Privacy Policy

Ave Maria Medical Centre – PRIVACY POLICY

Our privacy policy is developed to protect patient privacy in compliance with Australia’s privacy legislation.

COLLECTION AND USE OF YOUR INFORMATION

Sensitive information such as your current and previous medical conditions and family health history are necessary to provide an accurate diagnosis, appropriate treatment and on-going health care.
Personal information is required so we can contact you about your health and for billing/refund purposes.
As part of our ongoing commitment to high quality patient care, a reminder system is available for a variety of medical conditions. Please inform the receptionist if you do not wish to be part of our reminder system"

DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION

To provide continuity of care the information we collect about you may be shared with other health care providers (doctor, hospitals, specialist, pathologists etc). Upon request relevant information will be made available to another health service providers but no additional unnecessary data is given.
In general, your health information will not be used for any other purpose without your consent. However, situations such as emergencies, fulfilling medical indemnity insurance requirements, etc may result in disclosing your information without your consent. Where applicable, your information may also be provided to Medicare and Private Health Funds.
Ave Maria Medical Centre may at times be legally bound to disclose information in certain situations such as medical defence purposes, reporting of communicable diseases, court orders, subpoenas, search warrants and Coroners court cases.
Children and other dependant relatives also have the right to privacy of their health information. Access by other individuals (e.g. parents, guardians, carers etc) will be determined by medical and legal privacy requirements and each request will be addressed individually.
If research is conducted, then each patient will provide informed consent for his/her personal information to be released.

DATA QUALITY AND SECURITY OF YOUR INFORMATION

Ave Maria Medical Centre policy is to maintain accurate, up-to-date and complete records. Your assistance by informing us of any changes to name and contact details is required.
Your information may be store on paper and /or electronic formats
Ave Maria Medical Centre will protect your information from loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
Your information will be kept for the required legal amount of time after your last attendance. If your information is no longer needed after this time it will be destroyed in a legal matter.

ACCESS AND CORRECTION OF YOUR INFORMATION

Under Australia’s Privacy Legislation you have the right to access your information. You do not need to give a reason and the request does not have to be in writing. You can ask to view your information or have a copy of all of part of your records.
Incomplete or inaccurate information can be amended upon your advice
Access can be denied in special circumstances e.g. legal reasons, if this is the case you will be advised of the reason.
A fee may be charged if Ave Maria Medical Centre incurs costs in providing you access to your records.

ANONYMITY

Under Privacy Legislation you can choose to remain anonymous if it is lawful and practicable to do so. In a medical context it could be dangerous for you to remain anonymous and it is not possible to claim Medicare and other health rebates without proving your identity.

COMPLAINTS

If you have any questions or complaints about how AMMC deals with your information, please discuss this with your doctor. If you are still concerned, please email admin@avemariadoctors.com.au