Privacy Policy for Telehealth Platform
At E-Doctor, we are committed to protecting your privacy and personal information. To enable ongoing care and total quality improvement within this practice and in keeping with the Privacy Act (1988) and the Australian Privacy Principles, this privacy policy outlines how we collect, use, disclose and protect your personal health information.
Your information will only be used for the purposes for which it is collected, or as otherwise permitted or requested by law and we respect your right to determine how your personal health information is used or disclosed.
The healthcare professionals you interact with through E-Doctor will also collect and handle your personal information, and you can expect them to do so in a manner consistent with this Privacy Policy unless they inform you otherwise. Those healthcare professionals are subject to additional legal obligations and professional standards for the protection of your personal information.
Information That We Collect
We collect personal information that you provide to us when you register for our platform and use our services. This may include your:
- Name;
- Email address;
- Phone number;
- Address;
- Date of birth;
- Medical history including medication history;
- Identification details including Medicare number (under the Human Services (Medicare) Act) and Healthcare Identifier (under the Healthcare Identifiers Act);
- Preferences in respect of our services and health products services
- Enquiry/complaint details
- Communications with us and using our platform
- Payment and credit card details;
- Health insurance details;
- Next of kin, emergency contacts and nominated representatives;
- And other information necessary to provide you with telehealth services.
We may also collect information about your use of our platform, including your IP address, browser type, operating system, and other technical information.
If you have a consultation with a healthcare professional using our platform, the healthcare professional may collect information relevant to your consultation, including information and opinions regarding your health condition, treatments and allergies.
Background information about you and your family may also be collected where provided voluntarily or relevant to your consultation, and this may include information about your lifestyle, work, relationships, ethnic background, religion, beliefs, sexual preference/activity and genetic information. Personal information from your national eHealth record may also be collected in accordance with the Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records Act – refer to myhealthrecord.gov.au for further details.
Personal information is collected pursuant to Federal and State health laws including those mentioned above and the National Health Act.
If you engage with us as a health professional, we may also collect information about your skills, qualifications and experience.
How Do We Collect Your Information
We collect personal information you provide to us directly. We may also collect personal information through other means, including from other healthcare professionals and your relatives, guardians and representatives. In relation to healthcare professionals, we may also collect your personal information from publicly available sources, professional registers, background check providers and academic institutions.
By attending this telehealth appointment, you (as a patient or as a guardian) are consenting, that on obtaining your personal health information it may be used or disclosed by the practice for the following purposes.
How Do We Hold and Protect Your Personal Information
We hold personal information electronically with the assistance of our service providers.
We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, use, and disclosure. We use encryption, firewalls, and other security measures to protect your personal information. All clinical consultation notes and identifying information about you is stored in a password protected environment on a web-based clinical software program i.e. Xestro or Best Practice.
At all times, we are required to ensure your details are treated with the utmost confidentiality. Your records are very important, and we will take all steps necessary to ensure they remain confidential and safe and will only be released with your consent or for purposes as outlined in the privacy principles. However, no data transmission over the internet or other network can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information.
How We Use Your Information
We use your personal information to provide you with telehealth services, to communicate with you about your health, and to improve our platform and services. This information is only accessible to your clinician, and authorised practice personnel upon whom we depend, in order to provide you with the service. Under Medicare requirements, clinicians are required to write back to referrers within certain timeframes during treatment, hence some information about you may be shared with your referrer.
This includes:
- providing, administering, improving and personalising our services
- contacting you in relation to our services
- verifying your identity and personal information
- maintaining and updating our records
- recruiting, training and managing staff and health professionals
- conducting quality assurance activities to maintain the quality of our services and those of health professionals using our platform
- processing payments and refunds
- meeting our legal obligations
- protecting our lawful interests
- facilitating acquisitions and potential acquisitions of our business.
We may also use your information for research purposes, but we will only do so with your consent and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. We may provide marketing communications and targeted advertising to you on an ongoing basis by telephone, electronic messages (eg email), online (including websites and mobile apps) and other means, unless you opt out or we are subject to legal restrictions. See the marketing materials for details of how to opt out, or contact us as set out below.
We will not use health information about you for direct marketing purposes except in accordance with applicable legal requirements. We will not share your personal information with third parties unless required by law, or with your explicit consent.
