Our practice is open Monday through to Saturday. We can offer same day appointments as well as longer appointments.

We are a mixed billing practice. All patients are expected to pay at the time of consultation. An EFTPOS machine is available for your convenience.

Fees have been kept well below the recommended AMA fee in most instances. If you are experiencing financial hardship please discuss this with your doctor.

Effective 1st July 2024

*After hours fees apply*

Doctors bulk bill at their discretion.

Bulk Billing automatically applies to current Medicare card holders for children under 16y/o and health care holders. We bulk bill all childhood immunisations.

Please ensure you have your current cards with you at every visit.

WorkCover, SGIC and other insurance consultations, driving medicals, and travel medicine are the patient’s responsibility. 

All accounts are the patient’s responsibility.

Our Practice is registered for MyMedicare and now you can too!

MyMedicare is a new voluntary registration system that helps us formalise the relationship between us and our patients. Did you know that seeing the same GP regularly can lead to better health outcomes? That’s why we are inviting all of our regular patients to register in MyMedicare to formalise the patient-practice relationship. Registration allows you to nominate a general practice and general practitioner as your regular healthcare provider, which enables us to receive extra funding from the Australian Government to support our practice in delivering the care you need. Patients who register with our practice in MyMedicare may benefit from:

• Longer MBS-funded telephone consultations
• Longer bulk billed telehealth consultations for children under 16 and Commonwealth concession card holders at the new triple bulk billing rate
• More regular visits from their GP and better care planning for people living in a Residential Aged Care Home, fro August 2024·
• Connections to more appropriate care in general practice for people with chronic conditions who visit hospital frequently, from mid-2024.

For more information check out the MyMedicare website: https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/mymedicare/patients

Test Results: If you have not booked a follow-up appointment to receive results, we will contact you to make an appointment for any urgent results. If your doctor wishes to talk to you about any non-urgent test results we may also contact you to arrange an appointment

Please Note: Test results cannot be given over the phone by our staff and will require you to book an appointment with your doctor to discuss.

Referrals and Prescriptions: For your safety and for medico-legal reasons you will need to see your doctor for any referrals or prescriptions.

Reminders: This practice has a computerised reminder system for preventative activities such as cholesterol checks, mammograms, pap smears, flu vaccinations, annual diabetes checks etc. as part of this practice’s preventative medicine program. Please let staff know if you do NOT wish to remain on the system. SMS reminders are also used for appointment reminders.

If you require an interpreter for your appointment, please contact 13 14 50

Our doctors and staff always endeavour to provide a high quality of service for our patients. If you have any feedback or concerns please call our practice number and ask to speak to the Practice Manager.

If you have a complaint that cannot be resolved, you can contact the Health & Community Services Complaints Commission (HCSCC) on 08 8226 8666.

Introduction

This privacy policy is to provide information to you, our patient, on how your personal information (which includes your health information) is collected and used within our practice, and the circumstances in which we may share it with third parties.

Why and when your consent is necessary?

When you register as a patient of our practice, you provide consent for our GPs and practice staff to access and use your personal information so they can provide you with the best possible healthcare. Only staff who need to see your personal information will have access to it. If we need to use your information for anything else, we will seek additional consent from you to do this.

Why do we collect, use, hold and share your personal information?

Our practice will need to collect your personal information to provide healthcare services to you. Our main purpose for collecting, using, holding and sharing your personal information is to manage your health. We also use it for directly related business activities, such as financial claims and payments, practice audits and accreditation, and business processes (e.g. staff training).

What personal information do we collect?

The information we will collect about you includes your:

• Names, date of birth, addresses, contact details
• Medical information including medical history, medications, allergies, adverse events, immunisations, social history, family history and risk factors
• Medicare number (where available) for identification and claiming purposes
• Healthcare identifiers
• Health fund details

Dealing with us anonymously

You have the right to deal with us anonymously or under a pseudonym unless it is impracticable for us to do so or unless we are required or authorised by law to only deal with identified individuals.

How do we collect your personal information?

