Commitment to Privacy
The appropriate collection, use and disclosure of patients’ personal health information is fundamental to our day-to-day operations and to patient care.
Protecting the privacy and the confidentiality of patient personal information is important to the physicians and staff at Elite Clinic.
We strive to provide our patients with excellent medical care and service. Every member of Elite Clinic must abide by our commitment to privacy in handling personal information.
Applicability of This Privacy Policy
Our Privacy Policy attests to our commitment to privacy and demonstrates the ways we ensure that patient privacy is protected. Our Privacy Policy applies to the personal health information of all our patients that is in our possession and control.
What is Personal Health Information?
Personal health information means identifying information about an individual relating to their physical or mental health (including medical history), the providing of health care to the individual, payments or eligibility for health care, and health number.
Our Privacy Policy reflects our compliance with fair information practices, applicable laws, and standards of practice.
- Accountability
We take our commitment to securing patient privacy very seriously. Each physician and employee associated with the Practice is responsible for the personal information under his/her control. Our employees are informed about the importance of privacy and receive information periodically to update them about our Privacy Policy and related issues.
- Identifying Purposes: Why We Collect Information
We ask you for information to establish a relationship and serve your medical needs. We obtain most of our information about you directly from you, or from other health practitioners whom you have seen and authorized to disclose to us. You are entitled to know how we use your information and this is described in the Privacy Statement posted at Elite Clinic. We will limit the information we collect to what we need for those purposes, and we will use it only for those purposes. We will obtain your consent if we wish to use your information for any other purpose.
- Consent
You have the right to determine how your personal health information is used and disclosed. For most health care purposes, your consent is implied as a result of your consent to treatment, however, in all circumstances express consent must be written or said verbally.
Your Consent will be forwarded to the Manger who will document the request in patient’s medical records and notify appropriate Health care providers and their supporting staff.
- Limiting Collection
We collect information by fair and lawful means and collect only that information which may be necessary for purposes related to the provision of your medical care.
- Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention
The information we request from you is used for the purposes defined. We will seek your consent before using the information for purposes beyond the scope of the posted Privacy Statement.
Under no circumstances do we sell patient lists or other personal information to third parties. There are some types of disclosure of your personal health information that may occur as part of this Practice fulfilling its routine obligations and/or practice management. This includes consultants and suppliers to the Practice, on the understanding that they abide by our Privacy Policy, and only to the extent necessary to allow them to provide business services or support to this Practice.
We will retain your information only for the time it is required for the purposes we describe and once your personal information is no longer required, it will be destroyed. However, due to our on-going exposure to potential claims, some information is kept for a longer period.
- Accuracy
We endeavour to ensure that all decisions involving your personal information are based upon accurate and timely information. While we will do our best to base our decisions on accurate information, we rely on you to disclose all material information and to inform us of any relevant changes.
- Safeguards: Protecting Your Information
We protect your information with appropriate safeguards and security measures. The Practice maintains personal information in a combination of paper and electronic files. Recent paper records concerning individuals’ personal information are stored in files kept onsite at our office. Older records may be stored securely offsite.
Access to personal information will be authorized only for the physicians and employees associated with the Practice, and other agents who require access in the performance of their duties, and to those otherwise authorized by law.
We provide information to health care providers acting on your behalf, on the understanding that they are also bound by law and ethics to safeguard your privacy. Other organizations and agents must agree to abide by our Privacy Policy and may be asked to sign contracts to that effect. We will give them only the information necessary to perform the services for which they are engaged, and will require that they not store, use or disclose the information for purposes other than to carry out those services.
Our computer systems are password-secured and constructed in such a way that only authorized individuals can access secure systems and databases.