At Newcastle Health Enterprise & Ear Nose Throat Newcastle, we are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring the confidentiality of your personal and medical information. This policy outlines how we collect, use, and safeguard your data.
Why We Collect Your Information
We collect your personal and medical information to provide you with high-quality specialist care. This includes assessing, diagnosing, treating, and proactively managing your healthcare needs.
Your information may be used for the following purposes:
- Administrative purposes – to efficiently manage the operations of our specialist medical practice.
- Billing and Medicare compliance – to process payments, including claims with Medicare and private health insurers.
- Coordination of care – to facilitate communication with other healthcare providers involved in your treatment, such as referring doctors, specialists, and diagnostic services.
How We Protect Your Information
Your medical records are securely stored in a protected cloud-based system, ensuring both safety and accessibility. We adhere to strict privacy and security protocols, including:
- Daily encrypted backups to prevent data loss.
- Confidentiality agreements signed by all staff.
- Secure storage and access controls for medical records.
- Proper disposal of hard copy documents through shredding and secure destruction.
- Strict patient consent protocols before releasing information.
Access & Consent
- Your medical information will not be shared with any third party without your verbal and/or written consent, unless required by law.
- You have the right to request access to your medical records, except in rare circumstances where access may be lawfully restricted.
If we need to use your information for any purpose other than those outlined above, we will obtain your explicit consent beforehand.
