MedReleaf Clinic Privacy Policy Effective Date: November 6, 2023

At the MedReleaf Clinic, we place the highest importance on your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles and relevant privacy laws. This Privacy Policy applies to the collection and management of personal information related to individuals, including clinic patients, website visitors, service users, and the general public. It outlines the personal information we collect, how we use and disclose it, our privacy management practices, and the procedures for accessing and correcting your personal information.

Please carefully read this Policy. By using our websites or services, you consent to the collection, use, transfer, processing, storage, and disclosure of your personal information as outlined in this Policy. If you disagree with the terms and conditions presented here, please refrain from using our websites and services.

About The MedReleaf Clinic

The MedReleaf Clinic is a nationally focused clinic composed of medical practitioners, pharmacists and nurse practitioners expert in treating patients with with chronic conditions. Our mission is to provide our patients with high quality, timely, personalized care. Our dedicated healthcare professionals are committed to delivering tailored healthcare services to meet your individual needs.

What Information Does MedReleaf Clinic Collect About You?

Patients and Prospective Patients

When you become a patient at MedReleaf Clinic, we create a record that includes personal information, such as your name, address, date of birth, contact details, and emergency contact information. This record may also contain sensitive health information, including but not limited to:

Your current and past medical history, including relevant family medical history
Consultation notes from medical practitioners
Medications you are currently taking
Details of other healthcare providers and services involved in your care
Your healthcare preferences and directives
Family contact information
Information about your legal advisors, guardian, or individuals responsible for your healthcare decisions

We may also collect information relevant to your payment arrangements, such as your banking details, pension entitlements, and other necessary information. If applicable, we may collect data like your Medicare number, private healthcare provider, Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA), pension, student or healthcare card number, and entitlements. We will never use your government-issued identifier, such as your Medicare number, as our own identifier and will only use or disclose it as required or permitted by law.

How Do We Collect Your Personal Information?

The MedReleaf Clinic aims to collect information from you when:

You register as a patient at one of our clinics and complete the necessary documentation
You communicate with us through email, telephone, SMS, our websites, our MyRecord APP or social media, or schedule an appointment online
You engage with our websites
You interact with our staff or representatives during the course of receiving our services
You conduct business with us

In certain situations, we may need to gather information from other sources, such as your General Practitioner (past and/or current), treating specialists, radiologists, pathologists, hospitals, and other healthcare providers. Additionally, we may access data from the MyHealth record system and other third parties, including:

Healthcare professionals and service providers involved in your care
Government agencies responsible for administering relevant entitlements and benefits (e.g., Centrelink, Medicare, Department of Social Services, National Disability Insurance Agency, Department of Veterans Affairs, and other government agencies responsible for home care services)
Credit reporting agencies

We may also collect information about you from your family members, caregivers, attorneys, guardians, or individuals responsible for your healthcare decisions. In cases where the personal information you provide is incomplete or inaccurate, we may be unable to provide the services you are seeking.

Prospective Employees/Applicants

When recruiting personnel, we collect personal information, such as your name, contact details, qualifications, and employment history. This information is typically obtained directly from you but may also be sourced from third parties like recruitment agencies or referees you’ve designated. Please note that this Policy does not apply to MedReleaf’s employee records.

Other Individuals

The MedReleaf Clinic may collect personal information about individuals who are not patients of our Doctors, such as:

Individuals engaging our services, including other Doctors
Independent service providers and contractors working with MedReleaf Clinics
Other individuals who engage with the MedReleaf Clinic on a commercial basis
Healthcare professionals referring patients to us or providing services to our patients
Visitors to our websites

The type of personal information we collect depends on your relationship with the MedReleaf Clinic and may include your name, contact details, professional information, and data related to your interactions and transactions with us.

How Does the MedReleaf Clinic Hold and Protect Your Personal Information?

The MedReleaf Clinic primarily collects and stores your personal information in electronic form, paper records, our MyRecord APP, visual records (such as x-rays, CT scans, videos, and photos), and audio recordings. Electronic information is securely stored on servers and computer systems. Paper records may be converted into electronic format, with the original paper documents securely destroyed. Information in paper, visual, and audio formats is securely kept either at our facilities or in secure archive facilities within Australia.

We maintain physical security measures for paper, visual, audio, and electronic data, including on-site and off-site locks and security systems. Additionally, we employ computer and network security measures like firewalls and user authentication with passwords to control access to our computer systems.

