-related communications.
- All emails received by the practice will have an automatic reply email sent to the sender that states:
“Thank you for contacting The Doctors at Lavington and Thurgoona. If you are requiring urgent assistance, please call reception on 02 6057 7100. Your email will be processed by our Administration Team and forwarded to the appropriate staff member within 48 hours.
For urgent assistance please call 000 or present to your nearest emergency department, we also do not make appointments via email and a consultation is required to seek advice from the doctor. This is an automatic response email. Please do not reply to this email.
Please contact us on 02 6057 7100 should you require further assistance.”
- Confidentiality and Security:
- Patient-identifiable information (PII) or any confidential medical data must not be sent via email unless necessary for the treatment or care of the patient, and appropriate safeguards (e.g., encryption) are in place.
- Emails containing patient information must include a confidentiality notice stating that the information is intended only for the recipient and that unauthorized use or disclosure is prohibited. See below TDLT email disclaimer:
DISCLAIMER: ‘This email and any attachments transmitted with it are confidential and/or privileged. If you are not the intended recipient or person responsible for delivering the email to the intended recipient, you are prohibited from disclosing, copying or using the information contained in it. If you have received this email in error, please inform us by email reply and delete the message and attached documents. We have taken precautions to minimise the risk of transmitting software viruses, but we advise you to carry out your own virus checks on any attachments to this email. We cannot accept liability for any loss or damage caused by software viruses. The contents of this email are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of The Doctors at Lavington or Thurgoona.’ - Team members must verify the recipient’s email address, including patient’s, before sending emails containing patient information to ensure that the information is sent to the correct person.
- Email Content:
- Emails should be concise, clear, and relevant to the subject matter.
- Sensitive or confidential information should be communicated in person or via a secure communication method, rather than through email.
- Attachments should be scanned for viruses and malware before being sent or opened.
- Emailing patients:
If the patient requests something to be sent via email these steps are to be followed:- Inform the patient that email is not considered a secure format, it is like sending a postcard in the mail; it can be read by several parties.
- Request that the patient emails in a request for communication to be sent via email. This allows us to make sure that we are sending to the correct email address. Our email is: admin@thedoctors.net.au
- Reply to the email with:
“We have received your request for information to be sent via email. As per our telephone discussion, email is not considered a secure format for the transfer of medical information. It is like sending a postcard in the mail, as it can potentially be read by several different parties. If you still wish to proceed with the requested information being sent via this method, please confirm by replying to this email.” - When the reply is received it is to be saved as a PDF document and imported to the patient’s file.
- Email Retention and Storage:
- Emails related to patient care or other important practice matters must be retained in accordance with the practice’s records management policy.
- Emails should be stored in secure, access-controlled systems to prevent unauthorized access.
- Use of External Email Services:
- The use of external email services (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo) for practice-related communications is prohibited.
- All practice-related communications must be conducted using the practice’s designated email system, which includes appropriate security measures.
- Training and Awareness:
- All team members are required to undergo training on the practice’s email usage policies and procedures.
- Regular refresher training sessions will be conducted to ensure ongoing awareness and compliance with this policy.
Policy review statement
This policy is current as at 25/02/2025.
The email policy is regularly reviewed to ensure compliance with current obligations.
If any changes are made:
- They will be reflected on the website.
- Significant changes may be communicated directly to patients via email or other means.
Please check the policy periodically for updates. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.
Social Media Policy
Introduction
This policy provides guidance for members of the practice on using social media internally and externally. The policy helps identify and mitigate risks associated with social media use.
Definition
For the purposes of this policy, ‘social media’ is online social networks used to disseminate information through online interaction.
Purpose
Regardless of whether social media is used for business-related activity or for personal reasons, the following policy requirements apply to all GPs and practice staff of The Doctors at Lavington and Thurgoona. GPs and practice staff are legally responsible for their online activities, and if found to be in breach of this policy appropriate action will be taken, with serious breaches resulting in employment termination.
Use of practice social media accounts
The practice will appoint a staff member as a social media officer (see bottom of page) responsible for managing and monitoring the practice’s social media accounts. All posts on the practice’s social media website must be approved by this staff member. The practice reserves the right to remove any content at its own discretion.
Staff conduct on social media
When using the practice’s social media, practice staff will not:
- post any material that
- is unlawful, threatening, defamatory, pornographic, inflammatory, menacing or offensive
- infringes or breaches another person’s rights (including intellectual property rights) or privacy, or misuses the practices or another person’s confidential information (e.g. do not submit confidential information relating to our patients, personal information of staff, or information concerning the practice’s business operations that have not been made public)
- is materially damaging or could be materially damaging to the practice’s reputation or image, or another individual
- is in breach of any of the practice’s policies or procedures
- use social media to send unsolicited commercial electronic messages, or solicit other users to buy or sell products or services or donate money
- impersonate another person or entity (e.g. by pretending to be someone else or another practice employee or other participant when you submit a contribution to social media) or by using another’s registration identifier without permission
- tamper with, hinder the operation of, or make unauthorised changes to the social media sites
- knowingly transmit any virus or other disabling feature to or via the practice’s social media account, or use in any email to a third party, or the social media site
- attempt to do or permit another person to do any of these things
- claim or imply that you are speaking on the practice’s behalf, unless you are authorised to do so
- disclose any information that is confidential or proprietary to the practice, or to any third party that has disclosed information to the practice
- be defamatory, harassing or in violation of any other applicable law
- include confidential or copyrighted information (e.g. music, videos, text belonging to third parties)
- violate any other applicable policy of the practice.
Monitoring social media sites
The practice’s social media channels are part of our customer service and should be monitored and dealt with regularly. The practice will attempt to update their social media channels once a week and at times more frequent when apparent news is relevant.
Should a complaint be received through a social media channel the practice will endeavour to address this complaint within 24-48 hours and have a resolution with 7 days.
Testimonials
The practice complies with AHPRA national law and takes reasonable steps to remove testimonials that advertise their health services (which may include comments about the practitioners themselves). The practice is not responsible for removing (or trying to have removed) unsolicited testimonials published on a third-party website or in social media accounts over which they do not have control.
Personal social media use
Staff are free to personally engage in social media outside of work hours, as long as their actions do not have the potential to bring the practice into disrepute. Employees may not represent personal views expressed as those of this practice.
Any social media posts by staff on their personal social media platforms must not reveal confidential information about the practice or a person who uses the practice (eg staff should not post information relating to patients or other staff, or information concerning the practice’s business operations that have not been made public).
Staff should respect copyright, privacy, fair use, financial disclosure and other applicable laws when publishing on social media platforms.
Policy review statement
This policy is current as at: 27/2/25
Social media officer at review date: Anna Duck
The social media policy is regularly reviewed to ensure compliance with current obligations.
If any changes are made:
- They will be reflected on the website.
- Significant changes may be communicated directly to patients via email or other means.
Please check the policy periodically for updates. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.
