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Privacy Policy

We are committed to ensuring that your personal information is kept private and confidential.

This Privacy Policy sets out how we use and manage your personal information. Personal information includes information that can identify you and information about your past and current health. As a provider of health services, we are bound by the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Commonwealth Privacy Act 1988. We also have professional and ethical obligations to protect your privacy and keep your personal information confidential.

1. What information do we collect?

We will only collect information that is necessary to provide our services and carry on our specialist paediatric dentistry and specialist orthodontic practice.

We collect the following types of personal information from patients, prospective patients and billing parties:

• name and contact details;
• age, date of birth, gender and family structure;
• dental, medical and family history;
• details of your dentists, medical practitioners and specialists;
• details about your current and historical health and medications;
• health insurance details; and
• bank account and credit card information.

2. How do we collect your personal information?

We collect personal information in several ways.

You may be asked by us to complete a patient questionnaire and provide us information we need to deliver specialist dental services to you in a safe and appropriate manner. This information includes details of your dental and medical history and your current health.

You may also be asked to provide personal information verbally to our paediatric dentists, orthodontists or other staff members. We may collect personal information by taking dental records (photographic images, digital scans, alginate impressions and radiographs) and the recording of observations during the course of treatment. Without this important information we are unable to plan and implement your treatment plan properly.

If you decide to proceed with treatment and accept our offer to finance treatment with a payment plan, you will be asked to provide either your bank account or credit card details for your payment plan. From time to time you may also provide us with updated bank account or credit card details either verbally or in writing, for example if your credit card expires.

We may also collect personal information about you from third parties if you have agreed that they can provide us with this information. For example, we may collect information from:

• your health insurance provider;
• Medicare; and
• other dentists, dental specialists or other health practitioners.

If a person is unable to provide us with personal information which we need to provide them specialist dental services (for example if the patient is a young child or lacks the capacity to provide these details) we will require this information to be provided by the patient’s legal guardian or another person who is legally entitled to act for that person.

3. How do we use your personal information?

We may use your personal information for any of the following purposes:

• to assess whether we can provide you with our specialist dental services;
• to deliver dental treatment and assess treatment outcomes over time;
• to disclose relevant information to other practitioners involved in your dental and health care including dentists, doctors and specialists outside our practice, where, in our opinion such disclosure is necessary;
• to maintain and administer your patient file;
• to invoice you for our fees;
• to discuss your claims with your health insurer;
• to contact you for follow up services and appointment reminders;
• to collect unpaid invoices; and
• to send information to you about our specialist dental practice.

We actively engage in research and education to improve individual and community dental care and practice management. We may use your personal information in preparing this research and education material which may involve publication in professional journals which are often distributed globally. Our research activities often involves collaboration with overseas universities, researchers and practitioners, many of whom are located in the United States of America. As such, your personal information may be disclosed to overseas recipients.

We may use your personal information to demonstrate treatment outcomes for marketing and education purposes. This information will generally be limited to photographic images and diagnostic information without any associated information that would allow someone to identify the particular individual in the image.

4. How do we make sure that your information is accurate?

We take reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we collect from you is accurate, up-to-date and complete. These steps include:

• maintaining and updating your personal information when you attend the practice; and
• amending information when you let us know that any of your information has changed.

5. How do we protect and store your information?

We provide ongoing training to our staff to ensure the personal information which we hold about you is kept confidential.

We keep electronic records of all patients’ personal information. We take steps to protect these records against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, use, modification or disclosure. We ensure that hard copies of records are either returned to you or securely destroyed. There are security processes in place regarding computer access. We take steps to ensure that electronic data is backed up.

We, or our contracted data storage providers, may use servers, systems and cloud computing providers outside Australia. We use our best endeavours to ensure that our storage providers are required to comply with Australian Privacy laws.

After a period of 7 years (or in the case of a person under 18, until the person turns 25) we may securely destroy or de-identify your records in accordance with Australian laws.

