Your Health Information and Our Privacy Policy
Our practice respects your right to privacy and it has systems and processes in place to ensure it complies with the Australian Privacy Principles.
Our practice, Kew Periodontics and Dental Implants, collects information about you for the purpose of providing treatment. In addition, personal information such as your name, address and health insurance details are used for the purpose of addressing accounts to you, as well as processing payments and writing to you about our services and any issues affecting your health care.
We may disclose your health information to other health care professionals, or require it from them if, in our judgement, it is necessary in the context of your treatment. In this event, disclosure of personal details will be minimised wherever possible.
We may also use parts of your health information for research purposes, in study groups or at seminars as this may provide benefit to other patients. Should that happen, your consent would be obtained and your personal identity would not be disclosed without your consent to do so.
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, if you do not provide information that may be relevant to your care or that is otherwise requested by us, you could suffer some harm or other adverse outcome.
Your medical history, treatment records, x-rays and any other material relevant to your care will be kept and remain in a secure environment.
Under the privacy law, patients have rights of access to dental information held about them by this practice. We welcome a patient to inspect or request copies of their treatment records at any time, or seek an explanation from the periodontist. The following procedure has been developed to ensure that all requests for access are dealt with as efficiently as possible:
- All requests for access (other than straightforward requests for copies of test or treatment results made to your periodontist during your consultation) should be made in writing using (where available) a Request for Release of Dental Records Form.
- Requests for access will be acknowledged by the practice within 7 days of the receipt of the request. Where it is not possible for access to be granted within 30 days, the patient will be notified/advised when and if access will be granted. Where access is refused, the patient will be advised in writing of the reasons for refusal. This will include any information about other means by which access may be facilitated.
- A patient will not be permitted to remove any of the contents of their dental file from the practice, nor will they be permitted to alter or erase information contained in the dental record. However, if any of the information we have about a patient is inaccurate, a patient is encouraged to ask us to alter their records accordingly, in writing.
- When a request for copies of dental records is received, a fee may be required to be paid by the patient.
- Generally, records will be transferred by the practice (on behalf of consenting patients) from one treating practitioner to another. In limited circumstances patients will be required to collect their records in person or may request in writing that records are provided to another authorised person. If a patient, or authorised person, is collecting a copy of dental records, they may be required to provide identification. Where possible this should be photographic identification.
The practice Privacy Officer can be contacted at the practice during business hours if you have any concerns or questions about a privacy matter.