TORONTO PRIVATE HOSPITAL

Personal Patient Information Management Policy

Introduction

Toronto Private Hospital respects and upholds your rights to privacy protection under the National Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988. The National Privacy Principles apply from their introduction on 21 December 2001. This policy describes how we manage any personal information we have about you.

What Personal Information About Me Does Toronto Private Hospital Hold?

Toronto Private Hospital may hold the following information about you:

name, address, telephone number(s)

date of birth

email address

occupation

health information

attending doctors

referring doctor

Returned Service Organisation

religious beliefs or affiliations

transaction details associated with services we have provided to you

any additional information provided to us by you, including health fund / insurance details

any information you provided to us through patient surveys

Toronto Private Hospital will destroy personal information due to redundancy after its legal obligations to retain the information have expired.

What Does Toronto Private Hospital Do With My Personal Information?

Toronto Private Hospital uses personal information about you:

to provide medical treatment and care to you

to assist your treating doctors, nursing staff and other allied health professionals in providing medical treatment and care to you at our facilities

to assist with any calls you make to us

for our internal administrative requirements

to process private health fund claims, insurance and Department of Veterans Affairs claims

to provide information to medical practitioners, registered nurses and other allied health professionals who provide necessary follow up treatment and ongoing care

for benchmarking and clinical indicator reporting in a de-identified form

to provide data in a de-identified form to the Private Hospital Data Bureau in compliance with Commonwealth legislation

to provide Hospital Casemix Protocol data to your health insurance fund in compliance with Commonwealth legislation

to provide de-identified data to NSW Department of Health in compliance with the Private Hospitals and Day Procedures Centres Act

to provide identifiable data to the NSW Cancer Registry, where applicable, as per the Public Health Act

and with your consent:

to communicate promotional offers and special events

marketing

service planning

research and development.

Toronto Private Hospital will not disclose personal information about you to any person except on a confidential basis to agents that we use in the ordinary operation of our business, such as for data processing, printing or mailing.

You may at any time opt out of receiving any communications from us (other than as required for operation of our business, e.g., regarding payment of your account).

Storage

Toronto Private Hospital stores personal information:

contained in paper based and other hard copy documents in a dedicated storage facility located in the hospital;

contained in electronic records in a secure environment; and

such records are only accessible by those persons who require access to the personal information for the purpose of carrying out their employment.

Openness

You may request access to personal information we hold about you by writing to The Privacy Officer at the address below.

Our contact details are as follows:

Toronto Private Hospital
P.O. Box 333
Toronto NSW 2283

Phone: (02) 4950 4477
Fax: (02) 4950 4106

Miscellaneous

In this policy "personal information" and "health information" have the same meaning as under the Privacy Act. References to Toronto Private Hospital are to Central Lakes Hospitals Pty Ltd, ACN No. 001 461 561 which has issued this policy.

This document represents our policy as at 5th December 2001. We may change this policy from time to time. Although we intend to observe this policy at all times, it is not legally binding on Toronto Private Hospital in any way. From time to time we may regard it as necessary or desirable to act outside the policy. Toronto Private Hospital may do so, subject to any statutory right you have under the Privacy Act or other applicable legislation.

Complaint Resolution

Complaints relating to breaches of an individual's privacy or refusals to grant access to information, may be made to either:

The Privacy Officer
Toronto Private Hospital
P.O. Box 333
Toronto NSW 2283

Phone: (02) 4950 4477
Fax: (02) 4950 4106

The Privacy Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 1042

Phone: (02) 9284 9800
Fax: (02) 9284 9666

Where complaints are initially made to the Privacy Commissioner, it is the Commissioner's intention to refer them to the health care provider, in the first instance, to resolve the complaint.

References:
Public Health Act
Private Hospitals and Day Procedures Centres Act 1988
Health Legislation (Private Health Insurance Reform) Amendment Act 1994 - Hospital Casemix Protocol Regulation
Health Legislation (Private Health Insurance Reform) Amendment Act 1995 - Private Hospital Data Bureau Regulation
Privacy Act 1988 - Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000 - National Privacy Principles

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This page was last updated 12/03/2002