Overview
Progressive Physiotherapy Group (PPG) values and respects privacy. We handle information about our clients and team members in a way that protects privacy. PPG is committed to complying with the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (2014), and the Code of Conduct of the Australian Physiotherapy Association and the privacy provisions of all applicable legislation.
This policy sets out how we collect and treat your personal information. This includes information we have collected from people through our office, over the phone and over the internet.
The purpose of this Privacy Policy is to clearly communicate to you how we handle your health information and meta data. It gives you a more complete understanding of the type of personal information that the practice may hold about you and the way we may deal with it.
- Collection of personal information
1.1. Personal information is defined as any information that specifically identifies you or from which your identity can be easily attained.
1.2. Because your information is so important to us, we’ll always be honest and transparent about how we handle it.
1.3. PPG will, at times, receive and store personal information you enter onto our website, provided to us directly or given to us in other forms.
1.4. When we collect personal information from an individual, we will ensure that we do so in a fair manner and that we let the individual know where and how to contact our practice. We will only collect information that is necessary for one or more of our functions or activities.
1.5. Additionally, we may also collect any other information you provide while interacting with us.
- How we collect your personal information
2.1. PPG collects personal information from you in a variety of ways, including when you interact with us electronically or in person, when you access our website and when we provide our services to you. We may receive personal information from third parties. If we do, we will protect it as set out in this Privacy Policy.
2.2. There are a few different ways we collect this information: We collect most personal information directly from you. This could include:
- Information from a form online;
- On the phone;
- From a direct referral from another provider;
- When you pay your bill or make an appointment;
- During a consultation.
2.3. Other circumstances where we may collect information from third parties:
- Where the patient has a Medical Treatment Decision Maker or Support Person;
- From an individual’s health service provider including specialists;
- From a health professional who has treated the individual;
- From an individual’s health insurer or other insurer;
- From an individual’s family.
- Personal information we collect and hold
3.1. The information collected may include (but not limited to) an individual’s:
- Name, address (postal and email) and telephone numbers;
- Gender, date of birth, marital status, occupation, religion, country of birth, indigenous status, next of kin;
- Medical history and other health information we are provided with or collect in the course of providing our services;
- Payment information such as credit card details, health fund and health insurance cover details, workers compensation or other insurance claim details, Medicare details, concession card details;
- Other information needed to provide services.
- Use of your personal information
4.1. We will advise individuals of the purpose for which their personal information is collected.
4.2. If we collect sensitive information (as defined under the Privacy Act), we will treat it with the utmost security and confidentiality. We will ensure that it is not collected for any purposes, other than those for which we have obtained the individual’s consent, unless the law requires otherwise, or other exceptional circumstances prevail as described under the Act.
4.3. PPG may use personal information collected from you to provide you with information, updates and our services. We may also make you aware of new and additional products, services and opportunities available to you. We may use your personal information to improve our products and services and to better understand your needs.
4.4. PPG may contact you by a variety of measures including, but not limited to telephone, email, SMS or mail.
- Disclosure of your personal information
5.1. We will only disclose personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act. This means that personal information may be disclosed:
- For the purposes for which we have advised that we are collecting it, and for related purposes that the individual would reasonably expect;
- Where we have the consent of the individual to do so;
- As required by law;
- Under other circumstances where permitted under the Act.
5.2. In the course of our business activities, we may need to disclose some of your personal information to relevant staff.
5.3. If there is a change of control in our business or a sale or transfer of business assets, we reserve the right to transfer to the extent permissible at law our user databases, together with any personal information and non-personal information contained in those databases. This information may be disclosed to a potential purchaser under an agreement to maintain confidentiality. We would seek to only disclose information in good faith and where required by any of the above circumstances.
5.4. By providing us with personal information, you consent to the terms of this Privacy Policy and the types of disclosure covered by this Policy. Where we disclose your personal information to third parties, we will request that the third party follow this Policy regarding handling your personal information.
- Access to personal information
6.1. Individuals will be able to access their personal information upon request. However, our practice may occasionally need to deny access to information in accordance with the exemptions contained in the Privacy Act. A small administrative fee may be payable for the provision of information. If you would like a copy of the information which we hold about you or believe that any information we hold on you is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, please email us at [email protected]
6.2. The treating practitioner will consider in a timely manner any written request made by a patient for access to the health record itself. In doing so he/she will need to consider the risk of any physical or mental harm resulting from the disclosure of health information.
- Security of your personal information
7.1. Our goal is to protect the personal information collected by our practice. Personal information will be managed confidentially and securely and destroyed appropriately when no longer required
7.2. We have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure information and protect it from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification and disclosure
7.3. This Privacy Policy does not protect you when you send content, questions or ideas to PPG by email. We cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to us, or receive from us. If you want to keep them private or proprietary, do not send them in an email to PPG. We try to answer every email within 48 business hours, but are not always able to do so.
- Privacy inquiries
8.1. Privacy related inquiries or concerns can be directed to our practice.
- Changes to Privacy Policy
9.1. We will make our privacy policy available upon request and will provide a link to this policy from our website. This policy will be reviewed from time to time and any amendments will be incorporated into the updated policy. Modifications will be effective immediately upon our posting of the modifications on our website.
- Website
10.1. When you visit our website
Visitors to our website (progressivephysiotherapygroup.com.au) do not disclose information unless they provide such information through the enquiry form. When individuals visit our website anonymously, non-personal information may be collected including but not limited to browser type, version and language, operating system, pages viewed while browsing the site, page access times and referring website address. This information is used in an aggregated manner to analyse how people use our site, so that we can improve our service.
10.2. Cookies
Like most websites we may from time to time use Cookies to personalise your online experience and deliver content and advertisements specific to your interests. A Cookie is a small data file that is written to your hard drive when you visit our site. Cookies are not malicious programs that access or damage your computer.
Analytics cookies: we use these to gather statistics about our site. For example, they help us monitor how many users are on the site, and what sections are most popular.
Third-party vendors, including Google use Cookies to deliver ads based on your past website visits.
Most internet browsers automatically accept Cookies. The Help feature on your browser will tell you how to disable Cookies or to notify you when a Cookie is sent. We recommend leaving Cookies enabled because turning Cookies off may affect your overall browsing experience.
Please exit the site immediately if you do not agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy or any revised policy.
Progressive Physiotherapy Group
Last modified 1st December 2019