The Hobart Clinic respects and upholds your right to privacy protection in line with the National Privacy Principles, issued under the Commonwealth Privacy Act, 1988, Private Sector Amendments (2001).
In order to provide you with the health care services that you need or have requested, The Hobart Clinic needs to collect your personal health information. If you provide incomplete or inaccurate information, or withhold personal health information from us, we may not be able to provide you with the services you require.
What personal information do we collect?
The Hobart Clinic collects and uses personal information that is necessary for the provision of your health care. This includes information such as your:
• name, address, telephone numbers;
• date of birth;
• occupation;
• medical history;
• religious beliefs or affiliations;
• ethnic background;
• religion; and
• current lifestyle.
The Hobart Clinic will destroy, or de-identify, personal information after our legal obligations to retain the information have expired in accordance with our disposal schedule.
How do we use your personal information?
Modern health care practices mean that your treatment will be provided by a team of health professionals working together. These health professionals will share your personal information as part of the process of providing your treatment, including providing a discharge summary to your referring, or nominated, general practitioner. If, in future, you are treated by a medical practitioner who requires access to the personal information we hold, we will require authorisation from you to provide this information. The only time we would provide personal information about you without your consent, is in the event of an emergency where your life is at risk, or if you are not able to provide consent.
We use personal information about you:
- to provide treatment and care to you;
- to assist with any calls you make to us;
- for internal administrative requirements;
- to process private health care claims; and
- to provide information to health professionals who will provide follow-up and on-going care to you.
We use de-identified information about you:
- for benchmarking and quality assurance;
- in the education of health care workers;
- to provide data to the State Government for research, population health monitoring and planning purposes;
- to provide data to the Private Hospital Data Bureau in compliance with our legislative obligation.
During the admission process, it is necessary for The Hobart Clinic to collect personal information from all clients/patients. Personal information is information about a person whose identity could be ascertained from that information. The use of this personal information is protected by the National Privacy Principles, issued under the Commonwealth Privacy Act, 1988, Private Sector Amendments (2001). Details of The Hobart Clinic’s commitment to privacy are contained within the Patient Compendium in your room.
The personal information collected by The Hobart Clinic is used:
- to plan and provide appropriate medical and nursing care to each individual patient;
- to provide information to doctors, nurses and other allied health professionals who provide each patient with on-going care and follow up treatment;
- for internal administrative purposes;
- for service delivery and planning;
- for monitoring of quality and safety; and
- to communicate with an individual’s health fund for the purposes of processing a claim.
Below is a list of additional purposes for which personal information is required, but for which it is necessary for us to specifically seek your consent. You are under no obligation to provide consent for the use of your personal information. In the event that you do not consent, we will respect your wishes.
The Hobart Clinic may provide personal information about my condition and treatment to my nominated next of kin; provide necessary information to your nominated Minister of Religion to enable them to visit and assist me; and provide my name to Returned Services organisations (applicable to Returned Service men/women only).
Openness
You have a right to access your health record if you should choose to. You also have a right to request an amendment to your record should you believe it contains inaccurate information. If you wish to access your health record, please ask our Administration staff and complete the relevant form.
If you have a complaint about our information handling practices, or feel that the privacy of your personal information has been interfered with, you can lodge a complaint with our Administration Manager. Our contact details can be found on the Contact us page.
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