We are committed to ensuring that your personal information is kept private and confidential.

This Privacy Policy outlines how Taree Dental Care uses and manages your health and personal information. We are bound by the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and applicable NSW legislation.

Collection

As a part of our commitment to providing quality dental care to you, we need to collect, record and retain information about you, your health and our advice and treatment provided to you. This information will include:

personal details (including your name, address, date of birth, your contact details and details for next of kin and your health fund membership or other insurer where relevant)
If necessary, your Medicare card number, your Medicare issued individual health identifier and whether you have a personal electronic health record
your dental history, your current health, and other relevant health information
notes made during the course of dental consultations
x-rays, images and other electronic records of your dental health and treatments provided
referrals to other dental service providers
results and reports received from other dental and health service providers

Generally, we will collect this information directly from you via a patient questionnaire or you may also be asked to provide personal information verbally.

If we need to get information from other third parties, we will ask your permission to do so. For example, we may need to collect information from:

your health insurer to confirm your insurance coverage,
Medicare; and
other dentists, dental specialists or other health practitioners (including your doctor).

As an employer, Taree Dental Care also collects personal information related to employment and human resource management for our staff members.

Use and disclosure

We only use health information for the purposes of providing you with health care or for purposes directly related to providing you with health care. We will not use your health information for any other purpose unless one of the following applies:

You have consented to disclosure to a third party
The other purpose is directly related to providing you with health services and you would reasonably expect that your information may be used for that purpose OR
The use of your health information is required or authorised by law, such as Medicare or required by a statutory body such as a Court or Tribunal.

Taree Dental Care may also disclose specific personal information (your name, address, contact details and the amount owing to us) to debt collection providers engaged by us if you do not pay our invoices within the required time.

Data Quality and Security

We take steps to ensure that the health and personal information we collect is accurate, up to date and complete. These steps include maintaining and updating health and personal information when you attend the practice, or you advise us that your personal information has changed.

We keep hard copy and electronic records of all patients’ personal information. We take steps to protect these records against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, use, modification or disclosure. We ensure that hard copies of records are kept in locked files and there are security processes in place regarding computer access. We take steps to ensure that electronic data is backed up.

Our data storage is held in Australia offline, and our data storage providers must comply with obligations under Australian Privacy laws.

We will keep your dental records after you cease to be a patient of the practice. This is to enable us to provide information to your future dentist if required and for medicolegal reasons. Legislation also requires us to keep your records for a number of years after you cease to be a patient of the practice. After which we may securely destroy or de-identify your records in accordance with Australian laws.

We provide ongoing training to our staff to ensure the personal information which we hold about you is kept confidential. All staff are made aware of our practice Privacy Policy.

Access and Correction

You have the right to access the personal information that we hold about you. You can contact us in writing, by email or by telephone and request access to your personal information. We will always try to meet your request within a reasonable time.

In some circumstances, your request for access may be denied. These circumstances include:

if we no longer hold any personal information about you
if your request is frivolous or vexatious
if the information requested relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings and would not normally be disclosed as part of those proceedings
if providing access would be unlawful, and
if denying access is required or allowed by law.

If we are unable to give you access to the information you have requested, we will give you written reasons for this decision when we respond to your request.

If you have any questions, the Practice Manager can be contacted during business hours at the practice.

Marketing

Taree Dental Care may also use the contact information you provide to keep you updated on our services and other dental or health improvement products or services that we feel are relevant to your dental health or we think may be of interest to you. Rest assured we will not on-sell your personal information.

The practice understands that you may not wish to receive marketing materials from us. If you would prefer not to receive such information, a request can be made to any staff member at the practice.

Sending information overseas

As part of maintaining your records, the practice may use off-site electronic data storage providers. We will at all times ensure compliance with the Australian Privacy Principles in relation to any storage of your health and personal information.

What happens if you don’t provide us with information?

Although we respect your right to privacy, 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, you could suffer some harm or other adverse outcome if you do not provide us with information relevant to your health care. We will take all reasonable steps to ensure you are always safe.

Complaints

At Taree Dental Care we take your privacy seriously.

If you suspect there has been or may have been a breach of your privacy, you can complain directly to the Practice Manager. In the event of a privacy breach, the practice will comply with the guidelines issued by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner for the handling of privacy breaches.

If you would rather not raise the matter with the practice directly you can complain directly to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner who is the independent national regulator for breaches of privacy and freedom of information.

PRIVACY POLICY