6. When will we disclose your personal information?

We will disclose your personal information to third parties if you have agreed that we can do so. For example, we will disclose your personal information:

• if you ask us in writing or provide us with your written consent to disclose your information to a third party;
• in an emergency situation, if you have nominated relatives or next of kin as emergency contacts;
• to other dentists, dental specialists and healthcare providers, for the purpose of providing an update or seeking a second opinion or a referral;
• to laboratories and dental specialists (within Australia or overseas) to provide advisory services relating to your treatment; and
• as part of our research and education activities to universities, researchers and practitioners.

We have engaged the services of a number of suppliers of software, laboratory services and dental materials which have their headquarters outside Australia, in many cases in the United States. Your personal information may need to be sent to one of these suppliers to allow us to provide you specialist dental services. For example, your dental records and personal information may be provided to a supplier to allow them to fabricate customised appliances. At times, representatives of these suppliers (who could be located outside of Australia) may ‘remote-in’ to our local computer systems to resolve issues or provide us assistance. We use our best endeavours to ensure that these suppliers comply with Australian Privacy laws.

If you finance your treatment fee with a payment plan, we may provide a credit reporting agency certain personal information about you to allow the credit reporting agency to create or maintain a credit information file on you. That information includes:

• permitted identity details about you that allows you to be identified;
• the fact that you have applied for credit with us and the amount of credit;
• the fact that we are a current credit provider to you;
• any amounts of more than $100 which become overdue by more than 60 days and for which collection activities have commenced;
• advice that payments are no longer overdue in respect of any default that has been listed; and
• information that, in the opinion of us, you have committed a serious credit infringement.

Please note that your personal information will only be disclosed to a credit reporting agency if you choose to finance your treatment fee with a payment plan.

We may also disclose specific personal information (your name, address, contact details and amount owing to us) to debt collection providers engaged by us if you do not pay our invoices within the required time.

Other than as set out in this Section 6, we will only disclose your personal information without your agreement if we are legally required to do so. Under the Privacy Act, we must disclose your personal information if we are directed to do so by a government or regulatory body (including Medicare) or a statutory body (eg a court or a tribunal) with legal powers to obtain your information.

7. Accessing your personal information

You have the right to access the personal information that we hold about you. You can contact us in writing, by email or by telephone and request access to your personal information. Our contact details are set out in Section 9 of this Policy. We will always try to meet your request within a reasonable time.

In some circumstances, your request for access may be denied. These circumstances include:

• if we no longer hold any personal information about you;
• if your request is frivolous or vexatious;
• if the information requested relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings and would not normally be disclosed as part of those proceedings;
• if providing access would be unlawful; and
• if denying access is required or allowed by law.

If we are unable to give you access to the information you have requested, we will give you written reasons for this decision when we respond to your request.

We may charge you a reasonable fee for access to some types of information requested by you. This charge will be limited to the cost of recouping our costs for providing you with the information. Charges may include document retrieval, photocopy, the costs of duplication of X-rays and models, and delivery costs to you.

8. Correcting your personal information

To enable us to provide you with the best service, it is important that the information we hold about you is accurate and up-to-date. You will need to provide us with any changes to your personal information (including change of name, address, email and telephone number) to enable us to update your records. We will take reasonable steps to ensure that the information that we hold about you is accurate and up-to-date.

9. Our contact information and resolving your concerns

You can contact us during our office hours if you have any questions, concerns or a complaint about this Privacy Policy or the way in which we collect, store and disclose your personal information.

First Smiles

Suite 7, 38 Meadowvale Avenue South Perth WA 6151

Telephone: 08 93367 9277 Email: Web: www.firstsmiles.com.au

We will always try to respond to you and address your questions, concerns or complaints within a reasonable time. This Privacy Policy is available on our website at www.firstsmiles.com.au. You can also contact us and request that we send you a copy of this Policy by mail or email.

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