United Healthcare Group - Privacy Policy

United Healthcare Group (UHG) provides a range of health-related services. Given the types of services we provide, it is essential we collect relevant and necessary information required to perform a safe and effective service. Information we collect may include personal health or medical information. We attempt to limit the collection of sensitive information we collect from you. We do not collect sensitive information from you without your consent. 

1. What is Personal Information?

1.1 - According to The Privacy Act, “personal information” refers to information or an opinion (including information or an opinion forming part of a database), whether true or not, and whether recorded in a material form or not, about an individual whose identity is apparent or can be reasonably ascertained, from the information or an opinion.

2. What is Sensitive Information?

2.1 - Sensitive information is a subset of personal information. It means information or an opinion about an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political organisation, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional or trade association, membership of a trade union, sexual preferences or practices or health information about an individual. 

3. Collection of Personal Information

3.1 - We collect personal information that is necessary for the services we provide. The type of information we may collect from you includes (but is not limited to) the following: 

3.2 - Client related personal Information: 

  • Your full name (first and last)

  • Your email address

  • Your phone number

  • The type of enquiry details (such as the services you require and the reason for you may be seeking our services)

  • A summary of the funding body you are wishing to claim through

  • Your contact information including; email address, preferred phone number, home address, gender, preferred clinic location, treatment request

  • Relevant medical information necessary to allow us to assess the suitability of our services that you are seeking

  • Relevant health information that allows us to provide safe and effective service

  • Information about you from your insurer, employers, principal or doctors

  • Relevant payment or billing information ie; health fund details, Medicare details

  • Invoicing details ie; billing address, payment information and invoice details

  • Personal information related to vaccination statues and exposure to an infectious disease

3.3 - Employee related personal information:

  • Your full name (first and last)

  • Contact Information such as; such as your name, e-mail address, current postal and residential address, phone numbers, country of residence, next of kin contact

  • Your CV / Resume or application related information including your eligibility to work in Australia, your education history, previous employment details, professional memberships or qualifications

  • Information relating to your prior employment and performance related information

  • Employee screening and profiling for new-starters that may reveal personal or sensitive information about you

  • Tax, superannuation and payroll information: such as your Tax File Number and ATO declaration, superannuation details and financial institution details.

  • Your employment type including; Full time, Part time, Contractor or Sole trader, including relevant information on your company name, ACN or ABN details (or both);

  • A record of your personal or employment related social media and other individual marketing accounts. Such activity may include; “likes”, comments posted, your opinions or feedback and any other information pertaining to your social media activities which concern, or relate, to us.

3.4 - UHG collects information, where practically possible in an open and transparent way. We strive to ensure you are aware at each stage of the collection of information you provide. 

3.5 - Providing UHG with personal or sensitive information is your choice and it is your right to refuse to provide us with information. If we are unable to obtain a satisfactory level of information, we may be unable to provide a safe and effective service as the consequences of not obtaining relevant information may cause or lead to unintentional harm to you, our staff or the public.  

3.6 - Due to the type of services we provide and the range of clients we provide services for, it may be impractical for us to deal with you on an anonymous basis or rely solely on information from you as the patient. In some cases, we may rely on information provided to us on your behalf from an acting family member, carer, or third-party delegate. 

4. Cookies and IP addresses

4.1 - UHG uses a publicly available web address. In order to monitor user activity on our website for the purpose of ongoing improvement, we may gather your IP address as part of our business activities. Such data may assist us with operational difficulties, support issues, or quality improvement.

4.2 - If using our publicly available website, we may activate “cookies”. Cookies enable us to monitor traffic, patterns and to enhance the access to information. Cookies are small text files which are downloaded on to your computer or mobile device when you visit a web site or application.

4.3 - UHG uses several types of cookies on our website, including those necessary to operate our website for administrative and operational purposes; and those to collect statistics or analytics on how you use our website, where you visited our site from, what your interacted with whilst on our site.

4.4 - It is your right to restrict, block or delete cookies from our website.  

5. Credit Information and Credit reporting

5.1 - UHG references The Privacy Act  1988 regarding the use and disclosure of credit information, which applies in relation to the provision of both consumer credit and commercial credit. 

