General Dentistry Services
Our Dentists and their staff have ethical and legal obligations to protect the personal and sensitive information of patients, including privacy and confidentiality obligations.
Our Dentists are required to comply with relevant privacy laws which apply to them.
We are bound by the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act). (Privacy Act) including the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs); the My Health Records Act 2012 (Cth); the Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010 (Cth);
Our Privacy policy outlines how we use and manage your health information. A Notice to Patients is posted in our patient waiting area as a summary statement of the policy.
COLLECTION AND USE OF INFORMATION
We collect health information directly from you and your authorised representatives to provide you with dental treatment.
Personal information such as your name, address, health insurance and financial details are used for the purpose of addressing accounts to you, as well as for processing payments, collecting unpaid invoices via an external collection agency, and writing to you about our services and any issues affecting your health care.
During accreditation procedures, some of your de-identified details may be released to the accrediting agency. The accreditation agency is also bound by the privacy act. We will de-identify any information we use including data for research, evaluation and benchmarking purposes.
We may also collect health information from a third party such as a health fund or referrer.
We will only collect your e-mail address if you provide us with your address directly. It will only be used for the purpose for which you provided it. You have the option of having your email address deleted from our records at any time.
NON-DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION
If you choose not to provide us with information relevant to your care, we may not be able to provide a service to you, or the service we are asked to provide may not be appropriate for your needs.
Importantly, you could suffer some harm or other adverse outcome if you do not provide information relevant to your care.
WEBSITE SECURITY
Our hosting provider Gannett.Co Inc , Reach local and Google Analytics makes a record of your visit to our practice website and logs the following information for our reference:
Your server address. Your domain or top level domain name (e.g. practice.com, .gov, .au, etc.)
The date, time and duration of your visit to the site. The pages you accessed and documents downloaded. The previous site you visited, The type of browser you are using
Your ISP may collect more or less information for you
This non-identified information is used to monitor usage patterns on our site in order to improve navigation and design features – helping you to get information more easily.
COOKIES
This website only uses session cookies during your browsing session to monitor usage patterns on our site in order to improve navigation and design feature.
Upon closing your browser the session cookie set by this website is destroyed and no personal information is maintained.
EMPLOYER/EMPLOYEE RESPONSIBILITIES
All staff employed in this practice are required to undergo training to understand their responsibilities in maintaining your privacy and to sign a confidentiality agreement in order to protect your personal information.
DISCLOSURE
The purpose of collecting your information is to provide you with a dental service; for internal and external administrative purposes, insurance purposes and record keeping.
We will not use your health information for any other purpose unless one of the following applies:
You have consented; You would reasonably expect that your information may be used for that purpose; for example we may disclose your health information to another health service provider such as a specialist dentist, a technician, your GP or another health practitioner for the purpose of providing you with health care; or The use of your health information is required or authorised by law.
DATA QUALITY
The practice takes steps to ensure that the health information we collect is accurate, up to date and complete. These steps include maintaining and updating personal and health information every 12 months when you attend the practice or you advise us that your personal information has changed.
DATA SECURITY
The practice keeps electronic records and takes reasonable steps to protect records against loss, unauthorized access, use, modification or disclosure, or other misuse.
The practice has taken steps to ensure electronic data is backed-up daily.
We have deployed encryption and password protection as security measures to support more secure communication of sensitive information across the Internet.
I.e. Transmission of confidential information between practitioners/specialists via email.
The practice will transfer records/referrals via email to dental/medical specialists and/or other dental/medical practices as required. This can be necessary in urgent circumstances or the necessity of quality resolution radiographs.
This practice maintains a Patient Disclosure Register (Patient Record of Transfer or Disclosure) to log all records transferred, to whom, how and date transfer was made. Details of transfer are also entered into the patients chart patient. Privacy warnings are included in all emails.
ACCESS AND CORRECTION
You can request access to your health or personal information we hold, or request that we change that information.
Requests for access or correction must be in writing and a records release form must be filled out and directed to the practice Privacy Officer.
You can access or make changes to your health or personal information unless we consider that there is a legitimate reason under the Privacy Act, or other relevant law to withhold the information, or not make the changes.
The practice will contact you within 14 days of your request and the practice may charge for access to or copies of health records.
After a period of 7 years (and if you attended the practice as a child, you have reached the age of 25) we may destroy your records in accordance with current applicable laws.
MARKETING
The practices marketing functions support the growth and development of the practice and to provide you with information about services offered at the practice.
The practice does not use your personal information for the purpose of direct marketing; and will not on-sell your personal information.
In the event the practice implements marketing materials from the practice, your consent to receive such information would be required to proceed. If you decide not to receive such information, a request can be easily be made to the Privacy Officer or another staff member at the practice.
SENDING INFORMATION OVERSEAS
As part of maintaining your records, the practice may use off-site electronic data storage providers, transcription service providers, professional indemnity insurers, marketing agencies or other third party service entities. These providers may be located offshore.
We will try to inform you about where your information is sent. Please be assured that we take reasonable steps to ensure compliance with the Australian Privacy Principles in relation to any off-shore transfer of your information.
COMPLAINTS
If you suspect there has been or may have been a breach of your privacy, you can complain directly to the practice Privacy Officer. (See enquiries below).
We take complaints very seriously.
You can lodge a complaint in a number of ways: by phone, email, in writing or in person.
Your complaint will be reviewed within Mango Hill Dental.
Any appropriate corrective action required to manage this breach and any preventive actions required in order to prevent breach in the future will be discussed and decided.
You will be sent a letter / email explaining the review process and the consequences of the review.
In the event of a privacy breach, we will comply with applicable guidelines issued by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
https://www.oaic.gov.au/agencies-and-organisations/guides/data-breach-notification-a-guide-to-handling-personal-information-security-breaches
For more information about Privacy laws, or to raise concerns about any matter not satisfactorily resolved within the practice you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (www.oaic.gov.au or ph. 1300 363 992).
Privacy and general complaints about your care can also be directed to the Health Services Commissioner.
ENQUIRIES
For further information about the practice’s management of privacy, please contact our Privacy Officer on 07 3482 2209. Our privacy officer is the Practice Manager / Owner
Email: info@mangohilldental.com.au
Our practice reviews and updates this Privacy Policy on a regular basis.