Privacy Policy

Current as of: 15th March 2024

Introduction

This privacy policy is to provide information to you, our client, on how your personal information (which includes your and/or your child’s 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 client of Annabel Flynn Paediatric Dietitian, you provide consent for the Dietitian to access and use your personal information so we can provide you with the best possible nutrition and 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?

Annabel Flynn Paediatric Dietitian will need to collect your personal information to provide nutrition services to you. Our main purpose for collecting, using, holding and sharing your personal information is to manage your health from a nutrition perspective. 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 and/or your child depends on the nature of your interaction with us but may include:

• names, date of birth, addresses, contact details

• medical information including medical history, medications, allergies, social history, family history and risk factors

• nutrition information including growth measures, pathology, nutrition impact symptoms, supplement use and feeding and diet history

• Medicare number (where available)

• healthcare identifiers

• names and contact details of other healthcare professionals involved in your and/or your child’s care

• NDIS registration number and plan manager details if applicable.

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?

Annabel Flynn Paediatric Dietitian may collect your personal information in several different ways.

1. When you make your first appointment our practice staff will collect your personal and demographic information via your registration form.

2. During the course of providing nutrition services, we may collect further personal information.

3. We may also collect your personal information when you visit our website, send us an email or SMS, telephone us, make an online appointment or communicate with us using social media.

4. 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, such as specialists, allied health professionals, hospitals, community health services and pathology and diagnostic imaging services

• your health fund, Medicare, NDIS, or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (as necessary).

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

We may request to share your personal information:

• with third parties who work with our practice for business purposes, such as accreditation agencies or information technology providers – these third parties are required to comply with APPs and this policy

• with other healthcare providers

• when it is required or authorised by law (eg court subpoenas)

• when it is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to a patient’s life, health or safety or public health or safety, or it is impractical to obtain the patient’s consent

• to assist in locating a missing person

• to establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim

• for the purpose of confidential dispute resolution process

• when there is a statutory requirement to share certain personal information (eg some diseases require mandatory notification)

Only people who need to access your information will be able to do so. Other than in the course of providing nutrition services or as otherwise described in this policy, Annabel Flynn Paediatric Dietitian 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.

Annabel Flynn Paediatric Dietitian 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 Annabel Flynn Paediatric Dietitian in writing.

Annabel Flynn Pediatric Dietitian 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.

How do we store and protect your personal information?

Your personal information may be stored at our practice in various forms.

Annabel Flynn Paediatric Dietitian stores all personal information securely in hard-copy (i.e paper records) in a secured environment and via password and authenticator protected electronic records. Annabel Flynn Paediatric Dietitian will take reasonable steps to store your personal information securely.

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 held by Annabel Flynn Paediatric Dietitian upon written request to Annabel Flynn via email at info@annabelpd.com or PO Box 240 Lutwyche Qld 4030. From time to time, we will ask you to verify that your personal information held by our practice is correct and current. Annabel Flynn Paediatric Dietitian will take reasonable steps to correct or update your personal information where the information is not accurate or up to date, as soon as reasonably possible.

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. If you have any queries or complaints about our Privacy Policy, please notify us in writing via email at info@annabelpd.com or PO Box 240 Lutwyche Qld 4030. Once we receive your concerns in writing we will attempt to resolve it within 30 days in accordance with our resolution procedure.

We will attempt to resolve any complaint without involving a third party, however you may choose to contact an independent regulator such as 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

We use technologies and third-party services that use Google Analytics, pixels, tags and web beacons (code snippets) to improve user experience of our website, to analyse how our website is used to improve our ability to tailor our services to meet your needs.

When you visit the website, we collect your Internet Protocol (IP) address, which may reveal information such as your Internet service provider (ISP), device information or approximate location. We cannot identify any individual user based solely on your IP address. It is not used for any additional purpose.

Cookies are small text files that can be stored on your device when you visit a website. These small files contain information about browsing activity. Cookies are used to identify you when you come back to a website and store details about your use of the website. Cookies can be used to analyse traffic and may be used to serve relevant ads to website visitors through third party services such as Google AdWords. We may use cookies to improve user experience of our website.

You may opt-out from the collection of cookies by editing your browser options, but like most websites, certain features of our website may not function properly if you disable cookies. For more information about cookies, you can visit: http://www.allaboutcookies.org/

To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics, you can visit https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

Policy review statement

This Privacy Policy is effective as of the date specified above and will be reviewed regularly. We reserve the right to make amendments to this Privacy Policy at any time. Any amendments will be effective immediately once the revised Privacy Policy is posted on www.annabelpd.com. By continuing to use our services you will be deemed to agree to our updated Privacy Policy.