Access Telehealth Privacy Policy
We value privacy
At Access Telehealth, we take the protection of your personal information very seriously. This policy is designed to describe the personal information we collect, how we protect it and what we do with it.
The health professionals you interact with through Access Telehealth 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 health professionals are subject to additional legal obligations and professional standards for the protection of your personal information.
From time to time, we may need to change this policy. If we do so, we will post the updated version on our website (accesstelehealth.com.au/privacy) and it will apply to all of your information held by us at the time.
What personal information do we collect?
We may collect current and historical personal information including information about your:
• name
• contact details
• 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 details
• health insurance details
• next of kin, emergency contacts and nominated representatives.
If you have a consultation with a health professional using our platform, the health 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 – see 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 personal information?
We collect personal information you provide to us directly. We may also collect personal information through other means, including from other health professionals and your relatives, guardians and representatives. In relation to health professionals, we may also collect your personal information from publicly available sources, professional registers, background check providers and academic institutions.
See the section on ‘Our online services’ below for more information about our collection of personal information online.
How do we hold and protect personal information?
We hold personal information electronically and in hard copy form, both at our own premises and with the assistance of our service providers.
We implement a range of measures to protect the security of personal information, including – depending on the circumstances – electronic access controls, premises security and network firewalls.
Why do we collect personal information?
Access Telehealth provides an online platform designed to facilitate communications and interactions between health professionals and patients.
Health professionals provide health services including diagnosing medical conditions and advising on treatment.
We collect, hold, use and disclose personal information to provide our platform and services. 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 not be able to do these things without your personal information. For example, we may not be able to communicate with you or allow you to use our platform.
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.
Who do we disclose personal information to?
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, health insurers and any party funding your health services in relation to matters such as claims, cover and billing.
Where you have an eHealth record under the national system, your health professional may contribute your personal information to the operator of that system.
Our online services
This section applies to our websites at accesstelehealth.com.au and accessspecialist.com.au and to our other online services including our apps, 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 may also record device identifiers and device location data through our Online Services where available. 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.
How can you access and update your personal information?
Please contact us if you wish to seek access to or correct of any personal information we may hold about you. We aim to respond within a reasonable time and may need to verify your identity.
Please provide as much detail as you can about the particular information you seek, in order to help us locate it. We may deny some requests for access to or correction of personal information where the law allows us to do so.
Contact us
Attention: Privacy Officer
feedback@accesstelehealth.com.au
Telephone: 1300 88 60 77
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.
Last updated: 10 March 2022
Dr Me Pty Ltd t/a Access Telehealth