Privacy Policy
The information contained in this policy is for general guidance on matters of health interest only. While we have made every attempt to ensure that the information contained in this website has been obtained from reliable sources, Fortis Physiotherapy is not responsible for any errors or omissions, or the results obtained from the use of this information.
All information on this website is provided “as is”, with no guarantee of completeness, accuracy, timeliness or of the results obtained from the use of this information, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including, but not limited to warranties of performance, health and fitness for a particular purpose.
In no event will Fortis Physiotherapy or the partners, agents, or employees thereof be liable for any decision made or action taken in reliance on the information in this website, or for any consequential, special or similar damages, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.
Certain links in this website connect to other websites maintained by third parties over whom Fortis Physiotherapy has no control. Fortis Physiotherapy makes no representations as to the accuracy or any other aspect of information contained in other websites.
At Fortis Physiotherapy, located at ANU Health and Wellbeing Centre, Building 156, Joplin Lane, Level 4, Suite 4.11, ACT, Australia 2601, we recognise the importance of your privacy and are committed to protecting the personal information we collect from you in accordance with the requirements of the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988. In this Privacy Policy, we explain how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your information, including any non-public personal information.
1. Collection of personal information
We collect personal information from our patients to provide Physiotherapy, Exercise Physiology, and Remedial Massage care and services. This information may include, but is not limited to:
Name, date of birth, address, email address, and phone number
Health information including medical history, conditions, treatments, medications, and other health professionals involved in your care
Government identifiers such as Medicare and DVA numbers. These details are not used to identify you in our practice.
Payment information, such as credit card numbers and billing addresses
5. Other health information about you such as:
- a record of your symptoms
- your relevant medical history
- the diagnosis made
- the treatment we give you
- specialist reports
- test results
- your appointment and billing details
- your prescriptions
- your healthcare identifier
- other information about you collected for the purposes of providing care to you
2. How we collect personal information
We will generally collect personal information about you in the following ways:
Directly from you when you give us your details (eg. face-to-face, over the phone, via registration form or an online form)
From a person responsible for you
From a third party where we are permitted by law to do so (eg. other health care professionals involved in your care, from your health insurer, from the My Health Record system etc.).
3. Why we collect personal information
We primarily collect and use personal information about you to provide our Physiotherapy, Exercise Physiology, and Remedial Massage services to you, and to communicate with you and others involved in your care in relation to those services.
We also sometimes use that information for other purposes, including:
To help us manage our accounts and administrative services, including billing, arrangements with health funds, pursuing unpaid accounts, management of our IT systems.
To conduct accreditation, quality assurance, or internal audits.
4. How we use your personal information
Your personal information is used to:
Provide you with Physiotherapy, Exercise Physiology, and Remedial Massage care and services
Communicate with you about your appointments, treatment, and services
Process payments and manage accounts
Comply with legal and regulatory requirements
Improve our services and operations
5. Disclosure of personal information
We may disclose information about you to others outside of our practice as permitted or required under law. This will include situations where we disclose information about you in order:
To comply with our legal obligations (eg. mandatory reporting under legislation, responding to a court order or subpoena)
To consult with other health professionals involved in your healthcare
To get test results from diagnostic and pathology services
To claim on insurance
To communicate with your health fund, with government, and other regulatory bodies, such as Medicare
To help us manage our accounts and administrative services (eg. billing or debt recovery, arrangements with health funds, pursuing unpaid accounts etc.)
To lessen or prevent a serious threat to a patient’s life, health or safety or a serious threat to public health or safety
To help in locating a missing person
To establish, exercise or defend an equitable claim through the My Health Record
To prepare the defence of anticipated or existing legal proceedings
To discharge notification obligations to liability insurers.
We will not sell, rent or lease your personal information to third parties
6. Access to your personal information
You have the right to seek access to and correct the personal information we hold about you.
We will normally respond to your request within 30 days. To make the request, you should contact us on the contact details provided below (see ‘How to contact us’).
If you think that the information we hold about you is not correct, please let us know in writing. We will take reasonable steps to correct your personal information where the information is not accurate or up to date. From time to time, we may also ask you to verify that the information we hold about you is correct and current. We also ask that you please notify us if and when your contact details change (see ‘How to contact us’).
7. Security: how we hold your personal information
We take reasonable steps to protect the information we hold about you. These steps are designed to prevent unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure and to prevent misuse and loss. This includes:
Holding information on an encrypted database
Holding information in a lockable cabinet
Holding information in secure cloud storage
Providing staff with training or induction etc. about confidentiality and (in particular) security issues
Requiring staff to sign confidentiality documents
Access to information restricted on a ‘need to know’ basis
Strong password protections when accessing the information on a computer.
8. Your right to receive treatment from us anonymously (or by using a pseudonym)
Where it is lawful and practicable for us to do so, you can be treated anonymously or through use of a pseudonym (a name other than yours).
9. Disclosing information about you overseas
We do not propose to disclose information about you to anyone overseas. If we want to transfer your personal information overseas, we will first seek your consent, unless we are required by law to do the transfer.
10. If you have a privacy-related concern about us
If you have concerns about the way we’ve handled your privacy, please let us know in writing. We will normally respond to your request within 30 days.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you can refer your complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commission, whose contact details are:
Phone: 1300 363 992
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
Post: GPO Box 5218 Sydney New South Wales 2001
Website: https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints/
11. Updating this policy
We will update this policy from time to time, to reflect any changes in our information-handling practices or the law or both.
We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on our website (www.fortisphysio.com.au). We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.
12. How to contact us
To speak to us about any privacy related issues, please contact our Practice Directors, Scott Hancock and Scott Gordon, at:
Fortis Physiotherapy
Address: ANU Health & Wellbeing Centre, Building 156, Level 4, Suite 4.11, Joplin Lane, Acton ACT 2601
Phone: (02) 6247 7033
Email: admin@fortisphysio.com.au