1. Introduction
The medical practice of Dr Kristen Moloney ABN 92 647 671 341 (“we or us”) is committed to protecting the personal information of our patients. We are bound by the Australian Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (the “Act”). We will only collect, use or disclose personal information in accordance with the Act and this Privacy Policy.
We may amend this Privacy Policy at any time and for any reason. The updated version will be available at www.drkristenmoloney.au/privacy. You should check the Privacy Policy regularly for changes.
In this Privacy Policy, “personal information” means any information or opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether the information or opinion is true or not, and whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.
2. When do we collect personal information?
The most common situations in which we collect personal information from you are when:
- you book an appointment;
- you complete our New Patient Registration Form;
- we provide you with medical advice or treatment; or
- you submit a query through our website.
When we provide you with medical advice or treatment, we may also collect personal information about you from other sources, including from:
your My Health Record;
- Medicare or your health insurer;
- the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (“DVA”);
- the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme; and
- other health care providers such as general practitioners, specialists and hospitals.
3. What personal information do we collect?
The kinds of personal information we collect about you will depend on the circumstances in which that information is collected. We may collect personal information including:
- name;
- contact details (for example, address, phone number, email address);
- date of birth;
- gender;
- general practitioner details; referring doctor details
- Medicare, health insurer and DVA details;
- emergency contact details including name, contact information and nature of relationship;
- information about your health and medical condition and treatment (with your consent, this may include taking clinical photographs); and
- payment details.
4. What do we use personal information for?
The purposes for which we use your personal information will depend on the circumstances in which that personal information is collected. We will inform you of the purposes for which we intend to use your personal information in a collection notice at or before the time we collect your personal information.
Generally, we may use your personal information for:
- the purpose for which you provided it to us;
- purposes which are directly related to the purpose for which you provided it to us; and
- any other purposes to which you have consented.
For example:
- when you request an appointment, we may use your details to contact you to organise the appointment and send you reminders about the appointment;
- when we provide you with medical advice or treatment, we will use your health and medical information to provide that advice or treatment;
- when we refer you to another provider, we will provide your contact details and relevant health and medical information to them; and
- after we provide services to you, we will use your payment details to arrange payment.
We will never use your personal information for direct marketing. We may use de-identified information to review and improve our services.
5. To whom do we disclose personal information?
The third parties to whom your personal information will be disclosed will depend on the purposes for which that personal information is used. We will inform you of the third parties to whom your personal information will be disclosed in a collection notice at or before the time we collect your personal information.
Generally, we may disclose your personal information to third parties as necessary for:
- the purpose for which you provided it to us;
- purposes which are directly related to the purpose for which you provided it to us; and
- any other purposes to which you have consented.
For example, when we provide you with medical advice or treatment, we may disclose your personal information to:
- your GP or to other health care providers who are involved in your care;
- Medicare or your health insurer; and
- contractors who provide services (such as administrative, archiving, communications, information technology and professional services) to us in support of our practice.
With your consent, we may disclose personal information relating to your condition or treatment (including de-identified clinical photographs) to third parties for research, education, audit and publication purposes.
With your consent, we may also disclose de-identified information relating to your case to other health care providers, including in multi-disciplinary forums such as radiology and/or tumour board meetings, for quality assurance purposes.
In exceptional circumstances, we may be required or permitted by law to disclose personal information, for example to law enforcement authorities or to prevent a serious threat to public safety.
We will not disclose your personal information to any third party located outside Australia without your consent.
6. How is personal information secured?
We will take all practicable steps to ensure that your personal information is protected against unauthorised access, processing, erasure, loss or use. We store your personal information in Australia.
7. Accessing and correcting your personal information
You may contact us to seek access to or correction of personal information which we hold about you. There are certain exemptions under the Act which may apply to access and correction requests. We may require that the person requesting access or correction provide suitable identification and we may charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to an access request.
Requests to access or correct personal information held by us should be addressed to [email protected].
8. Complaints
If you have any complaints about our personal information handling practices, please contact [email protected] and we will do our best to resolve your complaint. If you are not happy with our response, you have the right to contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Contact details can be found at www.oaic.gov.au.