Associated Health Practitioners Privacy Policy – updated January 20, 2023

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Associated Health Practitioners value your privacy, and openly submit our privacy policy for you to review. This practice has developed a policy to protect patient privacy in compliance with Australia’s privacy legislation.

If you have any questions on this, please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

Introduction – about this Policy

This document sets out how Associated Health Practitioners (“we”) safeguard your privacy. This privacy policy is to provide information to you, our client, 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.
 

Privacy Policy

We recognise the importance of protecting your privacy. We are committed to ensuring the continued integrity and security of the personal information you entrust to us.

We appreciate that the success of our business is largely dependent upon a relationship of trust being established and maintained with past, current and prospective customers, employees, contractors and other individuals with whom we conduct business. We will therefore continue to collect and manage your personal information with a high degree of diligence and care. Our aim is to comply at all times with the privacy laws (incorporating the National Privacy Principles) that apply to us. If you have a comment, query or complaint regarding a privacy matter, we encourage you to discuss it with us.
 

Collection of your personal information

We usually collect personal information directly from you. Sometimes we collect or confirm this information from a third party such as a past or current employer or referee. We will have used reasonable efforts to obtain your consent to do this. Our main purpose for collecting, using, holding and sharing your personal information is to manage your health. We collect personal information that may include details such as your:

• Name

• Address

• Date of birth

• Contact details (such as phone and fax numbers, e-mail addresses)

• Professional information about you such as information about your education and training and work experience
   

How do we collect your personal information?

We will collect your personal information:

• When you make your first appointment our staff will collect your personal and demographic information via your registration

• During the course of providing medical services, we may collect further personal information. Information may be collected through our Online Consent Forms, Online Booking System or via verbal information shared during a consultation with our staff

• 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

 

Use and disclosure

We sometimes use your personal information in order to:

• Provide you with education opportunities, products and services

• Provide you with health, fitness and wellbeing professionals

• Assist you with your queries or concerns

• Comply with any legal or regulatory obligations imposed on us perform our regular and necessary business functions (such as professional review, performance reporting, research, product development and planning)

• When it is required or authorised by law (eg 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
  (eg some diseases require mandatory notification)

• During the course of providing medical services, through consultations with any of our medical staff

 

Only people that need to access your information will be able to do so. Other than in the course of providing professional 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.
 

Access and correction

In most cases you will be able to gain access to personal information about you held by us. We will also take reasonable steps to amend or correct your personal information to keep it accurate and up-to-date. Please contact us if you would like to access or request a correction of your personal information.
 

Opting out of employment material and promotions

You can opt out of receiving material from us at any time. We will not use your personal information for marketing any of our goods or services directly to you without your expression of consent. If you do consent, you may opt-out of direct marketing at any time by notifying our practice in writing.
 

Storage and security of your personal information

We will take reasonable steps to keep the personal information that we hold about you secure to ensure that it is protected from loss, unauthorised access, use, modification or disclosure. Your personal information may be stored at our practice in various forms as paper records, electronic records or in a visual format such as photos relevant to health treatment. For example, skin lesions.

Your personal information is stored within secure systems that are protected in controlled facilities and only accessible to authorised persons. Our employees and authorised agents are obliged to respect the confidentiality of any personal information held by us. All staff and contractors sign confidentiality agreements and understand their obligations in relations to information privacy, confidentiality and security.

 

How can you access and correct your personal information?

You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information.

We acknowledge clients may request access to their medical records. We prefer you to put this request in writing but if this is not possible you may make this request verbally and fill out the Request for Personal Health Information form.  We shall acknowledge this request within 7 days and respond within 30 days. Our practice will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up-to-date.

You should make such requests in writing to the Managing Director at info@associatedhealth.com.au
 

How can you lodge a privacy related complaint, and how will the complaint be handled within our company?

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 forward any privacy related complaints to:

The Managing Director
Associated Health Practitioners Pty Ltd
PO BOX 791
Torquay Vic 3228
Phone: 0466 622 899
Email: info@associatedhealth.com.au

We will acknowledge your complaint within 7 days and respond within 30 days.

You may also contact the Australian Government – Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (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 336 002.
 

Privacy & Our Website

We use our best efforts to ensure that information received via our websites remains secured within our systems. We are regularly reviewing developments in online security, however users should be aware that there are inherent risks in transmitting information across the Internet. Users need to be aware that the World Wide Web is not a secure medium. Associated Health Practitioners takes no liability for any interference or damage to a user's computer system, software or data occurring in connection with this website. We strongly recommend users take appropriate measures to ensure their computer is protected against third party interference whilst on the web.

The information is used in an aggregate form and generally no personal information is collected by the third-party service provider. Our agreements with these third parties ensure this information is only used to carry out functions on our behalf, and if any personal information is collected the confidentially of that information is maintained.

 

External links to other websites

This site may contain links to external websites, which Associated Health Practitioners has added to improve the service we offer and expand upon the information readily available to you. Once a user decides to click on a link and navigate away from the Associated Health Practitioners website, the Privacy Policy noted here is no longer in effect. Users are recommended to familiarise themselves with the privacy policies on these websites once they browse and interact with them.

Recommendations or views purported on these websites are not necessarily reflective of those of Associated Health Practitioners.
 

Website Privacy Policy Statement

We do not collect or use any personal information on visitors to our website, through the use of “cookies” or other software or hardware techniques. We use Google Analytics to track website hits and other information when you access our website such as pages viewed, date and time visited etc. This information is used for statistical and website development purposes only.  If you use our online contact form your contact details will be used for us to contact you in return. If you agree to join our newsletter your email address will be kept for this purpose. 

Secure transmissions are not supported and if personal information is transmitted to Associated Health Practitioners via our email or our online contact form we cannot guarantee security of these transactions.

 

Changes to this Policy

From time to time, it may be necessary for us to review our Privacy Policy and the information contained in this document. This privacy policy will be reviewed annually and any legislative changes will be updated as they occur.  Any amendments to this policy will be notified to clients via notices on our website.

We reserve the right to amend our Privacy Policy and the information contained in this document at any time and to notify you by posting an updated version on our website.


Privacy concerns or complaints

If you have concerns or wish to make a complaint regarding the treatment of your personal information by us please contact us and direct to:

The Managing Director
Associated Health Practitioners Pty Ltd
PO BOX 791
Torquay Vic 3228
Phone: 0466 622 899
Email: info@associatedhealth.com.au

 

Further information about privacy:

You can find more information about privacy (including information about specific issues, answers to frequently asked questions and links to the 10 National Privacy Principles) on the Office of the Privacy Commissioner’s website at www.privacy.gov.au