Who Do We Disclose Your Personal Information
Medical care requires full knowledge of patient health information by all members of the medical team. To ensure quality and continuity of patient care, patient’s health information may be shared with other healthcare providers/diagnostic facilities from time to time. We may exchange your personal information with our related bodies corporate, your and our representatives, your family members (where appropriate), health professionals and our service providers. Our service providers include providers of archival, auditing (including quality assurance in relation to health professionals using our platform), accounting, customer contact, legal, business consulting, banking, payment, debt collection, delivery, data processing, data analysis, document management, information broking, research, investigation, insurance, website or technology services.
In relation to electronic prescriptions or referrals, we may exchange your personal information with pharmacists or health professionals, respectively.
We may also exchange personal information with Medicare, Private Health Funds and any party funding your health services in relation to matters such as legal, claims, cover, billing and Medicare rebate purposes. Where you have an eHealth record under the national system, your healthcare professional may contribute your personal information to the operator of that system.
Limitations to Privacy
We will not share information with parents, partners, employers, insurers, or other people without your consent. Sometimes, it is helpful for your recovery to include trusted loved ones in your treatment and/or to share information with other health care providers – this would be done only with your consent.
However, there are exceptions under the legislation where we may share information without your consent in the interest of your wellbeing, or to meet legal obligations, under these circumstances, your clinician would make every effort to discuss this with you, first.
On some occasions we may seek advice from respected colleagues to provide the best possible level of care. We may also discuss various cases from time to time for the purpose of ongoing education. In these situations, we do not allow our colleagues to see your file notes and we do not reveal your name or identifying details. Such discussions between clinicians are vital for ongoing professional development and education. Sometimes, clinicians share with patients and peers some observations they have made regarding symptoms and recovery strategies of other patients. As clinicians, we gain new learning each time we engage in therapy with a new person. This new learning informs how we help others, but the sharing of information is done in a way that does not identify any individual.
Our Online Services
This section applies to our websites and to our email communications and social media profiles (together, ‘Online Services’).
If you use our Online Services our system may record information such as the date and time of your interaction, the pages accessed, and any information downloaded. This information is used for statistical, reporting and website administration and maintenance purposes.
We also collect other information regarding location including information you provide through using our Online Services and IP address. Location information is used in accordance with this Privacy Policy for purposes including to verify your eligibility to use our services and optimise and customise our Online Services and platform for your location.
Like many other websites, our website may use ‘cookies’ from time to time. A cookie is a piece of information that allows our system to identify and interact more effectively with your browser. The cookie helps us to maintain the continuity of your browsing session and remember your details and preferences when you return. You can configure your web browser software to reject cookies however some parts of our website may not have full functionality in that case.
Our Online Services may also use, from time to time, third party services including, among others: Google Analytics, Google Adwords, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. These services help us understand: (1) how you use and interact with our Online Services; and (2) the effectiveness of our marketing strategies.
The Online Services may contain links to other sites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or policies of those sites.
To maintain privacy and confidentiality during telehealth (phone) consultations, we recommend that you have a private space where you cannot be overheard, and where you can concentrate on the session (e.g. not having responsibility for children at the same time where possible).
Please note if you are driving, you will be asked to pull over.
Your clinician will also use these settings and will never record a telehealth session to maintain your privacy. Your clinician will ask you to respect their privacy by agreeing not to make recordings of your sessions and not to use materials from our sessions for purposes other than therapy. If you wish to record sessions or use session material for other purposes, you must seek your clinician’s consent to do so.
Please be aware that information transmitted by email or SMS is also potentially vulnerable to interception and can never be made 100% secure. Despite this, it may be necessary for us to communicate with your referring doctor or other health professionals by email, for example to transmit documents such as forms, invoices, letters, referrals or therapy information. To increase your privacy when using email, please ensure that any email or SMS contains minimal personal information.
Your Rights
You have the right to access, correct, and delete your personal information kept on file at any stage, subject to exceptions in the relevant legislation. You may also object to the processing of your personal information and request that we restrict its use.
To exercise your rights, please contact us at support@e-doctor.au. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe and in accordance with applicable laws.
Changes To This Policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. If we do so, you may be able to request for a copy of the old policy and it will apply to all of your information held by us at the time.
Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns about our privacy policy, please contact us at support@e-doctor.au. If you contact us with any concerns about how we have handled your personal information, we may request additional details from you regarding your concerns and may need to engage or consult with other parties in order to investigate and deal with your issue. We will keep records of your request and any resolution. By using our telehealth platform, you agree to the terms of this privacy policy.
