Introduction

Northern Rivers Orthopaedics is committed to adhering to The Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) which regulates the way that private or personal information is collected, used, disclosed, secured, provided access to and corrects personal information.

The following is a Privacy Statement for Northern Rivers Orthopaedics and provides information on what personal information is collected, why it is collected, how the information is stored, accessed and destroyed and how you are able to complain if you feel there has been a breach of privacy.

Collection of Information

Northern Rivers Orthopaedics collects information from you for the primary purpose of providing quality health care. 

We require you to provide us with your personal details (such as name, date of birth, address, telephone number) for the purposes of contacting you, identifying you and for administrative purposes such as billing and enabling you to claim a rebate through Medicare for your treatment. 

We will request a full medical history during our consultations and this enables our doctors to properly assess, diagnose, treat and be proactive in your health care needs.  We may request medical reports from your general practitioner or specialist to assist with gaining a full medical history.  We may collect or access medical imaging from radiology practices to assist in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of your condition.  During surgery intra-operative imaging may be collected (such as arthroscopy imaging) for assessment purposes and this will be shown and discussed with you at your post-operative review.  These images can be provided upon request. 

Storage of Information

All personal information collected is stored electronically.  Only those persons employed within Northern Rivers Orthopaedics are able to access this information. Access to electronic information is password protected.  Reasonable steps are taken to de-identify and/or destroy any written personal information that is no longer required.

Accessing and Correcting Information

Northern Rivers Orthopaedics is able to provide you with access to your personal and private information and health records if this request is in accordance with the National Privacy Principles. 

If you notice that the personal or private information we have about you is not correct then we will correct this information if we are satisfied the information is directly related to you.

You will be provided with appropriate reasoning if for any reason the request for personal or private information is denied.

Disclosure of Information

At the time of your initial consultation you will be asked to read through our Privacy Statement.  The Privacy Statement requests your consent to request relevant medical information from your general practitioner, radiology clinics, pathology clinics, specialists, and allied health professionals to provide a detailed medical history for the primary purpose of providing quality health care. 

The Privacy Statement also details that Northern Rivers Orthopaedics may also disclose personal and health information to others involved in your health care. This may be through:

• Referral to other health care providers
• Referral for further imaging or tests
• Written report back to your referring General Practitioner
• Written report to others involved in your health care such as specialists and allied health providers.

Your written consent is requested for disclosure of this information for the primary purpose of provision of high quality health care.

Complaints

Any complaints about the collection, use, storage, access and disclosure of personal or private information can be made by contacting us via the enquiry form.

Any complaints made will be thoroughly investigated and we will attempt to resolve any breach in the collection, use, storage, access or disclosure of personal information in accordance with The Privacy Act 1988.