PURPOSE
Western Private Hospital is committed to complying with all applicable privacy laws including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Health Records Act (Vic) 2001 and handles the personal information (including health information) that it collects and holds in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) contained in the Privacy Act.
Who must comply:
This policy applies to:
- every organisational employee;
- accredited medical staff;
- contractors/sub-contractors and any of their employees whilst engaged on work for Western Private Hospital;
- volunteers;
- work experience students;
- consultants or consultants’ employees and
- agents whilst acting on behalf of the Western Private Hospital.
POLICY
What personal information does Western Private Hospital collect and hold?
The information we collect depends on who the individual is, such as a patient admitted
to the hospital, a health service provider, a next of kin, a guardian or other responsible
person, an emergency contact, an employee or persons responsible for paying an account
and may include an individual’s;
- Name, address (postal, email) and telephone numbers
- Sex
- Gender
- Date of birth
- Marital status
- Religion
- Occupation
- Country of birth
- Indigenous status
- Next of kin
- Payment information such as credit card details
- Health fund, workers compensation and other insurance cover details
- Medicare and concession card details
- Medical history and other health information we are provided with or we collect in the course of providing our services
- Other details an individual provides for admission to or discharge from the hospital
- Other information we need to provide our services.
GPs, referring doctors, attending doctors and other healthcare professionals
We will collect personal information about individual health practitioners who are involved in the care of our patients. This information will include the individual’s name, contact details, and professional details.
oTHER INDIVIDUALS
We will collect personal information of people who are not patients of the hospital such as next of kin, emergency contacts, guardians and people who have made donations. Typically, this information includes name and contact details.
Dealing with Western Private Hospital anonymously
You have the option of not identifying yourself, or using a pseudonym, when dealing with Western Private Hospital (for example, when making an enquiry). However, it may not always be practicable for Western Private Hospital to deal with you anonymously on an ongoing basis (for example, as a patient admitted to hospital). If we cannot collect personal information about you, we may be unable to provide you with certain health services or admit you as a patient of this hospital.
How does Western Private Hospital collect personal information?
We collect sensitive information about an individual, either directly from the individual concerned or from a third party, with the individual’s consent (which may be implied or express, depending on the circumstances). The information is collected when an individual completes our admission paperwork, health insurance claim or other forms or provides information over the phone before an admission.
We may also collect personal information from the following third parties such as;
- Responsible person or guardian
- An individual’s health service provider including specialist, referring doctor or general practitioner
- An individual’s health insurer
- An individual’s family or emergency contact
- Job referees
- Other sources where necessary to provide our services (e.g. pathology or imaging services) or to assess job applicants (e.g. police checks)
How does Western Private Hospital use and disclose your personal information?
Your personal information will generally be available to other health professionals and health service providers who are involved in your care. For example.
- A discharge notification or nursing summary of your admission will be sent to your referring or local doctor when you go home.
- If you are transferred to another hospital or health service we will send a summary of information to ensure continuity of your care
- We disclose personal information to health service providers contracted to provide health care services at the hospital, such as diagnostic imaging provider, allied health and pathology providers.
- Your health information may be disclosed to individuals who are legally responsible for your health care decisions. (E.g. parents, guardians & attorneys) and individuals you have nominated as your emergency contact or next of kin.
- Enable the provision of education and training to students of the health profession
- Respond to feedback and complaint handling
- Billing , processing health insurance claims and collecting debts
- Assess job applications
- Verify individual’s identity
- Quality assurance or clinical audit activities
- Legal and regulatory obligations
Clinical Registeries and audits
Western Private Hospital participates in clinical registries and audits that support best
practice and improve quality of care. These registries collect health related information on
individuals who are
- Treated with a particular surgical procedure, device or drug, e.g joint replacement, or
- Diagnosed with a particular illness, e.g. stroke or
- Managed via a specific healthcare resource, e.g treated in Cardiac Cather lab.
