Patient Confidentiality

MANAGEMENT OF PATIENT PERSONAL HEALTH INFORMATION

• Information is collected by independent GPs, health professionals and Mt Martha Village Clinic staff with patient written consent or implied consent.
• All patient information collected shall be used to provide a comprehensive approach to patient care.
• Independent GPs may use an AI agent for transcription purposes.  The platform we use fully complies with the Australian Privacy Principles.
• Patient information is collected for accounting and administrative purposes to run our practice and to comply with Medicare requirements.
• Information will be collected in a manner that ensures protection of privacy and confidentiality.
• Patients are asked to advise us if their details alter so that our information is accurate and up to date.
• No information that identifies the patient will be released to a third party not involved in the patient’s health care without their written consent.
• De-identified information may be used for research & quality assurance activities and professional development to improve individual & community health. Patient consent and option to opt out will be sought for specific programs relating to the individual’s health.
• There may be disclosure to comply with any legislative or regulatory requirements such as notifiable diseases.
• There may be circumstances where the doctor will be obliged to release details of a patient’s personal health information without their express consent – this may be the case if the situation was an extreme emergency, or if legally compelled to do so.
• Mt Martha Village Clinic operates a fully computerized medical records system. All independent doctors and employees have individual passwords to allow different levels of access. Information is backed up daily, the system is checked and 2 restores are done and tested per annum and passwords changed regularly.  You will be notified of any serious breach of your personal information.
• Administrative staff with access to your personal health information have all signed confidentiality agreements.
• Some medical information is downloaded directly into your medical record eg pathology results and specialist letters. These are encrypted to ensure confidentiality.
• Your information may be used to send you reminder letters regarding your health care and management.
• When patients move to another medical practice, we will support continuity of care by preparing a relevant summary of their medical records. When we receive a form signed by the patient authorizing transfer of medical information, we will post by registered mail this summary to their new GP. There is no charge for a health summary and a fee will be incurred for any further information sought.

Patients may wish to directly access the full details in their health records:

• Privacy Officer – the Practice Manger is advised of the patient request.
• The Practice Manger will contact you to outline the procedure.
• A written request for access to the medical records will be obtained before we can proceed.
• We will advise the patient of times the doctor can avail themselves to go through their medical records if this is what is requested. This will be as soon as reasonably convenient within 30 days.
• Fees are charged for service what will reflect the time taken. There is no Medicare rebate or discount fee available for this service.
• A fee will also be charged if a printout of medical record is required – this will reflect the time taken to prepare such a document – no Medicare rebate or discount fee is available for this service.
• It will not be possible to provide an electronic version of patient health records.
• Rarely patient access to details in the health record will not be available.  If this happens, a full explanation will be offered.
• It is the policy of Mt Martha Village Clinic at this time to retain all medical records – no records are destroyed.
• If there are concerns regarding information collected by Mt Martha Village Clinic and how it is used, patients are encouraged to discuss any issue with the Practice Manager or one of the doctors.

For more information contact the Privacy Officer at Mt Martha Village Clinic on 5974 3500