Richmond Road Dental Privacy Policy

Current as of 28/05/24

This privacy policy provides information to you, our patient, on how your personal information (which includes your health information) is collected and used within our practice and the circumstances in which we may share it with third parties.

When you register as a patient of our practice, you provide consent for our dental practitioners and practice staff to access and use your personal information so they can provide you with the best possible dental care. Only staff who need to see your personal information will have access to it.

If we need to use your information for anything else, we will generally seek additional consent from you to do this, unless obtaining your consent is not practical or reasonable, and an exception under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) applies.

Our practice will need to collect your personal information to provide dental services to you. Our main purpose for collecting, using, holding, and sharing your personal information is to manage your dental health. We also use it for directly related business activities, such as financial claims and payments, practice audits and accreditation, and business processes (e.g. staff training).

What personal information do we collect?

The information we will collect about you includes your name/s, date of birth, address/s, contact details and family contact information. Further information such as the details of your oral health condition and the treatment/s and service/s you have received, details of your general health

(e.g. medications, allergies, medical conditions) and medical history that may impact the dental treatment you receive. Other information collected may include your private health insurance information, Medicare number (where available) for identification and claiming purposes, information

regarding other funding sources, where relevant (e.g. Child Dental Benefits Schedule, Department of Veterans Affairs), information on workers’ compensation, motor vehicle and other accident claims and healthcare identifiers where relevant.

Dealing with us anonymously

You have the right to deal with us anonymously or under a pseudonym unless it is impracticable for us to do so or unless we are required or authorised by law to only deal with identified individuals.

How do we collect your personal information?

Our practice may collect your personal information in several different ways, including but not limited to, collection of your personal information via your registration with the practice and when your visit our website, send us an email or SMS, telephone, make an online appointment or communicate with us using social media. During the course of providing you with dental services, we may collect further personal information. In some circumstances, personal information may also be collected from other sources, including your guardian or responsible person, other involved healthcare providers, such as specialists and diagnostic imaging services and your health fund, Medicare or the Department of Veterans Affairs (as necessary).

When, why and with whom do we share your personal information?

We may sometimes share your personal information with third parties who work with our practice for business purposes, such as information technology providers (these third parties are required to comply with APPs), with other healthcare providers, when it is required or authorised by law (e.g. court subpoenas), when it is necessary to lessen or prevent serious threat to a patient’s life, health or safety or public health or safety, or when it is impractical to obtain the patient’s consent. Personal information may also be shared when it is necessary to assist in locating a missing person, to establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim, for the purpose of a confidential dispute resolution process or when there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information (e.g. some diseases require mandatory notification).

Only people who need to access your information will be able to do so. Other than while providing dental services or as otherwise described in this policy, our practice will not share personal information with any third party without your consent. We will not share your personal information with

anyone outside Australia (unless under exceptional circumstances that are permitted by law) without your consent. Our practice will not use your personal information for marketing any of our goods or services directly to you without your express consent. If you do consent, you may opt out of direct marketing at any time by notifying our practice in writing.

How do we store and protect your personal information?

Our practice stores all personal information securely ensuring that all electronic private information of our staff and patients, stored, received, or sent with consent to other practitioners and specialists, is secured with password encryption. Hardcopy and paper records are stored securely and are disposed of in a secure manner.

How can you access and correct your personal information at our practice?

You have the right to request access to, and correction of, your personal information. Our practice acknowledges that patients have the right to request access to their dental records. We ask that you put this request in writing via email or with a copy of a signed Dental Records Release Form to reception@rrdental.com.au and our practice will respond within 30 days. Our practice will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up to date. From time to time, we will ask you to verify that your personal information held by our practice is correct and current. This will be done either with a physical copy of our Medical History Form, provided to you before your appointment, electronically via email, or our electronic Medical History Form available on our website.

How can you lodge a privacy-related complaint, and how will the complaint be handled at our practice?

We take complaints and concerns regarding privacy seriously. You should express any privacy concerns you may have in writing to reception@rrdental.com.au. We will then attempt to resolve your issue/s in accordance with our resolution procedure within 30 days.

You may also contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). The OAIC may decide not to investigate your complaint if you have not raised it with the practice first. If you have lodged a complaint with us, and we have not responded within 30 days or you are dissatisfied with our response, you may then take your complaint to the OAIC. For further information, visit www.oaic.gov.au or call the OAIC at 1300 363 992.

Privacy and our website

The collection of any personal information via our practice website, social media and email is done so in a secure manner, with password encryption and SSL (Secure Sockets Layer).

Policy review statement

This privacy policy will be reviewed regularly to ensure it is up to date with the ADA and in accordance with any changes that may occur within the practice or with privacy legislation. When this policy is updated, all forms, hardcopy and electronic, will be updated accordingly and made available for viewing on our website or in practice.

The Manager
Richmond Road Dental
251 Richmond Road
Morningside 4170
Ph: 07 33996988
Email: admin@rrdental.com.au