To provide thorough medical care at JUSC we need to know our patients well. JUSC has policies to ensure that information about you remains confidential between you and your doctor. This privacy notice will explain how we manage personal and medical information needed to provide safe and high-quality health care.
This privacy notice may be updated from time to time, to reflect changes to privacy law or JUSC practice operations. This privacy notice was last updated in February 2022.
At all times strict privacy is maintained under the Privacy Act 1993 and the Health Information Privacy Code 1994 and by the medical ethics of confidentiality.
The information we collect
We need to collect and create medical information of you to deliver the best healthcare possible. This information will be kept to the necessary minimum. If you have any concerns about sharing certain information with us, please let us know and we can explain why this information is needed. It is not mandatory to provide us with information, but we may not be able to deliver the care you need without information.
Health information will be collected from you when you contact JUSC, or created during the consultations or when delivering medical care, creating treatment plans or prescribing medications. Health information may be received by us from your General Practitioner or other referring medical provider. Where required, and with your authorisation, we may collect information about you from other third parties, for example family or other healthcare providers.
Health information that may be collected or created by us can be:
- General information: your name, contact details, date of birth, gender, ethnicity and residency status, carer/guardian if applicable
- Other provider information: primary healthcare provider, health insurance company and ACC details (where appropriate)
- Relevant medical history: medical conditions, allergies, medications, previous consultation notes, and previous diagnostic reports (including test results and x-rays)
- Health information we create about you can be consultation notes, diagnoses, management plans, progress notes, prescriptions
- Correspondence: with you, your healthcare provider or your family (where authorised)
- Payment information: invoices, payment records and credit card details
Your health information will be used with the purpose to:
- diagnose and manage your medical conditions
- prescribe medications where required
- referrals to other healthcare providers where required
- working with ACC or your health insurer to manage payment (if applicable)
- contact you about the care you receive
- meet our legislative reporting requirements, including to the Ministry of Health
- conduct medical research and statistical analysis (with anonymised information)
Health information may be shared with other parties in a responsible and legimate manner to ensure health providers have information they need to provide adequate care and treatment to patients. JUSC may need to share health information about you with:
- the referring healthcare provider;
- other healthcare providers involved in your care, such as physiotherapists or other
- specialists;
- your carer/guardian, or family/whanau, with authorisation or in accordance with accepted medical practice;
- your health insurance company, with authorisation or as part of your claim process
- ACC, with authorisation or when treatment is provided as part of a claim
- the Ministry of Health or other health agencies as part of statistical reporting or health research activities, in aggregated and anonymised format;
- our clinical administrator, where relevant only;
- government or law enforcement agencies where required by law
Your health information is retained for at least 10 years, as required by law. All the health information is being held on a secure storage platform with Pulse Practice Management Software. We use industry standard security technology and procedures. Connection to our website is covered by SSL security certificates.
Paper records are scanned and uploaded to this secure platform. JUSC will take all reasonable steps to protect health information from loss, misuse or unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
You have the right to ask for a copy of any personal information we hold about you, and for it to be corrected if you think it is incorrect. If you like to request a copy of your information, or to have it corrected, please contact [email protected].
If we are unable to resolve concerns you may have, you can make a complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner:
- completing an online complaint form at www.privacy.org.nz
- writing to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, PO Box 10-094, The Terrace, Wellington 6143