Pathology Collection Guides

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Privacy & Pathology
Privacy & Pathology
Legislation has been passed which imposes privacy obligations on the private sector, including
the health sector. The Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2000 initially came into effect on 21
December 2001. A new Privacy Amendment (Enhancing Privacy Protection) Act 2012, has been passed
and from 12 March 2014, the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) will replace the National Privacy
Principles and Information Privacy Principles. At Douglass Hanly Moir Pathology we have put processes
in place to ensure that we comply with all the obligations. Such processes will be subject to continuing
review.
In summary, the Act sets a minimum standard for the way in which we collect, store, use and disclose
personal and sensitive health information. The requirements imposed are contained in a set of
principles called the “National Privacy Principles”.
The information that the Act covers is potentially very wide. We have developed a privacy policy that
describes how we manage the following issues:
ƒ What personal and sensitive information do we collect
ƒ How do we collect such information
ƒ What do we use the information for
ƒ What reasons are there for disclosing the information
ƒ How do we store the information
ƒ How do we allow access by our patients and referrers to the information that we hold
Patient's contact information may be used for matters relating to billing, particularly with regard to the
delivery of invoices, reminders and expediting of payments. This could, for example, include the use of
SMS reminders and the referral of unpaid invoices to a third party debt collection agency.
A brochure detailing our Privacy Policy is readily available to patients at our collection centres and is
also available on our website,
If you require any further information, please contact our
Privacy Officer/Quality Department on (02) 98 555 222.
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