5.2 - UHG uses credit related information, such as company name, email address, phone number, bank or credit details, as well as other details set out above for a patient for the purposes of: 

  • Processing payments and refunds;

  • Verification and debt collection;

  • Patient service related contact; and

  • Our internal assessment of the insurer or corporate organisations’ credit worthiness.

5.3 - UHG does not store or record credit related information such as bank card details, credit card details, BSB and Account details. Such information may be requested to provider over phone payments, refunds or for cross reference. Such information is subsequently removed or discarded.  

6. Use and disclose of Personal Information

6.1 - UHG will use and disclose information in the context you have consented for us to use and disclose such information in. Such examples of appropriate use include: 
 
6.2 - Information collected and distributed relating to a patient service enquiries:  

  • Assessing the suitability of the request

  • Contacting the participant or related party of the outcome or progress of a request

6.3 - Information collected and distributed relating to a therapeutic service:  

  • The evaluation and development of a treatment plan

  • The provision of a medical or health related service

  • Liaison with medico-legal entities to enable decisions or actions relating to your treatment including medical reports, treatment plans and fitness for duty summaries

6.4 - Information collected and distributed in relation to administrative needs of a service:

  • Processing an invoice, quote or receipt 

  • Processing a payment, reimbursement, authentication or rebate 

6.5 - Information collected and distributed in relation to quality control:

  • Participating in a survey or quality improvement discussion

  • Maintenance and development of our products and services, systems and infrastructure

  • Marketing and promotional activities including electronic mail, newsletters and public service announcements on social media

  • Compliance with regulatory bodies standards of care and practice

  • To ensure the safety for all participants and the community, including information related to infectious disease history and protection

6.6 -  Information collected and distributed in relation to employment:

  • Background checks and verification of identity and qualifications

  • Liaison with financial institutes, Government agencies, Australian Taxation Office, Centrelink, Superannuation companies, etc in relation to key employment details

  • Performance monitoring and management

  • In the case of individual participation with social media platforms (Including but not limited to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn); we may use it to send you marketing material, patient service-related contact, respond to social media messages or engagements, re-posting of individual posts or stories

  • As required by governmental or authorised legal parties

  • The sale or potential sale of the operating entity to another party including agents or middle party such as evaluators

  • Any other matters related to the necessary operations of the services we provide

6.7 - For employee’s, we may also use or disclose your personal information and in doing so we are not required to seek your additional consent when:

  • It is disclosed or used for a purpose related to the primary purposes of collection detailed above and you would reasonably expect your personal information to be used or disclosed for such a purpose;

  • If we reasonably believe that the use or disclosure is necessary to lessen or prevent a serious or imminent threat to an individual’s life, health or safety or to lessen or prevent a threat to public health or safety;

  • If we have reason to suspect that unlawful activity has been, or is being, engaged in; or

  • If it is required or authorised by law (including but not limited to regulatory bodies such as the Australian Securities and Investment Commission).

6.8 - In the event we propose to use or disclose such personal information other than for reasons described above, UHG will first seek your consent prior to such disclosure or use. 

7. Disclose of Personal Information to Third-Parties

7.1 - UHG may disclose your personal information to organisations outside of our primary operating business to organisations including: 

  •  Information Technology companies

  • Subsidiaries of UHG

  • Contractors, agencies, sole traders

  • Law enforcement agencies

  • Hospitals, General Practitioners, other related health care parties

  • Third parties as a part of an acquisition of UHG or its subsidiaries

7.2 - Your personal information is disclosed to these organisations and/or parties only in relation to the products or services we provide to you or for a purpose permitted by this policy. 

7.3 - We take such steps as are reasonable to ensure that these organisations and/or parties are aware of the provisions of this policy in relation to your personal information. 
 

8. Marketing

8.1 - You consent to UHG using your personal information (other than sensitive information), including any email address you give to us, to provide you with information and to tell you about our products, services or events that relate to you, or we believe would be of interest to you whilst you are a patient of ours.   
  

8.2 - If you do not wish to receive any further marketing material or communication, you may ask us not to send you any further information about products and services and not to disclose your information to other organisations for that purpose. You may do this at any time by using the “unsubscribe” link provided in our marketing communication or if not applicable, contacting us directly at admin@unitedhealthcaregroup.com.au.