Our practice may collect your personal information in several different ways:

• When you make your first appointment our practice staff will collect your personal and demographic information via your registration form.
• During the course of providing medical services, we may collect further personal information. Information can also be collected through Electronic Transfer of Prescriptions (eTP), MyHealth Record system, eg via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary.
• We may also collect your personal information when you visit our website, send us a letter, email or SMS, telephone us, or make an online appointment.
• In some circumstances personal information may also be collected from other sources. Often this is because it is not practical or reasonable to collect it from you directly. This may include information from: your guardian or responsible person.
  Other involved healthcare providers, such as specialists, allied health professions, hospitals, community health services and pathology and diagnostic imaging services
  Your health fund, Medicare, or the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (as necessary)

When, why and with whom do we share your personal information?

We sometimes share your personal information:

• With third parties who work with our practice for business purposes, such as accreditation agencies or information technology providers – these third parties are required to comply with APPs and this policy
• With other healthcare providers
• When it is required or authorised by law (eg court subpoenas)
• When it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to a patient’s life, health or safety or public health or safety, or it is impractical to obtain the patient’s consent
• To assist in locating a missing person
• To establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim
• For the purpose of confidential dispute resolution process
• When there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information (eg some diseases require mandatory notification)
• During the course of providing medical services, through Electronic Transfer of Prescriptions (eTP), MyHealth Record (eg via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary).

Only people that need to access your information will be able to do so. Other than in the course of providing medical services or as otherwise described in this policy, our practice will not share personal information with any third party without your consent.

We will not share your personal information with anyone outside Australia (unless under exceptional circumstances that are permitted by law) without your consent.

Our practice will not use your personal information for marketing any of our goods or services directly to you without your express consent. If you do consent, you may opt-out of direct marketing at any time by notifying our practice in writing.

Our practice may use your personal information to improve the quality of the services we offer to our patients through research and analysis of our patient data.

We may provide de-identified data to other organisations to improve population health outcomes. The information is secure, patients cannot be identified and the information is stored within Australia. You can let our reception staff know if you do not want your information included.

How do we store and protect your personal information?

Your personal information may be stored at our practice in various forms:

• Paper records
• Electronic records
• Visual records (X-rays, CT scans)

Our practice securely stores and protects all personal information. The format in which personal information is stored consists of:

• Electronic format via protected information systems (e.g. use of unique passwords and levels of authorization)
• Hard copy format via a secured environment (e.gh. Secure cabinets)

All staff and contractors are required to sign confidentiality agreements.

How can you access and correct your personal information at our practice?

You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information.

Our practice acknowledges patients may request access to their medical records. We require you to put this request in writing and our practice will respond within a reasonable time (e.g. 30 days). We document each request and endeavor to assist patients in granting access, where possible, and according to the privacy legislation. There may be a small fee associated with complying with the request and providing this information.

Our practice will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up to date. From time to time, we will ask you to verify that your personal information held by our practice is correct and current. You may also request that we correct or update your information, and you should make such requests in writing or verbally, in person, at your next visit.

How can you lodge a privacy-related complaint, and how will the complaint be handled at our practice?

We take complaints and concerns regarding privacy seriously. You should express any privacy concerns you may have in writing. Any concerns must be addressed to the Practice Manager at 164 Glynburn Road, Tranmere SA 5073 or 08 8365 1157. We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our resolution procedure within 30 days.

You may also contact the OAIC. Generally, the OAIC will require you to give them time to respond before they will investigate. For further information visit www.oaic.gov.au or call the OAIC on 1300 363 992. You can also contact the Health & Community Services Complaints Commission (HCSCC) on 8226 8666 and the Office of the Federal Privacy Commissioner.

Privacy and our website

In complying with the Privacy Act 1988, our website advises users about the collection, use and disclosure of personal information. The aim of this advice is to inform users of our website about:

• What personal information is collected by our practice
• Who is collecting the personal information
• How personal information is used by our practice
• Access to personal information collected by our practice and
• Security of personal information collected by our practice

Our website advises that our practice policy is available on request from the practice. The website is continually monitored to ensure it is kept current and up-to-date and contains at a minimum the information included on our practice information brochure. Any changes to our practice information brochure are also reflected on the website.

Policy review statement

This privacy policy is reviewed regularly to ensure it is in accordance with any changes that may occur. Where amendments are made, a revised notice will be available in our reception area and on our website.

Current as of: 15/11/2023