AUSTRALIAN RADIOLOGY CLINICS PRIVACY POLICY
Your Privacy
This privacy policy covers Australian Radiology Clinics and all associated entities. The Privacy Act 1988 requires us to inform our patients of their rights relating to the collection, use and disclosure of their personal information.
Collection
In order to provide a quality diagnostic imaging service it is necessary for us to collect patient information and sometimes disclose this information to relevant medical and allied personnel.
Such necessary information may include:
- referral/procedural details;
- contact details;
- Medicare/Concession information;
- Workers’ compensation/Motor Vehicle Accident/Veteran’s Affairs details;
- medical history;
- radiological history;
- family medical history;
- billing/account details.
The information will be collected directly from you, however on occasions we may need to obtain information from other sources, for example:
- other medical practitioners, such as GPs and specialists;
- other health care providers, such as physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, podiatrists, dentists, nurses;
- hospitals
Our practice staff and/or our medical practitioners may participate in the collection of this information. In emergency situations we may need to collect personal information from relatives or other sources where we are unable to obtain your consent.
Use and Disclosure
The practice staff will use and disclose your information for purposes such as:
- providing results to relevant practitioners;
- advice on treatment options;
- referral to another medical practitioner or health care provider;
- referral to a hospital for treatment and/or advice;
- sending of specimens for analysis;
- account keeping, billing purposes and recovery of monies;
- the management of our practice;
- quality assurance, practice accreditation, research and complaint handling;
- to meet our obligations of notification to our medical defence organisations or insurers;
- to prevent or lessen a serious threat to an individual’s life, health or safety;
- where legally required to do so, such as producing records to court, producing records to Medicare for audit purposes or the notification of diagnosis of certain communicable diseases.
Access
You are entitled to access your own records at a time convenient to both yourself and the practice. Access can be denied where:
- to provide access would create a serious threat to life or health;
- there is a legal impediment to access;
- the access would unreasonably impact on the privacy of another;
- the information relates to anticipated or actual legal proceedings and you would not be entitled to access the information in those proceedings;
- in the interests of national security.
Your medical imaging report is one part of your patient records and is best accessed through your referring healthcare professional who can answer all your questions about diagnosis and treatment, or you can collect a copy in person after presentation of a valid photographic ID.
Process
Where possible your request should be in writing, stating the date of service and type of service. All requests should be addressed as follows:
Practice Manager
Australian Radiology Clinics
133 Frost Road
SALISBURY SOUTH SA 5106
Information will be provided within 30 days of receipt of your request. The method of providing this information will be determined by the Practice Manager; however photographic identification may be requested. A charge may be imposed for processing the information. Should there be any inaccuracies in the information we have on file, we will record your corrections but will only amend and not erase the original record.
Maintenance Personnel
For operational purposes, it is necessary to allow maintenance personnel access to our premises. However, only authorised personnel are allowed access to medical records.
Contact Details
If we need to contact you for any reason and need to leave a message for you, it may be necessary for us to say where we are calling from. Please advise our reception staff immediately if you do not want us to do this. We may need to arrange alternate contact details if this is the case.