Virtual Medical Centre

• Privacy Policy Overview
• What Personal Information does VMC collect and how does VMC use your Personal Information?
• Protecting Your Personal Information
• Accessing and Correcting Your Personal Information
• Your Personal Information and Third Parties
• Cookies

Privacy Policy Overview

Virtual Medical Centre (VMC) is committed to protecting your privacy. As a visitor or member of VMC´s website (site), you are interested in knowing more about health issues for you, someone close to you or your practice. We understand that health is a very personal matter and that personal information is provided in confidence. We recognise the importance of privacy and respect your right to control how personal information is collected and used.

VMC may vary this privacy policy from time to time. The updates will be posted on this page. We recommend you familiarise yourself with this page when using the site.

What Personal Information does VMC collect and how does VMC use your Personal Information?

• If you do nothing during your visit to this site but browse or download information, we automatically collect and store the following information about your visit:
  • The Internet Protocol address and domain name used but not the email address. The Internet Protocol address is a numerical identifier assigned either to your Internet service provider or directly to your computer. We use the Internet to deliver information to you;
  • The type of browser and operating system you used and your connection speed;
  • The date and time you visited this site;
  • The web pages or services you accessed at this site; and
  • The previous website you visited prior to coming to this site.
• The information we automatically collect or store is used to improve the content of our web services and to help us understand how people are using our services. VMC analyses our site logs to continually improve the value of the materials available on our site. Our site logs are not personally identifiable, and we make no attempt to link them with the individuals that browse this site.
• VMC will not collect your personal information unless you have consented and given it to us.
• Where and what personal information is collected and how it is used:
  • Sign-up page
    • General Patient Membership
      • What personal information is collected: If you sign-up as a patient member of the site, the following information is collected: title, name, username, password, gender, year of birth, your interest in receiving our patient email publications and your interest in receiving marketing materials from Telstra.
      • How this personal information is used: This information is used to identify you, so you can log into the site, for correspondence with you (if you opt to receive VMC publications) and for VMC internal statistics purposes.
      • If you opt in to receive marketing materials from Telstra, this personal information will be passed onto them and they will deal with it in accordance with their privacy policy located at http://www.telstra.com.au/privacy/privacy_statement.html.
    • Health Professional Membership
      • What personal information is collected: If you are signing up as a health professional, the following information is collected: title, name, username, password, gender, year of birth, professional area, professional body provider number, areas of interest, if you are interested in receiving VMC professional email and print publications and your interest in receiving marketing materials from Telstra.
      • How this personal information is used: For health professionals, professional body numbers are collected to ensure that you are in fact a health professional, in order to view the password-secure professional level of information.
      • If you opt in to receive marketing materials from Telstra, this personal information will be passed onto them and they will deal with it in accordance with their privacy policy located at http://www.telstra.com.au/privacy/privacy_statement.html.
  • Surveys
    • Surveys are conducted on both the website and enewsletters. They are optional.
      • What information is collected: Health surveys collect opinions on a health topic- the opinions are recorded but are anonymous.
      • User acceptance surveys collect opinions of the services VMC provide, an email and username.
      • How this information is used: Health surveys are used for health promotion purposes.
      • User acceptance surveys are used to improve the services VMC provide.
  • Continuing Medical Education (CME) (Health Professionals only)
    • What personal information is collected: The CME program collects the following information from health professionals who choose to participate in the education program: title, name, email, username, password, college, college identification number.
    • The health professional also submits educational materials (including edited disease information, research on relevant clinical trials, case study and clinical audit).
    • How this personal information is used: This personal information is collected for identification purposes and accreditation with CME points (if work is of a sufficient standard).
    • The educational materials are collected for marking purposes by the specialist mentoring the GP.
  • Tools
    • What personal information is collected: Tools collect your responses to the questions in the tool. Some tools are for health promotion purposes, some for symptom management, some for investigation analysis and some for drug dose conversions.
    • Some tools give the option for you to enter your name so you can print the tool and results and take it to the doctor with you. However, we do not save your name.
    • How this personal information is used: We may look at responses to the tools for statistical purposes only.

Protecting Your Personal Information

• VMC will take all reasonable steps to protect any personal information misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
• VMC will also take reasonable steps to destroy personal information if it is no longer needed.

Accessing and Correcting Your Personal Information

• Every effort is made to ensure that personal information held on members is current, accurate and complete.
• You can review any personal information VMC collects about you. You may recommend changes to personal information you believe is an error by submitting a written request.
• If you believe that your personal information is being used for a purpose other than what you intended it for, contact VMC.
• A member´s identity needs to be validated before his⁄her personal information is divulged when requested. In all cases, VMC will take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access to personal information or making corrections. If in doubt we do not divulge any information.

Your Personal Information and Third Parties

• Contracts with all service providers⁄consultants whose service involves access to personal information comply with the VMC Privacy Policy.
• Third parties are required to sign an undertaking that the information will only be used for the purpose for which the information was provided. This includes mailing houses which receive personal information in order to provide a service for VMC. If you opt-in to receive direct marketing from Telstra when you sign up as a member, Telstra will treat your personal information in accordance with its privacy policy located at
  http://www.telstra.com.au/privacy/privacy_statement.html.

Cookies

• A cookie is a small amount of data, which may include an anonymous unique identifier, that is sent to an individual´s browser from a website´s computers and may either be used only during the internet session (a "session" cookie) or may be stored on the individual´s computer hard drive (a "persistent" cookie).
• Cookies can contain data about user movement during the visit to a website. If an individual´s browser software is set to allow cookies, a website can send its own cookie to them. A website cannot access cookies sent to the individual by other sites.
• VMC uses cookies to make the individual´s use of the VMC site and services as enjoyable as possible. Cookies themselves do not personally identify users, although they do identify a user´s browser. Cookies are useful to estimate the number of VMC site members and determine overall traffic patterns through the website.
• An individual can configure their browser to accept all cookies, reject all cookies, or notify them when a cookie is sent. (Each browser is different, so check the "Help" menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie preferences.)