Our employment contracts with staff and agreements with contractors include confidentiality obligations.

We take reasonable steps to:

Ensure that the personal information we collect is accurate, up-to-date, complete, and relevant, or at the point in time it was collected
Safeguard personal information against misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure
Destroy or de-identify personal information that is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, except when required by law to retain it for maintaining ongoing medical records for patients of our Doctors

While we take measures to secure your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of personal information transmitted via the internet or personal information left at your residence. Nevertheless, we will collaborate with you to minimise the chances of unauthorised access to your personal information.

Why Does the MedReleaf Clinic Collect, Hold, and Use Your Personal Information?

The MedReleaf Clinic collects personal information about patients to assess and manage their healthcare needs while providing our services. We also collect this information to enable your Doctor to provide healthcare, treatment, and associated services. This includes, but is not limited to:

Ensuring our services align with your healthcare requirements
Coordinating with other healthcare services you may receive
Reducing the need for you to provide the same information repeatedly
Providing accurate and comprehensive information is essential for the safety, quality, and effectiveness of the services we offer. It also ensures that you receive the appropriate benefits and funding for the services we provide. If you provide incomplete or inaccurate information, we may be unable to provide you with the services and treatment you seek.
When you check in for your appointments, we may request you to identify yourself using your name, email, address, and/or date of birth. This is essential to ensure we have the correct patient record, particularly as some patients share the same names and birthdays. While you have the option of not identifying yourself or using a pseudonym for general inquiries, sustained anonymity or pseudonymity may not be feasible when you are a patient of a Doctor at our clinics.

How Does the MedReleaf Clinic Use and Disclose Your Personal Information?

We use and disclose personal information to:

Provide requested services, including contacting you for appointments, sending reminders, or making referrals
Offer medical services and treatment
Enable medical practitioners at our clinics to provide appropriate healthcare, treatment, and services
Fulfill obligations to various third parties, such as Medicare, police, insurers, solicitors, government regulatory bodies, courts of law, hospitals, and debt collection agents, among others
Share information with healthcare professionals and other individuals involved in your care
Comply with statutory requirements
Engage in confidential dispute resolution processes
Mitigate or prevent serious threats to an individual’s life, health, or safety, or to public health and safety
Address suspected unlawful activity or serious misconduct
Locate missing persons
Establish, exercise, or defend equitable claims
Fulfill the purpose of a confidential dispute resolution process
Comply with statutory requirements
During the provision of medical services through the electronic transfer of prescriptions or the MyHealth Record
Contractors and Other Service Providers

The MedReleaf Clinic may engage third parties to perform services on our behalf, and we may use and disclose personal information to facilitate these arrangements. This may include specialist care services, allied health services, general domestic and personal care services, customer satisfaction surveys, IT, and practice supplier services, among others. Third parties to whom we disclose your personal information may directly inform you of the collection of your personal information and provide information about their privacy policies.

Administration and Management

We use and disclose your personal information for various administrative, management, and operational purposes, including but not limited to:

Administering billing, payments, and debt recovery
Liaising with and reporting to government agencies
Administering subsidies and benefits
Managing, measuring, monitoring, and evaluating our services
Safety and quality assurance and improvement activities
Statistical analysis and reporting
Staff, contractor, and worker training
Risk management, legal liability, and claims management
Meeting legal obligations
Responding to subpoenas and other legal orders and obligations
Updating records and maintaining your contact details
Seeking advice from professional advisers
Complying with applicable laws
Direct Marketing

If you are a patient of a Doctor consulting at the MedReleaf Clinic, we require your updated contact details for important appointment reminders and recalls. Please note that no private healthcare information regarding your individual circumstances or test results will be disclosed in these communications.

Occasionally, we may contact you to share important healthcare news and updates or inform you of changes at your clinic, such as opening hours, new doctors, or healthcare services. These communications are made only with your consent. If you do not wish to receive direct marketing communications or want to change your preferences, please contact your local clinic directly.

The MedReleaf Clinic does not provide your personal information to other organisations for their direct marketing purposes.

Overseas Disclosure

The MedReleaf Clinic does not routinely disclose personal information to overseas recipients. We will only disclose your personal information to overseas recipients if we have your consent or if an exception under the Australian Privacy Principles applies. In such cases, we take reasonable steps to ensure they do not violate the Australian Privacy Principles.