9. Storage of information

9.1 - UHG holds information on electronic platforms with cloud-based platforms. Such data storage is subject to the security protocols of the individual companies we engage with.  
As UHG does not own or control data centres or store information in on-site servers, the storage of your information may, at times be stored in third party data centres including those located internationally. UHG endeavours to work with electronic platforms to protect the storage and distribution of information within international data centres. United Healthcare Group reviews the suitability and protection of each electronic platform we engage with to ensure they meet our requirements of security and privacy. 
 
9.2 - Personal information may also be processed by staff or by other third parties operating outside Australia who work for us or for one of our suppliers, agents, partners or related companies (in locations such as Malaysia and New Zealand). 

9.3 - By submitting your personal information to UHG, you agree and consent to the disclosure, transfer, storing or processing of your personal information outside of Australia. In providing this consent, you understand and acknowledge that countries outside Australia do not always have the same privacy protection obligations as Australia in relation to personal information. 

9.4 - The Privacy Act requires us to take such steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to ensure that any recipients of your personal information outside of Australia do not breach the privacy principles contained within the Privacy Act. By providing your consent, under the Privacy Act, we are not required to take such steps as may be reasonable in the circumstances. 

9.5 - If you do not agree to the transfer of your personal information outside Australia, please do not supply us with your personal information, or contact us by email at admin@unitedhealthcaregroup.com.au with your preferences of storage of personal information. 

10. Data security

10.1 - UHG holds your personal information for the purposes listed above. We take steps to help ensure your personal information is held safe. It must be appreciated that we cannot guarantee the security of all transmissions or personal information, especially where the Internet is involved.

10.2 - We take reasonable measures to ensure the information we hold and distribute is:

  • Accurate, complete and up to date;

  • Protected for misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure both physically and through computer security methods

  • Destroyed, de-identified or removed if it is no longer needed for its purpose of collection

10.3 - The accuracy of personal information provided relies on:

  • The owner of the information timely providing us with errors, corrections or changes to such personal information. Such example of postal address, surname, gender, credit card details, Support coordinator details etc.

  • It is the responsibility of the owner of the information to provide us with sufficient prior knowledge of any relevant changes that relate to your personal information as well as the storage and distribution of such information.

11. Access to your Personal Information

11.1 - As the owner of your personal information, you are entitled to access or request a copy of personal information relating to you which we possess, except in some exceptional circumstances provided by law. You are entitled to edit or delete such information unless we are required by law to retain it or permitted to retain it in accordance with this policy. United Healthcare Group may keep track of past transactions for our accounting and audit requirements. Furthermore, it may be impossible to completely delete your information because some information may remain as backups. 

11.2 - In order to obtain access to, delete, or correct any of your personal information we have about you, please contact us with your specific requirements and preferred method of distribution. We may request you provide us with sufficient evidence relating to your identity to ensure we can authenticate your request prior to the distribution of your information.  

12. Complaints and Consent

12.1 -  If you wish to raise a complaint with us in regard to the way that we have handled your personal information or otherwise have any concerns, please email us at admin@unitedhealthcaregroup.com.au. UHG respects your right to privacy and right to feedback and we will take steps to handle and resolve your complaint, including escalating your complaint to an appropriate person to handle it.

12.2 - This document was created internally at UHG and aims to provide you with full disclosure of our rights and responsibilities as well as your rights and responsibilities regarding privacy. This document is not a contract and is an informative piece subject to relevant changes, amendments to law and does not superimpose legal documents or contracts relating to privacy.  
 
12.3 - By using our website or engaging with our services you accept the terms and conditions, outlined by this policy. 

12.4 - If you are taken to a third-party website from our website or click on links that deviate you from site or collection platforms other than those we provide, this policy no longer applies to your personal information. Rather, you will need to review the privacy documentation of the third-party website. 

12.5 - UHG reserves the right to modify our policy as our business needs require. We will notify you of such changes (whether by direct communication or by posting a notice on our website), after which, your continued use of our products, services or website or your continued dealings with us shall be deemed to be your agreement to the modified terms. 

We recommend that you keep this information for future reference.