Precedence Health Care’s Integrated Care Platform (Inca) is a cloud- based network of digital health and wellness services, including MediTracker mobile application services.
It is important that all users of Inca services understand how the network collects and shares health information (“personal information”) and are aware of their responsibilities for gaining informed consent from patients.
To the extent applicable (if at all), the Health Privacy Principles (or equivalent), which operate in some jurisdictions, should guide your actions. In the absence of applicable Health Privacy Principles, you should refer to relevant Commonwealth, State or Territory privacy legislation, and assistance can also be derived by referring to the website of the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. You should make sure you are familiar with the applicable principles or other relevant guidance, and also with Precedence Health Care’s Privacy Policy.
Inca collects and shares personal information about patients and other persons under care (also called “consumers”) who consent to this information being stored and shared in the network. This information may come from a variety of sources, including the clinical software systems used by GPs (e.g., Medical Director, Best Practice); other members of the patient’s care team (e.g., allied health professionals, medical specialists); the patient themselves; participating health services and pathology services; and the Commonwealth’s My Health Record.
Inca uses this information to provide a range of health care and wellness services to the patient and their care team.
Prior to adding a patient’s personal information into Inca, users must obtain informed consent from patients for the collection and sharing of this information. Ensuring that patients are informed about what will happen with the information that is being shared is a fundamental component of best practice in privacy, so it is important that all Inca users and patients know what information is available on Inca and who has access to that information.
When a patient’s GP or other person authorised by the GP uses Inca to collect personal information from their general practice clinical system, Inca will extract and share the following information:
Patient demographics
Alcohol consumption and smoking status
Allergies and adverse reactions
Family and social history
Observations and results
Current medications
Immunisation history
Current and past problems
If the patient or the GP does not wish to share some of this information, the GP’s clinical system should provide a means for declaring such data “confidential” and thereby preventing it being sent to Inca. GPs who do not know how to do this should contact the provider of their clinical software.
Inca may also collect and share information obtained from other sources. These include:
Information that the GP or any member of the care team or the patient themselves adds to the patient record or to any notes concerning the patient’s care using Inca services, web sites or mobile devices. This information may include contact information, measurements, care plans, assessments, referrals, progress notes, appointments, and other related personal and health information.
Information from participating Health Services, including discharge summaries and emergency department attendance.
Information obtained from My Health Record. This information may include some or all of the data stored in the patient’s My Health Record.
It is the responsibility of the provider of information stored in or used by Inca, or the person who grants access to such information, to inform the patient of the type of personal information that is so provided or made accessible.
Inca will provide access to a patient’s personal information with the patient’s GP and care team, the patient (or their carer as authorised by the patient), participating Health Services, and some others as necessary to provide the services of Inca. In addition, de-identified data (that is, data from which it is impossible to ascertain who you are) is only used for internal analysis and improvements to features offered by Inca, and not provided to any third-parties without consent from the patient and healthcare providers. The way Inca shares and protects information is described in the Precedence Health Care Privacy Policy.
It is important that patients understand what information is being shared, who it is being shared with, and for what purpose. It is the responsibility of the persons providing this information to ensure that each patient is aware that their personal and health information is being stored on a computer system hosted on a secure site in Australia, as described in the Precedence Health Care Privacy Policy.
It is also important for all users of Inca to be aware that this information may not be complete, up to date, or accurate.
In seeking informed consent to participate, patients should be advised that any measurements or notes that they enter into Inca are not continuously monitored and will be available to members of the patient’s care team only when the provider next logs in to Inca. Patients who are concerned about any condition should contact their GP or other health care provider using their normal means (e.g., phone) and should not use Inca for this purpose.
If you have any questions or concerns, or if you wish to suggest improvements please contact Precedence Health Care’s Privacy Officer via email at privacy@precedencehealthcare.com You may also contact your State’s Privacy Commissioner or Ombudsman to get advice about privacy or make a complaint.