yarra trail medical
privacy policy

privacy policy

Yarra Trail Medical is committed to protecting the privacy of everyone who interacts with us.

What information is collected and why?

Information is collected during your visit to Yarra Trail Medical to help provide the very best care. For example, age, symptoms, previous illness or medication may all play a role in patient care and will be collected by our staff. Information is also collected to administer and manage the provision of health care services, including charging, billing and collecting debts. Other information collected and stored includes name, address, gender, main language spoken and details of your local doctor or other community health care providers. It is important that you provide us with as much information as possible to support your care.

Each time you attend one of our clinics, information about you will be updated. Your local pharmacist can also be provided with an encrypted electronic prescription. We aim to keep your information accurate and up to date at all times to make sure the best possible care and service can be provided. Please let our team know or contact us when your details, such as address, phone number or Medicare number change. The information we collect during your visits is stored securely in an electronic medical record (EMR) system. This system is shared by all of our clinics.

Yarra Trail Medical complies with the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

Yarra Trail Medical may collect personal information about you through our website or social media. By providing your personal information to Yarra Trail Medical and by using our website, you are consenting to Yarra Trail Medical collecting your personal information and using it in accordance with this privacy policy.

Protecting your information

We are committed to protecting privacy by keeping the information we collect about you secure from unauthorised access, use or loss. All electronic systems across our organisation are managed and maintained appropriately. There are strict laws, policies and procedures that are in place to govern the collection, use, release and disposal of your information. Staff access to these systems is audited regularly by each health service to monitor compliance.

We are compliant with the Health Records Act 2001 (Vic) and all staff, patients and contractors must comply with our privacy policy and uphold confidentiality and security of personal information. Disciplinary action will be taken against staff if this procedure has been compromised or breached.

1. Our Privacy Policy will always be available on our website. We only collect personal health information necessary to perform our functions and will collect information in fair and lawful means, directly from the patient themselves where possible.

2. We will only use and disclose health information for the primary purpose for which it was collected, or a directly related secondary purpose permitted under law. Individual patient consent is always obtained for use or disclosure for purposes not directly related to a primary or secondary purpose. Where information is de-identified, ensuring an individual identity cannot be ascertained may be disclosed without consent.

3. We take all reasonable steps to keep personal information up to date, complete and accurate.

4. All reasonable measures have been taken to protect health information from unauthorised access, improper use, disclosure, unlawful destruction or accidental loss. Our medical records and computers have security controls and password protected access.

5. Our privacy policy is always accessible, and any further information can be requested by emailing reception@yarratrailmedical.com.au

6. Patients may request access to their information. In some circumstances, access may be refused and an explanation will be provided. Patients may request an amendment to incorrect information.

7. A unique identifier is allocated to each patient to ensure ongoing care and treatment is provided.

8. In general, it is impracticable for Yarra Trail Medical to provide healthcare to individuals anonymously.

9. Information will only transfer outside of Victoria where the transfer is necessary for the provision of service to the individual or consent has been obtained.

10. In the event that Yarra Trail Medical is sold, transferred, amalgamated or closed down, health information will be handled in accordance with the Health Privacy Principle 10 Health Records Act 2001 (Vic).

11. Yarra Trail Medical will make health information available to another health service provider upon receiving consent from that individual.

Personal information

Yarra Trail Medical may collect personal information from you that you provide to us. Yarra Trail Medical may also collect transaction information relating to your interactions with us.

Yarra Trail Medical collects personal information in the normal course of providing services to you. This includes and is not limited to:

New patient form
Making appointments
Referrals and forms
Invoices and payments
Processing credit card purchases
Delivery of services
Using our social media accounts, pages and apps
Contacting us
Signing up to receive Yarra Trail Medical email marketing

If you do not provide us with this information then we may not be able to provide services to you.

Collecting your personal information

We collect personal information which we may use to

Provide you with health care services
Respond to your enquiries
Provide you with information about our products, services and offers
Comply with any applicable legal obligations
Improve our website or social media
Enhance our products, services or offers

We may also use personal information to customise information so that we can provide relevant consumer information and marketing.

Use of your personal information

In most circumstances personal information will be collected directly from you. Yarra Trail Medical may use your personal information to keep you up to date with Yarra Trail Medical's services that you may be interested in including for direct marketing and to develop services that meet your needs - if you have consented to receiving this.

Any information collected is safely and securely stored and only used for the purposes for which it was collected. We restrict access to your personal information, maintain technology products to prevent unauthorised computer access and use SSL (secure sockets layer) encryption technology when processing your financial details. The majority of personal information collected is stored within Australia, however third parties that we contract with may host this data in a cloud based system or outside Australia.

Yarra Trail Medical does not sell or trade any personal information collected. We may share personal information with our related corporations and service providers, contractors who help us provide services, and/or trading partners. We often need to share your information with companies who perform parts of our service delivery. This may include:

Service providers
Companies and contractors assisting Yarra Trail Medical
Regulatory authorities;
Professional advisors; and
Any other third party required by law.

Where we share your information, Yarra Trail Medical will ensure that these third parties protect your privacy in accordance with applicable laws.

Online bookings

We use Health Engine as a third party to coordinate our online bookings. Please see their privacy policy available here: https://healthengine.com.au/privacy.php

Email newsletters and marketing communication

If you have registered to receive email marketing communications from Yarra Trail Medical, we reserve the right to contact you in relation to Yarra Trail Medical . You can opt out of email marketing communications at
any time. We use Mail Chimp as a third party to coordinate our email newsletters. Please see their privacy policy available here: https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/

New patient form

We use JotForm to coordinate our new patient forms in the encrypted, locked format. Please see their privacy policy available here: https://www.jotform.com/privacy/

Pathology

We use a range of pathology providers including Melbourne Pathology, Dorevitch, Clinical Labs, 4Cyte and VCS. All of these providers strictly comply with the Privacy Act and Health Records Act.

Our websites use cookies. Cookies enable you to use our website and may be used in a variety of ways to enhance or personalise your online browsing and shopping experience. Accepting a cookie will not give us access to any data on your computer other than the data stored in the cookie. If you do not wish to allow cookies then you may elect to disable cookies, using your browser settings.

Security

Yarra Trail Medical adheres to credit card and personal information being kept secure at all times. To improve security, we use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology.

Yarra Trail Medical may update its privacy policy from time to time without notice, and an updated policy will be posted on our website.

Right of access and correction

You have the right to review, amend or delete your personal information that may be held by Yarra Trail Medical by contacting us. We will take all reasonable steps to comply with the request, except where it is not possible for legal reasons. To protect your privacy and the privacy of others, we may need to verify your identity before we can give you access to, or change, your personal information.

If you have any questions regarding this Privacy Policy please email reception@yarratrailmedical.com.au If you are unhappy with our responses you can contact the Office of the Australian Privacy Commissioner www.oaic.gov.au.

Updated June 2021