Privacy Policy

Current as of 1st October 2024

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 practitioners 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 (e.g. 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, test results, specialist reports
• Medicare number (where available) for identification and claiming purposes
• Healthcare identifiers
• Health fund details
• Your appointment and billing details
• Any other information about your race, sexuality, or religion when collected by a health service provider

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. Information can also be collected through electronic transfer of prescriptions (eTP) and My Health Record.
3. 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.
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 (e.g., some diseases require mandatory notification)
• During the course of providing medical services through eTP, My Health Record
• 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 organizations 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.

How do we store and protect your personal information?

Your personal information may be stored at our practice in various forms. Our staff are trained and required to respect and protect your privacy. Our practice stores all personal information securely.

We take reasonable steps to protect information held from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure. This includes:

• Holding your information on an encrypted database
• Holding your information in secure cloud storage
• Our staff sign confidentiality agreements
• Our practice has document retention and destruction policies
• Strong password protections are applied
• Senior staff and management have participated in online Cyber security training

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 and our practice will respond within 30 days. A fee of $50 will apply to provide this information.

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:
Practice Manager, Skin Cancer Hub Pty Ltd, 61A Ipswich Road, Woolloongabba, Qld. 4102 or email admin@skincancerhub.au

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 direct all privacy complaints to our Privacy Manager at admin@skincancerhub.au or post to:

Privacy Officer
Skin Cancer Hub
61A Ipswich Road
Woolloongabba, Qld 4102

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.

Privacy and our website

The Skin Cancer Hub collects personal information via the practice’s website and/or when we interact with patients online either through our booking platform, social media, or by email.

Additionally, our website may utilize cookies from third parties such as Google. The primary function of cookies is to personalize web pages or content for users. Cookies do not personally identify you, but they may be linked to a database record about you. We employ cookies to track the usage of our website and to generate records of user visits and page views. This enables us to offer information, content, and services tailored to individual users. Please note that we are unable to identify specific individuals from the information gathered through our use of cookies. You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser; however, this may affect the functionality of the website.

Links to other websites. Our websites may contain links to other sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of other sites. We encourage you to be aware when you leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each website that we may provide a link to on our website.

Receiving Marketing Material from Us

It is our aim to provide you with a range of services, treatments, and products offered by us. To do this, unless you opt-out, you consent to our use of the information that you provide to us for marketing purposes so we can better understand your interests. You consent to us providing you with information, marketing materials, and related publications by phone, text message, postal mail, or email about products and services that we believe will be of interest to you. Direct marketing will not contain any of your sensitive information. We provide you with a choice to opt out of our marketing activities and will respect your request not to receive marketing material from us. If you do not wish to receive marketing material from us, we ask you to contact us at admin@skincancerhub.au

Policy review statement

This privacy policy will be reviewed regularly to ensure it is in accordance with any changes that may occur. Any changes or updates will be made available at the clinic and on the website.