Our Privacy Policy
Privacy Statement
The privacy of your personal information is afforded the highest level of importance by Medical Lasers. We are committed to protecting the privacy of patient information and to handling your personal information in a responsible manner in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012 the Australia Privacy Principals and relevant State and Territory privacy legislation(referred to as privacy legislation). We refer to these documents regarding the manner in which we handle your personal information and how we respond to your requests to access and correct it. This document sets out our information handling procedures and the rights and obligations that both you and we have in relation to your personal information. This Privacy Policy is current from 2014. From time to time we may make changes to our policy, processes and systems in relation to how we handle your personal information. We will update this Privacy Policy to reflect any changes.
How we collect your information
We primarily collect information about you through correspondence we engage in with you, for example, through new patient forms, telephone conversations and emails, information from sources that are publicly available such as websites and phone books. We also collect information about our customers from their employers or health fund (where relevant). Wherever practicable we will only collect information from you personally. However, we may also need to collect information from other sources such as treating specialists, radiologist, pathologists, hospitals and other health care providers.
In emergency situations we may also need to collect information from your relatives or friends. We may be required by law to retain medical records for certain periods of time depending on your age at the time we provide services.
Kinds of information that we hold about you
We only hold information about you if it is relevant to providing the services and products that we provide. Such information generally includes your name, contact details, type of business, payment details, account number, records of correspondence and billing statements. If you are one of our suppliers, we may collect other information about you that we feel is necessary, such as the nature of the products or services that you supply, quotes that you provide and your direct credit details. If you are a non-profit organisation that we have agreed to assist, we may collect information about how you make use of the products or services that we provide to you. In certain circumstances, we may hold sensitive information about you, such as information about your race, ethnic origins, political or religious beliefs or health, however, we will only do so if it has been collected with your express consent.
How we hold your information
Depending on the circumstances, we may hold your information in either hardcopy or electronic form or both. Generally, a copy of all correspondence is held in electronic format.
How we use your information
We use your personal information:
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to provide you with our products and services;
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to administer our customer relationship with you;
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for internal purposes such as procedural assessments, risk management, product and service reviews, staff training, accounting and billing.
If you are one of our suppliers, we may use your information to facilitate our business relationship with you, for example, to assess goods or services that you supply or to review a commercial proposal that you have put to us.
How we disclose your information
We will treat your personal information as strictly private and confidential.
We will only use or disclose it for purposes directly related to your care and treatment, or in ways that you would reasonably expect that we may use it for your ongoing care and treatment.
Generally, we will only disclose your personal information for a purpose that is related to the product or service that we are providing to you. This may include disclosures to organisations that provide us with professional advice, such as solicitors, accountants and business advisers and to contractors to whom we out-source certain functions, such as mailing houses, electronic network administrators and debt collection agencies. However, where possible, we take contractual measures, and, in all other circumstances, take all reasonable measures, with our contractors to ensure that they comply with the privacy standards set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). If the information we are disclosing is of a highly sensitive nature, we require our contractors to complete their work in-house and do not permit them to disclose information to sub-contractors. We may also disclose information where it is expressly permitted under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), for example, where it is with your consent or where we are legally required to do so, such as under a court order.
How we secure your information
We hold all hard copy and electronic records of personal information in a secure manner to ensure that they are protected from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. Our staff follow strict information handling procedures and we only permit those staff whose tasks require use of your information to access it.
Personal information that we hold is protected by securing our premises, placing passwords and varying access levels on databases to limit access and protect electronic information for unauthorised interference, access, modification and disclosure.
Your right to lodge a complaint
If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your personal information, you are entitled to lodge a complaint with Australian Information Commissioner or the Privacy Commissioner in your State or Territory. Information regarding how to lodge a complaint is available from the Commissioner’s website at www.privacy.gov.au or by ringing the Commissioner’s information line on 1300 363 992. However, before investigating a complaint, the Commissioner is legally required to be satisfied that you have first expressed your concern to us to afford us an opportunity to resolve the complaint directly, unless it is inappropriate for you to do so.
You may lodge a complaint with our Privacy Officer either by mail at Medical Lasers and Dermatology, Ground Floor, 18 North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000, by telephone on (08) 8213 1818 or by email to admin@medlasers.com.au
We will inform you of who will handle your complaint and you may contact our Privacy Officer to enquire about its stage of progress at any time. We will go to great lengths to ensure that your complaint is resolved to your satisfaction.
Your right of access
You may request access to your personal information at any time by sending a written request to our Privacy Officer – Medical Lasers, Ground Floor, 18 North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000, or by email to info@medlasers.com.au
You do not need to provide a reason for your request. Once our Privacy Officer has verified your indentity, your request will be forwarded to our information systems manager who will arrange for access to be provided to you in an appropriate manner with 14 days. We may charge a small fee for providing access if it requires a significant amount of time to locate your information or to collate or present it in an appropriate form. Our Privacy Officer will follow up your request to ensure that the level of access with which you have been provided is to your satisfaction.
In rare circumstances, and only where it is permitted under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), we may not be able to provide you with access to your information; for example, where it will have an unreasonable impact upon the privacy of others, where it relates to legal proceedings between us through which information would not otherwise be available, where it would be prejudicial to negotiations we are holding with you, where we are required by law to withhold the information or where it would reveal information relating to our commercially sensitive decision making processes. If we are unable to provide you with access, we will state why this is so and consider whether the use of an intermediary would be appropriate to provide you with an explanation of your personal information.
You may correct your information
If your personal information is out-of-date or incorrect, you may inform us of this and we will correct it for you. In the unlikely event that we disagree about the accuracy of the information and are unable to change it, you may provide us with a statement indicating that you dispute its accuracy and we will associate the statement with your information in such a manner that it will be brought to the attention of each person who uses the information.
Promotional information
We occasionally email information to all patients who have provided their email addresses for this express purpose. If you have received such material in error please inform us either by email to admin@apsa.com.au, by telephone (08) 8213 1800, by facsimile on (08) 8213 1811 or mail to our Privacy Officer at Medical Lasers and Dermatology, Ground Floor, 18 North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000
Transfer of your information overseas
We will only transfer your personal information overseas if the transfer is to you, or to one of your authorised representatives, or it is with your express consent, or unless we are required to do so by law. We will not send your information outside of Australia in any other circumstances.
We may need to change our privacy policy from time to time
Due to changing business circumstances, we may need to change our private policy from time to time. If we do, we will endeavour to ensure that your over all level of privacy protection is not diminished and will publish the changes on our website. Any actions that we have taken before the change will continue to be regulated by the private policy that existed before the changes were made.
Further information
We are happy to provide you with further information regarding your privacy. If you have any queries or requests in this respect, please contact our Privacy Officer either by mail at Medical Lasers, Ground Floor, 18 North Terrace, Adelaide SA 5000, by telephone on (08) 8213 1800, by facsimile on (08) 8213 1811 or by email to info@medlasers.com.au