Playful Paediatrics Privacy Policy and Cancellation Policy
Part 1- ABOUT THIS POLICY
1.1 Purpose
Playful Paediatrics is committed to protecting the privacy of personal information they collect and hold about individuals.
Playful Paediatrics complies with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), other privacy laws that govern how private sector health service providers like Playful Paediatrics handle your personal information (including your health information), and Speech Pathology Australia’s Code of Ethics (2020).
This Privacy Policy explains how Playful Paediatrics manages the personal information we collect, use and disclose.
Part 2 - HOW PLAYFUL PAEDIATRICS HANDLES YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
2.1 Playful Paediatrics’ Legal Obligations
In order to provide you with the health care services that you have requested; Playful Paediatrics will need to collect and use your personal information. If you provide incomplete or inaccurate information to us or withhold personal and health information from us, we may not be able to provide you with the services you are seeking.
2.2 What information does Playful Paediatrics collect?
We will only collect the information we need for the particular function or activity we are carrying out.
We collect information from you that is necessary to provide you with speech pathology services and to manage our relationship with you. The information we collect includes: your name, date of birth, address, health fund details and information about your health history and family history. We require this information to assist the speech pathologist to diagnose and treat y
2.3 How does Playful Paediatrics collect’s health information?
We will usually collect your health information directly from you. Sometimes, we may need to collect information about you from a third party (such as a relative or another health service provider).
2.4 How does Playful Paediatrics use your information?
Playful Paediatrics uses your personal information for the purpose you have given the information to us. We will use your information to provide speech pathology services to you, to manage our relationship with you and to contact you in relation to matters concerning your care. We may also use your information for other purposes permitted under the Privacy Act 1988.
2.5 Who might Playful Paediatrics disclose your information to?
We may disclose your information to the following people:
(a) Other health professionals involved in your treatment
Your personal information will generally only be used by the speech pathologist involved in your care, however on occasion your care may be provided by a number of health professionals (for example., speech pathologist, occupational therapist and/or psychologist) working or consulting together. We may disclose your information to these health professionals as part of the process of providing your care and to other health professionals involved in your care.
(b) The referrer
Playful Paediatrics will usually send a discharge summary to the referrer (i.e., your medical practitioner) following discharge or at other times, as required for your child’s care.
If you do not wish us to provide a copy of your discharge summary to the referrer you must let us know. Also, if the referrer’s details have changed, please let us know.
(c) Relatives, guardian, close friends or legal representative
We may provide information about your condition to your parent, child, other relatives, close personal friends, guardians, or to a responsible person for you, unless you tell us that you do not wish us to disclose your health information to any such person.
(d) Other uses with your consent
In order to provide the best possible environment in which to treat you, we may also use or disclose your personal and health information where necessary for:
- activities such as quality assurance processes, accreditation, audits, risk and claims management, patient satisfaction surveys and staff education and training;
- Invoicing, Billing and Account Management
- to liaise with your health fund, Medicare or the Department of Veteran's Affairs and where required provide information to your health fund, Medicare or the Department of Veteran's Affairs to verify treatment provided to you; the purpose of sending you standard reminders, for example for appointments and follow-up care, by text message or email to the number or address which you have provided to us.
- With your consent we may also use your information for other purposes such as including you on a marketing mail list, or research. Please note, however, that unless you provide us with your express consent for this purpose, we will not use your information in this way. We will not disclose your personal information to any individual who is outside Australia.
2.6 Access to and correction of your health information
You have a right to access the personal and health information that we hold about you. You can also request an amendment to your personal and health information should you believe that it is inaccurate.
If we do not agree to change your medical record/personal information in accordance with your request, we will permit you to make a statement of the requested changes and we will enclose this with your record.
Should you wish to obtain access to or request changes to your health record you can ask for our Privacy Officer (see details below) who can give you more detailed information about Playful Paediatrics's access and correction procedure.
Please note that Playful Paediatrics may recover reasonable costs associated with supplying this information to you.
2.7 Data Quality
Playful Paediatrics will take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information which we may collect, use or disclose is accurate, complete and up-to-date.