Should your admission meet criteria for participation in one of the following registries, you
will be contacted directly by the registry and you have the option to “opt out”. Your
participation cannot be managed by Western Private Hospital staff.
Is your personal information used for direct marketing and fundraising?
Western Private Hospital does not “on-sell” your personal information for use by marketing or fundraising groups.
Will your personal information be sent overseas?
Western Private Hospital does not typically or routinely disclose personal information to overseas recipients. A number of exceptions are,
- Medical devices and prosthesis -Personal information may be disclosed to the manufacturers or suppliers of those devices for product support and safety purposes.
- Overseas insurance funds – Personal information may be disclosed to patients funded by an overseas insurance provider.
Western Private Hospital will take reasonable steps to ensure that the overseas recipient does not breach Australian privacy laws.
How does Western Private Hospital hold and protect your personal information?
Personal information is held in both paper-based documents and in electronic form. Electronic data is stored in the hospital patient administration system which is password protected. We maintain strict policies on who has the authority to access your personal information. All our staff are bound by a formal code of conduct and sign a privacy and confidentiality statement when commencing employment at Western Private Hospital. Our staff are educated and supervised to ensure information is handled in accordance with this Privacy policy.
Personal and health information is retained for the period of time determined applicable by the Health Records Act (Vic) 2001 after which time it is de-identified and disposed of in a secure manner. An accredited third party secure storage provider is used to store paper based personal information that is no longer in active use.
How can you access or correct your personal information?
Individuals have a right to access the personal information that Western Private Hospital holds about them. In certain circumstances, we may refuse a request for access as allowed by the Privacy Act or other applicable laws. If Western Private Hospital refuses access, we will give written notice of our decision, including our reasons and how to complain if the individual is not satisfied with the decision.
Western Private Hospital aims to ensure that your information is accurate and complete. You can help us achieve this by notifying us of change in personal details, such as name or address. Please note it is generally not possible to make changes in clinical information held in your record. In that circumstance, you may be entitled to request that we associate a statement with your records.
Access to a patient record – western private hospital
Website Privacy
When you use the Western Private Hospital website, our Internet Service Provider will record and log non-personally identifiable information such as your IP address, browser type, and operating system pages viewed on our site and dates, times and frequencies of visits. Western Private Hospital uses this information for website and system administration, including monitoring to prevent security breaches, to assist in further development and to improve the functionality of the site.
What should you do if you have a complaint about the handling of your personal information?
Individuals who have any questions about privacy, this policy or the way we manage personal information or who believe that we have breached their privacy rights should complete the form at FEEDBACK – Western Private Hospital
Complaints should be in writing and addressed to;
Complaints Officer
Western Private Hospital
PO Box 4258
West Footscray VIC 3012
Complaints will be acknowledged within 3 business days and we will provide a response within a reasonable time frame.
In line with the Health Services Regulations, Western Private Hospital will ensure that a person making a complaint is not adversely affected because a complaint has been made by the patient or on behalf of the patient.
If the individual is not satisfied that Western Private Hospital has resolved their complaint, they have a right to make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). If they wish to make a complaint or to find out any more information about their privacy rights the OAIC can be contacted as follows:
Website: www.oaic.gov.au
Telephone: 1300 363 992
Mail: Office of the Australian Information Commissioner,
GPO Box 5218,
Sydney NSW 2001.
DEFINITIONS
Health Information – Any personal information about your health or disability. It includes information or opinion of your illness, injury or disability.
Personal Information – Information or an opinion about an individual (including information or an opinion forming part of a database) whose identity could be reasonably determined from that information or opinion. The principles do not apply to statistical data sets that would allow individuals to be identified.
Sensitive information – Specific Personal Information in relation to an individual that may be subject to discrimination legislation.
Collection – Process of gathering, acquiring or obtaining Personal Information from any source and by any means.
Use – How Personal Information is used within the organisation.
Disclosure – Transmission of Personal Information outside the organisation.