Privacy Policy

PART A – PURPOSE AND CONTEXT

1.0 Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery takes the privacy of our patients very seriously and is committed to ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of all Personal Information held by Cairns Plastic Surgery. 1.1 Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery adheres to the terms and conditions of privacy and confidentiality in accordance to the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) as per schedule 1 of the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 (Cth), forming part of the Privacy Act 1988 (‘the Act’). 1.2 The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to clearly communicate how Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery collects and manages personal information. 1.3 The point of contact regarding any queries regarding this policy is enquiry@drhertess.com.au

PART B – AUSTRALIAN PRIVACY PRINCIPLES

2.0 As a private sector health service provider and under permitted health situations, Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery is required to comply with the APPs as prescribed under the Act. 2.1 The APPs regulate how Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery may collect, use, disclose and store personal information and how individuals, including Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery patients may:

address breaches of the APPs by Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery ;
access their own personal information; and,
correct their own personal information.

2.2 In order to provide our patients with adequate health care services, Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery will need to collect and use personal information. It is important to be aware that if a patient provides incomplete or inaccurate information or withholds personal health information, Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery may not be able to provide our patients with the services they request.

PART D – COLLECTION & RETENTION

4.0 Generally, we collect personal information directly from the patient. This may include collecting information about a patient’s health history, family history, ethnic background or current lifestyle. This information will in most circumstances be collected directly from you via the Client Details form, consult form and by face to face consultation. 4.1 In other instances, Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery may need to collect personal information about a patient from a third party source. This may include:

relatives; or,
other health service providers.

4.2 This will only be conducted if the patient has provided consent for Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery to collect his/her information from a third party source; or, where it is not reasonable or practical for Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery to collect this information directly from the patient. This may include where:

the patient’s health is potentially at risk and his/her personal information is needed to provide them with emergency medical treatment.

4.3 Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery endeavours to store and retain a patient’s personal & health information in hard copy on site and/or electronically.

PART E – PURPOSE OF COLLECTION, USE & DISCLOSURE

5.0 Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery only uses a patient’s personal information for the purpose(s) they have provided the information for unless one of the following applies:

the patient has consented for Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery to use his/her information for an alternative or additional purpose;
the disclosure of the patient’s information by Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery is reasonably necessary for the enforcement of criminal law or a law imposing a penalty or sanction, or for the protection of public revenue;
the disclosure of the patient’s information by Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery will prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to somebody’s life or health; or,
Cairns Plastic Surgery is required or authorised by law to disclose your information for another purpose.

i. Professionals to provide treatment

During the patient’s treatment at Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery he/she may be referred to where Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery staff may consult with senior medical experts when determining a patient’s treatment.

ii. Alternative Health services

Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery staff may also refer the patient to other health service providers for further treatment. These professionals will be designated health service providers appointed to use the patient’s health information as part of the process of providing treatment. Please note that this process will be conducted whilst maintaining the confidentiality and privacy of the patient’s personal information.

iii. Other Third Parties

Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery may provide personal information regarding a patient’s treatment or condition to other third parties. These third parties may include:

parent(s);
children;
other relatives;
close personal friends;
guardians; or,
a person exercising a patient’s power of attorney under an enduring power of attorney.

Additionally, the patient may at any time wish to disclose that no third parties as stated are to access or be informed about his/her personal information or circumstances.

iv. Other Uses of Personal Information

In order to provide the best possible environment in which to treat patients, Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery may also use personal/health information where necessary for:

activities such as quality assurance processes, accreditation, audits, risk and claims management, patient satisfaction surveys and staff education and training;
invoicing, billing and account management;
to liaise with a patient’s health fund, Medicare or the Department of Veteran’s Affairs as necessary; and,
the purpose of complying with any applicable laws – i.e. in response to a subpoena or compulsory reporting to State or Federal authorities.

PART F – ACCESS AND CHANGES TO PERSONAL INFORMATION

6.0 A patient may request access to personal information Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery holds about you. We will grant access unless to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) or other relevant law allows us or requires us to refuse such access. We may charge a fee to recover reasonable costs associated with supplying information to you. A patient may also request that Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery correct the personal information it holds if the patient consider it to be inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. 6.1 The point of contact for patient access is: Dr. Hertess enquiry@drhertess.com.au 07 5601 0492 6.2 Once an individual patient requests access to his/her personal information, Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery will respond within a reasonable period of time to provide the said information. 6.3 All personal will be updated in accordance to any changes to a patient’s personal circumstances brought to Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery staff attention. All changes to personal information will be subject to patient’s consent and acknowledgement.

PART I – DISPOSAL OF PERSONAL/HEALTH INFORMATION

9.0 If Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery receives any unsolicited personal information that is not deemed appropriate for the permitted health situation, Cairns Plastic Surgery will reasonably de-identify and dispose of said information accordingly. 9.1 If Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery holds any personal or health information that is no longer deemed relevant or appropriate for the permitted health situation, will Cairns Plastic Surgery will reasonably de-identify and dispose of said information in accordance with the relevant .

PART K – REVIEW OF POLICY

11.1 Dr Hertess Plastic Surgery, in accordance with any legislative change will review the terms and conditions of this policy to ensure all content is both accurate and up to date. 11.2 Notification of any additional review(s) or alteration(s) to this policy will be provided to patients and staff within one month notice.

Cairns Plastic Surgery Privacy Policy Common terms and definitions include

“personal information” as defined by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). Meaning “information or an opinion including information or an opinion forming part of a database, whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material format or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent, or can reasonably be ascertained, from the information or opinion”; and,
“health information” as defined by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). This is a particular subset of “personal information” and means information or an opinion about:
- the health or a disability (at any time) of an individual;
- an individual’s expressed wishes about the future provision of health services to him or her; or,
- a health service provided or to be provided to an individual.

Personal information also includes ‘sensitive information’ which is information including, but not limited to a patient’s:

race;
religion;
political opinions;
sexual preferences; and or,
health information.

Information deemed ‘sensitive information’ attracts a higher privacy standard under the Act and is subject to additional mechanisms for the patient’s protection.