Current as of 24 Dec 2023.

Our website address is: https://www.pivotalosteo.com.au.

Introduction

This privacy policy is to provide 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.

Why and when your consent is necessary

When you register as a patient of our practice, you provide consent for our practice staff to access and use your personal information so they can provide you with the best possible healthcare. 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 seek additional consent from you to do this.

Why do we collect, use, hold and share your personal information?

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

What personal information do we collect?

The information we will collect about you includes your:

• Names, date of birth, addresses, contact details 
• Medical information including medical history, medications, allergies, adverse events, immunisations, social history, family history and risk factors 
• Medicare number (where available) for identification and claiming purposes 
• Healthcare identifiers 
• Health fund details
• Third party payer and claim details, for example your WorkSafe insurer or Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

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?

• When you make your first appointment, our practice staff collect your personal information over the phone.
• When you fill out the New Patient Questionnaire either electronically via our practice management software or in hard copy form and during the course of providing osteopathic services, we may collect further personal information.
• We may also collect your personal information when you visit our website, send us an email or SMS, telephone us, make an appointment online or communicate with us using social media.
• In some circumstances personal information may also be collected from other sources. Often this is because it is not practical or reasonable to collect it from you directly. This may include information from: your guardian or responsible person, other involved healthcare providers, your health fund, Medicare, or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (as necessary).

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

We sometimes share your personal information:

• With other healthcare providers
• When it is required or authorised by law
• For the purpose of a confidential dispute resolution process
• If you are making a claim through a third party payer, such as Medicare, WorkSafe and Department of Veterans’ Affairs
• During the course of providing osteopathic services through an exercise prescription software called Physitrack. 

Only people who need to access your information will be able to do so. Other than in the course of providing osteopathic services or as otherwise described in this policy, our practice will not share personal information with any third party 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. 

Our practice may use your personal information to improve the quality of the services we offer to our patients through research and analysis of our patient data.

We will not share your personal information with anyone outside Australia without your consent. However, the cloud based practice management software we use, Cliniko, and the exercise prescription software we use, Physitrack, have servers located in Australia, USA and Ireland. Both of these companies adhere to the Australian Privacy Principles. For access to their Privacy Policies please visit https://www.cliniko.com/policies/privacy/ for Cliniko and https://www.physitrack.com/privacy for Physitrack.

How do we store and protect your personal information?

Your personal information is stored securely in an electronic format on an encrypted hard drive. Paper records containing your personal information are locked away or converted to an electronic format and the paper copy is safely destroyed.

We also store your personal and medical information securely on a cloud based practice management software called Cliniko. For access to Cliniko’s privacy policy please visit https://www.cliniko.com/policies/privacy/

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. Pivotal Osteopathy acknowledges patients may request access to their medical records. We require you to put this in writing for security reasons.

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. We will then attempt to resolve it in accordance with our resolution procedure. You can lodge your complaint in writing to:

Pivotal Osteopathy, 408 Maroondah Hwy. Ringwood Vic 3134.

Or at info@pivotalosteo.com.au

If you are not satisfied with our response, you are entitled to contact the OAIC. Generally, the OAIC will require you to give them time to respond before they will investigate. For further information visit www.oaic.gov.au or call the OAIC on 1300 363 992.

Privacy and our website

When you interact with our website at https://www.pivotalosteo.com.au, we strive to make your experience easy and meaningful. We, or our third-party service providers, may use cookies, web beacons (clear GIFs, web bugs) and similar technologies to track site visitor activity and collect site data. Examples of information that we may collect include technical information such as your computer’s IP address and your browser type, the country you are in, what you clicked on and what links you visited to get to or from our site.

Our website is authenticated with an SSL certificate. Our online bookings system that is accessible from our website is securely provided by Cliniko, our practice management software. You can access their privacy policy at https://www.cliniko.com/policies/privacy/ 

Any links to other, third-party websites contained on our website are not governed by this privacy policy. They are governed by the privacy policies of those third-party websites. We are not responsible for the information practices of such third-party websites.

Policy review statement

This privacy policy will be reviewed regularly to ensure it is in accordance with any changes that may occur. Patients will be notified when any amendments to this policy occur.

Contact

If you have any questions please contact Pivotal Osteopathy either via email at info@pivotalosteo.com.au, via phone on 0435995728, or post to 408 Maroondah Hwy. Ringwood Vic 3134.

You can also contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. Call on 1300363992, email your enquiry to enquiries@oiac.gov.au, or access further information via www.oaic.gov.au