Access and Correction of Your Personal Information

You have the right to request access to your personal information held by the MedReleaf Clinic. To request access to your personal information, please contact the clinic directly. There are no charges for requesting access (or correction) of your personal information unless the volume of information is excessively large, in which case a reasonable administration fee may apply.

If your access request is made on behalf of an individual, such as a solicitor or guardian, we may request evidence of their authority if we do not already have that information. In certain circumstances, access requests may be declined in accordance with privacy laws. If we deny your access request, we will provide reasons for the decision and inform you of your right to make a complaint.

The MedReleaf Clinic makes reasonable efforts to ensure that your personal information is accurate, up-to-date, and complete. If you discover errors or discrepancies in the information we hold about you or if your personal details change, please inform us.

You have the right to request corrections to your personal information if you believe it is inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, or irrelevant. However, in some cases, particularly concerning healthcare records, making changes may not be possible. In such situations, you may have the right to associate a statement with your information and the right to make a complaint.

Retention of Your Personal Information

The MedReleaf Clinic will retain your personal information for as long as necessary. Generally, for patients, personal information is held for a minimum of 7 years from the date of the last entry in your record. For children, the record is retained until the patient attains or would have attained 25 years of age, to comply with legal requirements. You may request the transfer of your medical records to an alternate Doctor, and a fee may apply. Information that is no longer needed or required by law will be securely destroyed or de-identified.

Handling of Your Personal Information on Our Websites

You can visit our websites, such as www.medreleaf clinics.com.au, without disclosing your identity. If you provide your contact details through an inquiry, any personal information you provide to the MedReleaf Clinic will be managed in accordance with this Policy.

Our websites use cookies, which are small files stored on your computer’s browser to manage customized settings and content delivery. These cookies collect certain non-identifiable information about your device type, browser type, IP address, accessed pages, and third-party websites. You can refuse to accept cookies by adjusting your internet browser settings, but this may affect the full functionality of our websites. We utilize third-party services, such as Google Analytics, for demographic analysis of website visitors.

Users are advised not to transmit personal information via the internet through our websites and social media pages.

For your convenience and to enhance website usage, we may include links to third-party websites, applications, or resources. This Policy does not apply to these third-party resources, and we are not responsible for those third-party websites, applications, or resources. If you access these resources, you do so at your own risk, and we do not make any representations or warranties regarding the privacy practices of third parties.

How to Make a Complaint About the Handling of Your Personal Information

If you have any questions or concerns about this Policy or how your personal information has been handled, including its collection, use, disposal, or destruction, please feel free to contact the MedReleaf Clinic at any time.

Should you wish to file a complaint about the privacy of your personal information, we kindly ask that you contact us in writing. Our Privacy Officer, whose contact details are provided below, will initially review your complaint to determine whether simple or immediate actions can be taken to resolve it. In most cases, we will respond to your complaint within 14 days. If your complaint requires further examination or investigation, we will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within one week and strive to complete our investigation promptly.

We may request additional details regarding your complaint and the desired outcome. Subsequently, we typically undertake the following steps: collecting pertinent facts, examining relevant documents, and engaging in discussions with involved parties.

In most instances, we aim to investigate and respond to complaints within a 30-day timeframe. If the matter proves to be more intricate or requires a more extended investigation period, we will inform you accordingly.

Should you find our response unsatisfactory, you have the right to file a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. You can reach the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at 1300 363 992 or access their contact information online at www.oaic.gov.au.

How are revisions to this Policy implemented?

This Policy may undergo periodic reviews and amendments. The latest version will be applicable to your personal information held by us at that time. You can access the most current iteration of this policy by visiting our website at https://www.medreleafclinics.com.au/

How can you get in touch with the MedReleaf Clinic?

You can reach the MedReleaf Clinic through the following contact information:

Mailing address: The Privacy Officer, GPO Box 2846, Brisbane QLD 4001

Email: telehealth@medreleafclinics.com.au

Phone:1800 675 323

Definitions:

Within this document, the following terms hold the following meanings:

The MedReleaf Clinic, we, us, or our refer to Indica Industries Pty Ltd (ABN 25 611 697 762).

Personal information bears the meaning ascribed to it in the Privacy Act and follows the principles of the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) from the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), which, in broad terms, encompasses information that can be employed to identify you.

Policy denotes this privacy policy, subject to periodic amendments.

This Policy was last updated in November 2023 and will undergo periodic reviews to accommodate new laws and/or changes to our operations. Your information in our possession will be governed by our current policy. We recommend periodically reviewing this policy for any updates.