2.8 Data Security
Playful Paediatrics will take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. We use technologies and processes such as access control procedures, network firewalls, encryption and physical security to protect your privacy.
Playful Paediatrics will destroy or permanently de-identify any of your information which is in its possession or control and which is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected provided Playful Paediatrics is not required under an Australian law or court/tribunal or otherwise to retain the information.
2.9 What to do if you have a complaint about this Privacy if:
(a) you have questions or comments about this Privacy Policy;
(b) Playful Paediatrics does not agree to provide you with access to your personal information; or
(c) you have or a complaint about our information handling practices,
You can lodge a complaint with or contact our Privacy Officer on the details below. We will promptly review your complaint and provide a response to you.
2.10 How to contact us if you have a complaint about privacy issues:
Contact Playful Paediatrics on phone 0460 830 304 or email holly@playfulpaediatrics.com.au should you wish to follow up any privacy
concerns.
Playful Paediatrics needs to collect information about you/your child for the primary purpose of providing a quality service to you/your child. In order to thoroughly assess, diagnose and provide therapy, we need to collect some personal information from you (about your child). If you do not provide this information; we may be unable to treat you/your child. This information will
also be used for:
(a) The administrative purpose of running the practice;
(b) Billing either directly or through an insurer or compensation agency;
(c) Use within the practice if passing your case to another speech pathologist within the practice for your/your child’s ongoing management;
(d) Disclosure of information to your/your child’s doctors, other health professionals or to teachers to facilitate communication and best possible care for you/your child; and
(e) In the case of insurance or compensation claim it may be necessary to disclose and/or collect information that affects your return to work.We do not disclose your personal information to overseas recipients.
Part 3 - PRIVACY POLICY AVAILABILITY
Playful Paediatrics has a Privacy Policy that is available on request. This policy provides guidelines on the collection, use, disclosure and security of your/your child’s information. The Privacy Policy contains information on how you may request access to, and correction of, your/your child’s personal information and how you may complain about a breach of your/your child’s privacy and how we will deal with such a complaint. A summary of the Privacy Policy is contained in the Collection Statement above.
Part 4 - PARTICIPANT CONSENT
To ensure the process of quality treatment provision, information about you/your child’s assessment results and progress may be given to other relevant service providers, who are involved in you/your child’s management. These may include your/your child’s doctor, teachers, specialists, insurers, solicitors, employers or others, but only where it is considered to be of benefit to your/your child’s progress.
Connecting the Team
We ask you for a list of the names and contact details of the individuals involved in your/your child’s care. This helps us to share information across the team and ensure a collaborative approach to our services.
Cancellation Policy:
At Playful Paediatrics we pride ourselves on the quality of service we provide for our clients. One way that we achieve this is by limiting the number of clients we see on any one day. We also spend considerable time and energy in preparing for your child’s session well in advance. So that we can maintain the standards of our service, we have a cancellation and no-show policy in place.
Remember to pop your appointment in your calendar so you don't forget. We do have a waiting list and would hate to turn others away if you can't make it, so please give us at least a week's notice before your initial appointment.
All cancellations and sicknesses (outside of an emergency e.g. hospitalisation) are required to notify Playful Paediatrics 48 hours’ notice (business days) prior to their appointment to avoid being charged our full fee. We also require 80% attendance rate to ensure ongoing appointments. Remember we can do other essential additional supports to assist your child’s growth if you are unable to attend - just ask us. We understand that unplanned issues can arise and you may need to cancel or reschedule an appointment.
We offer alternative supports to assist your child’s growth during cancellation times. This may include parent support session, including via telehealth or phone call if you can’t make it in to our clinic. Alternatively, we can write a report that may be pending or connect with your child’s team during this time or we can develop a resource to support generalisation of skills to home/community or school environments or use the time to review goals and analyse data for your child. Let us know how we can support your child’s growth or let us guide you along the way.
If you do need to cancel your child’s appointment please contact Playful Paediatrics on 0460 830 304 during business hours, admin@playfulpaediatrics.com.au outside of business hours or contact your speech pathologist directly. The cancellation notice period is based on business days (Monday-Friday) when notification is received, therefore excludes weekends. No-shows will automatically be charged the full-service fee.