PROLOGUE’S PRIVACY POLICY

Introduction

At Prologue, we are very committed to protecting the privacy of our patients and to handling your personal information in a responsible manner. We will also do so in a way that is aligned with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012, the Australian Privacy Principles and relevant State and Territory privacy legislation (referred to as privacy legislation). 

This following Privacy Policy explains how Prologue collects, uses and discloses your personal information, how you may access that information and how you may seek the correction of any information. In the very rare occasion that one should occur, it also explains how you may raise a complaint about any perceived breach of privacy legislation.

This Privacy Policy is current from [insert date] and is reviewed by the team at Prologue on an annual basis. With our commitment to continual improvement, we may make changes to our policy, processes and systems in relation to how we handle your personal information. In such instances, we promptly update this Privacy Policy accordingly. Those changes will then be available via our website and within the practice.

Prologue collects information that is necessary and relevant in order to provide you with excellent medical care and treatment as well as manage our practice. This information may include your name, address, date of birth, gender, health information, family history and contact details. This information may be stored in our computer medical records system and/or in handwritten medical records.

Wherever practicable, Prologue will only collect information from you personally. However, we may also need to collect information from other sources such as treating specialists, radiologists, pathologists, hospitals, other health care providers as well as the Myhealth record system.

We also collect information in various other ways, such as over the phone or in writing, in person or over the internet if you transact with us online. This information may be collected by medical and non-medical staff. 

In emergency situations we may also need to collect information from your relatives or friends.

We may also be required by law to retain medical records for certain periods of time depending on your age at the time we provide services.

Prologue will treat your personal information as strictly private and confidential. We will only use or disclose this information for purposes directly related to your care and treatment, or in ways that you would reasonably expect that we may use it for your ongoing care and treatment. An example of this would be the sharing of blood test results or ultrasound reports to another one of your treating specialist doctors. 

There are circumstances where we may be permitted or required by law to disclose your personal information to third parties. For example, to Medicare, police, insurers, solicitors, government regulatory bodies, tribunals, courts of law, hospitals, debt collection agents, the electronic transfer of prescriptions service or to the Myhealth record system. We may also from time to time provide statistical data to third parties for research purposes. 

We may disclose information about you to outside contractors who carry out activities for us. Examples of this would be an IT service provider, solicitor or debt collection agent. In such instances, Prologue impose security and confidentiality requirements on how your personal information is handled. It is important to highlight that outside contractors are required not to use information about you for any purpose except for those activities we have asked them to perform. 

Data Quality and Security 

Prologue takes reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is accurate, complete, up to date and relevant. For this purpose our staff may ask you to confirm that your contact details are correct when you attend a consultation. We request that you let us know if any of the information we hold about you is incorrect or out of date. 

Personal information that we hold is protected by:

• securing our premises

• placing passwords and varying access levels on databases to limit access and protect electronic information from unauthorised interference, access, modification and disclosure; 

• providing locked cabinets and rooms for the storage of hard copy records 

Corrections

Prologue prioritises accuracy. Therefore, if you believe that the information we have about you is not accurate, complete or up to date, we very much want to correct that. In such a situation, we ask that you please contact us in writing using the contact details listed below. 

Access

At Prologue, we are always committed to working with you and you are entitled to request access to your medical records from us. If you are interested in doing this, we ask that you put your request in writing and we will be sure to respond within a reasonable time. We will never charge you an administration fee for this. 

Prologue would only ever decline you access to your medical records in those circumstances that were guided by law. For example, if such a disclosure could cause a serious threat to your health or safety. We will always tell you why such access was denied and the options you have to respond to that decision. 

Complaints 

If you have a complaint about the privacy of your personal information (including complaints about our use of the Myhealth record system), we are keen to listen to you and work on a resolution. We request that you contact us in writing so we can promptly assess the sitiation and work to resolve it in accordance with our complaints handling procedures. 

If you are dissatisfied with our handling of a complaint or the outcome, you may make an application to the Australian Information Commissioner or the Privacy Commissioner in your State or Territory. 

Overseas Transfer of Data

Prologue will not transfer your personal information to an overseas recipient unless we have your consent or we are required to do so by law. 

Contact

If you have any queries, complaints or requests for access to your medical records we want to understand and respond to them. We ask that you please contact us in writing on adminsupport@prologue.com.au