Introduction:

At Impala Pain & Rehabilitation Care, we are committed to protecting the privacy of personal information. We will not disclose personal information without consent or reasonable and lawful notice except when required or permitted by law.

Our privacy commitment:

At Impala Pain & Rehabilitation Care, we protect patient privacy by –

1. Collecting only the personal information required to provide physiotherapy services.
2. Advising you how your information might be disclosed and obtaining your consent.
3. Safeguarding your personal information.
4. Sharing your personal information only for the purposes stated and agreed to in a signed consent form or otherwise permitted by law.
5. Ensuring any contractors hired who may have access to your information also protects the privacy of your information.
6. Training staff and adapting the office space to ensure maximum protection of your privacy.
7. Ensuring personal information is current, complete and accurate.
8. Providing you access to your personal information and a mechanism for requesting corrections.
9. Having our Chief Operating Officer (COO) available to answer your questions.
10. Periodically reviewing our privacy policy to ensure it provides adequate protection for your personal information.

Information collected:

AThe personal information collected is required in order to provide you with physiotherapy services and facilitate payment for services rendered

1. Contact information: your name, phone number, address and an emergency contact person.
2. Health information: your health history, treatment received, names of other healthcare providers, family medical history, your subjective complaints, objective findings, diagnoses, reason for discharge, and discharge plan.
3. Financial information: credit card information, employer’s name, and other information to facilitate payment for services provided.

What do we use your information for?

We use contact information to open and update your patient file, invoice for services, remind you of appointments and/or the need for further treatment, and to provide informational materials about our clinic. We use health information to assess, diagnose and to provide and evaluate physiotherapy treatment. We use financial information to arrange payment for physiotherapy services rendered.

With whom do we share your information?

1. Contact information – may be disclosed to third-party health benefit providers/insurers when reimbursement claims for all or part of the treatment cost have been submitted.
3. Health information – may be disclosed to.
1. Third-party health benefit providers and insurance companies when a claim is submitted for reimbursement or payment of all or part of the cost of treatment or we have been asked to submit a claim on your behalf.
2. Other healthcare professionals also providing you with treatment.
4. Your lawyer, if you were injured in an accident.
5. Research teams in an anonymous form to facilitate outcome research.
6. Financial information – may be disclosed to your insurer or credit card company as required to facilitate payment.

Note: Personal information can also be disclosed without your consent if we are required to do so by law.

How we protect your personal information:

1. We store physical records containing your personal information in a secure place.
2. We store electronic records on secured hardware, use antivirus software and passwords on all computers and take care to protect screen monitors from public viewing.
3. We transfer physical records outside our office in sealed envelopes by secure methods.
4. We conduct telephone discussions with sensitivity to ensure that your personal information is not inadvertently disclosed.
5. Electronic information is transferred in secure files and made anonymous wherever possible.
6. We do not share your personal information outside our office for any marketing, promotional, publicity, educational, or research purposes without your consent
7. We train staff to handle your information only through the protected measures outlined in our privacy procedures. If consultants or contractors are hired, we take steps to ensure the consultant or contractor also protects your privacy.

Accessing and correcting your personal information

You can request to view your personal information by asking a staff member who may refer you to our Chief Operating Officer (COO). We will attempt to help you understand the reasons we collect, store and use the information in your records. You may request a change to your personal information if it is inaccurate, incomplete, no longer current, or if you believe there is a factual mistake. Requested copies of your record will be provided in a reasonable period. If there is a charge for the cost of producing a copy, we will advise you of the cost in advance.

How long is the information kept?

We are required by legislation to keep records containing personal information for 10 years from the last date of service. Or in the case of a minor, 10 years past the minor’s eighteenth birthday. After that time, we shred paper records and delete electronic ones. When discarding hardware we ensure the hard drive is destroyed.

More information

If you have a concern about your personal information, please feel free to ask the physiotherapist treating you or another staff member. If your question/concern is not resolved, please address it in writing to our Chief Operating Officer (COO): zakariapt@gmail.com