Privacy Policy

General

D R Medical Services Cairns Pty Ltd ABN 72 096 229 784 trading as Family Practice Medical Centres (referred to in this document as we, our or us) understand how important your privacy is, so we are committed to protecting your personal information. We maintain the security of your personal information at all times so you can feel confident accessing our services. This policy details the collection, disclosure, use and management of personal information about you. It also explains the collection, use and disclosure of de-identified data collected through our online resources.

This policy is governed by The Privacy Act 1988, and the 2014 revised Australian Privacy Principles.

Collection

Types of information collected

We collect and store personal information that includes, but is not limited to, sensitive information regarding your health and personal details. This information can identify you and will be used to provide you with the medical services you require.

Our websites also collect a range of de-identified information. This is in the form of webpage statistics that cannot identify you. Online user information such as age, your regional location and interests is also collected by the Google Analytic Cookies we employee, but this information is also unable to identify you.

Purpose of collection

The personal information we collect is completely dependent on your interactions with the various Family Practice staff members and the services you utilise. The core need for collecting and storing your information is for the purpose of:

  • Supplying you or the person you care for with necessary services,
  • Supplying you with information about other services we or associated entities can offer, which may be a benefit or of interest to you.
  • Improving our services and practice operations to better meet your needs
  • Fulfilling our obligations as medical service providers and supplying an efficient, effective medical service for you or those you care for.
  • Online statistics and user information are collected to understand the use of our websites, and valued content so we can provide you with an efficient and informative online experience (opt-out information is included below).
Method of collection

We will generally collect personal information directly from you through the use of our in-practice forms, and from enquires you make via email, telephone or our online query form. In some cases where it is impractical to collect the information directly from you, we may gather personal information indirectly (this could be in the form of adding test results to your medical record).

In terms of online information, we are utilising Google Analytics cookies and the DoubleClick cookie to collect de-identified user data. This is used to understand who is visiting our website so we can analyse performance and improve the content, and to assist us with our online promotions and remarketing. None of the cookies we use collect personally identifiable information. The cookies help Google and Google partners to display our online ads across the internet and serve ads based on a user’s past visit to our website.

You can opt out of Googles use of cookies by visiting the ad settings of your Google account. You can also remove any user information Google has already collected. Your Google account also has ad settings which determine what sort of ads you see on the Google Display Network. You can change these settings and opt-out of display advertising if you wish. Visit the Google Plugin settings to view and update your ad settings.

You are also able to opt out interest based online advertising through the Network Advertising Initiative. Simply follow the opt-out prompts to update your settings.

*Please note, our website also contains links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy policies of those linked sites and the linked sites are not subject to our privacy policy.

Use and Disclosure

The use of your personal information is generally limited for the purposes disclosed above. Other cases we may disclose your information include:

  • Securely sending them to other health professionals if required for your care; providing you have been informed/authorised the transfer, and
  • In the event of an emergency involving you and your nominated next of kin or, the emergency services require them for your care.

Access

Access to patient records and personal information is restricted to those who have a need to know and authorisation. This includes you (should you make a written request for your own records), and your authorised persons.

“Authorised persons” refers to the treating Medical Officer, or other persons nominated by the Medical Officer or patient to receive such information. Enquiries from any other person are to be referred to the Medical Officer or Practice Manager for an appropriate response.

If upon receiving access to your personal information (or at any other time), you believe your personal information is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date, please notify us immediately. We will take reasonable actions to correct the information.

Please note that under no circumstance is patient information of any kind released over the internet (this includes Facebook, email or via our website). Due to the Privacy Act, we are also unable to provide medical results over the phone. You will be required to make a follow-up appointment with your doctor once you have been notified of the availability of the results.

In terms of your online user information, we cannot identify you by the user statistics collected through the Google cookies, nor access your personal user information. This user profile is held by Google and subject to Google’s privacy policy. You can access it for yourself by logging into your Google account and viewing the settings.

Security

To maintain our commitment to your privacy, we store your information securely, regardless of its format. As we collect information in both paper and electronic form, we employ electronic and physical security measures. We take all possible measures to ensure your personal information is stored safely and protected from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

You can be confident that we will take great care of you.

Feedback

If you have questions or concerns about our privacy policy or our personal information management system, we would be happy to answer them for you.

For any website related queries and information regarding our use of cookies please contact our Multimedia Consultant Taylor via [email protected].

For any complaints and all other queries please contact our Director – Dr. David McDougall via [email protected], he will personally address any concerns you may have and take appropriate action where necessary.

Additional Contact Details

Head Office

Address: 1380 Anzac Avenue, Kallangur, Queensland, 4503 Phone: 07 3204 4222

More Information

For more information, visit the website of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. You will be able to access a range of general and health related privacy information to keep you informed and aware of your rights and responsibilities.