FAQ

As you may be aware, the government has recently formed a new healthcare initiative called MyMedicare. This initiative was created in response to the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce of July 2022, and aims to deliver stronger relationships between patients and their healthcare teams through a voluntary patient registration system. MyMedicare has a number of benefits for both the patient and their practice, such as: Additional funding from the government to assist your primary care team to deliver the care you need A formalised relationship with your general practice and Doctor, which has shown to improve health outcomes Access to longer telehealth consultations Additionally, further registration benefits for patients will continue to be added in future. As your trusted medical practice, we are aiming to notify and register as many of our loyal patients as possible. Abiding by this important government initiative will allow us to continue to provide you with the highest quality healthcare, supporting you in achieving you and your family’s healthcare goals. At Monaro Medical Practice, you will have access to a variety of registration options, making the registration process simple and straightforward. Equally, you can be assured that once you register to our practice, you are free to change that registration at any time to another practice or Doctor. Register now through: myGov or Express Plus Medicare app Medicare Online Services, accessible via your myGov account Completing a form, available at Monaro Medical Practice. Please note, you can only register with MyMedicare if you have had at least (2) consultations with a Doctor within our practice. Once this occurs and you wish to register, please complete the form and hand to our friendly reception staff who will upload to MyGov on your behalf. All personal information recorded in MyMedicare, including your chosen healthcare providers, will be kept secure and your privacy will be maintained. Read the MyMedicare Privacy Notice at www.health.gov.au/mymedicare-privacy for further information.

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 Doctor's 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. 1. When you make your first appointment our practice staff will collect your personal and demographic information via your registration. 2. During the course of providing medical services, we may collect further personal information. 3. We may also collect your personal information when you visit our website, send us an email or SMS, telephone us, make an online appointment or communicate with us using social media. 4. 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 professionals, hospitals, community health services and pathology and diagnostic imaging services · your health fund, Medicare, or the Department of Veterans’ 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 eTP, My Health Record (eg via Shared Health Summary, Event Summary). Only people who 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. This may be in the form of your electronic patient record, paper records, pathology, imaging results, audio recordings. Our practice stores all personal information securely. All paper records are scanned into the electronic file and shredded. Electronic patient records are securely stored in our practice management system which is password protected. All information is backed up daily to our servers based in Australia at a secure location. All employees are required to read and sign a confidentiality agreement. All employees are aware that a breach in patient privacy and confidentiality is considered a dismissible offence. 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 attention to the Practice Manager and our practice will respond within 30 days. Fees associated with fulfilling your request an administration fee will be applicable in line with AMA rates and charged at $33 for 30 pages then $1 for each page after. This fee is payable before medical records can be released. 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 to the Practice Manager. 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. We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our resolution procedure. Please send all request, feedback and complaints to practicemanager@monaromedicalpractice.com.au 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. If you find that your concern has not been addressed satisfactorily, you have the option to reach out to the Health Care Complaints Commission. They can be contacted on: 02 9219 7444 or at Locked Mail Bag 18, Strawberry Hills NSW 2012.

Monaro Medical Practice welcomes feedback and complaints, You can call 02 8529 8920 and speak with the Practice Manager or email the Practice Manager on practicemanager@monaromedicalpractice.com.au. Alternatively, feedback and complaints can be directed to the Health Care Complaints Commission - NSW Health Care Complaints Commission