Privacy Policy – Wellvue
Wellvue® (Wellvue, we or us) is committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information. We take our responsibility for handling sensitive personal information seriously and we have put measures in place to maintain the integrity of personal information and provide full transparency on conduct. We are bound by the Australian Privacy Principles under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) about how we handle your personal information.
This Privacy Policy sets out how and why Wellvue collects, stores, uses, and discloses your personal information, and how to contact us if you have any questions about how we handle your personal information or would like to access the personal information we hold about you.
Services Provided by Wellvue
Wellvue provides a range of services that are primarily offered through our website and associated booking applications (Wellvue Network):
- a booking system for appointments with health professionals for telehealth appointments;
- a secure video conferencing solution to facilitate telehealth consultations between you and health professionals;
- a place for patients to store and access relevant health details and records associated with their consultations with their health professionals; and
- an online directory of health professionals and practices.
We are constantly evolving our services, and new services may be offered from time to time.
What Information Does Wellvue Collect?
The personal information we collect depends on which of our services you use and the information you choose to provide.
When you use our booking system for appointments with health professionals for telehealth providers, or when creating your personal profile, you may choose to provide to Wellvue, and we may collect, personal information such as:
- your name;
- your date of birth;
- your contact details (e.g., address, email address, phone number);
- your gender;
- your marital status;
- occupation;
- cultural background;
- allergies;
- your medications;
- your emergency contact details;
- your next of kin details;
- advance health directive;
- the type of appointment you are requesting;
- information obtained through the My Health Record platform;
- medical history;
- personal details including family history, ethnic background, education, occupation, lifestyle, NOK details;
- information and medical records from your other medical practitioner where you have consented for that information or medical records to be transferred to us;
- the reason you are seeking that type of appointment;
- information about your private health insurance fund, including your membership number;
- your Medicare, Pension, Health Care Card and Veteran Affairs number and details;
- your photograph or image;
- financial information;
- transaction information;
- technical data such as internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access the Wellvue Network; and
- analytics data which we may collect directly or use third-party analytics tools, to help us measure traffic and usage trends for our products and services. These tools collect information sent by your browser or mobile device, including the pages you visit and other information that assists us in improving our products and services. We collect and use this analytics information in aggregate form such that it cannot reasonably be manipulated to identify any particular individual user.
If you choose to use our booking system for appointments through telehealth providers, we may collect medical information from you which is reasonably required to deliver this service.
If you choose to use our booking system for appointments with practitioners, we may collect information from you as provided by your referring health professional regarding your treatment such as copies of referral letters which may include relevant medical history, symptoms, investigation results, medication and management, and other health information.
If you are a referring health practitioner, we may collect information about you and your practice such as name, contact details, provider number and information relevant to providing services to referred patients.
We may also collect your Medicare details and number, pension/health care card/DVA and/or private health insurance membership details, to assist with the above services (for example, to facilitate your booking of appointments with health professionals, and to help confirm your identity for our services).
Usually, we collect your personal information directly from you. Wellvue may collect your personal information from you in various ways, including via telephone and email.
We may also collect information from third parties, such as:
- family members, legal guardian/s and/or a person you have authorised to provide your personal information to us; and
- health professionals and their practices (often via their practice management software systems), in relation to the management of appointments you have made, your requested health services, and the associated fees.
Cookies and Similar Technologies
We use cookies and similar technologies (such as web beacons and proprietary measurement software) on the Wellvue Network to analyse trends, administer our services, diagnose problems, improve the quality of our products and services, track users’ movements around the Wellvue Network, and to gather demographic information about our user base as a whole.
A cookie is a small text file that the Wellvue Network may place on your device to store information. We may use persistent cookies (which remain on your computer even after you close your browser) to store information that may speed up your use of the Wellvue Network for any of your future visits to the Wellvue Network. We may also use session cookies (which no longer remain after you end your browsing session) to help manage the display and presentation of information on the Wellvue Network. You may refuse to use cookies, web beacons or some of the proprietary measurement software features by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser or the settings section of your mobile or tablet device. However, please note that if you do this, you may not be able to use the full functionality of the Wellvue Network.
Your Choices
You do not have to use our services, and you may choose which of our services you wish to use. Some of our services, such as our online directory of health professionals, do not require you to provide us with personal information. However, the majority of our services do, and when you use such services we require you to provide accurate details and do not permit you to use a pseudonym or remain anonymous. For some services, certain information is designated as mandatory (which is required to use the service) and some is optional (which you may choose not to provide, but your failure to provide that information may limit your use of the service). If you do not provide personal information to Wellvue that is designated as mandatory, we will be unable to provide you with that service.
Wellvue may use social networking services such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to communicate with the public about its activities. Wellvue may collect your personal information when you communicate with us by using these social networking services, and the social networking services will also handle your personal information for their own activities. These social networking sites have their own privacy policies.
Wellvue uses both internally built survey software and third-party vendors (such as Google Analytics and Halaxy) for the collection, aggregation, and analysis of some survey data. The information you provide is stored in a secure data warehouse in either Australia or the United States and is accessed by Wellvue in accordance with a third-party vendor’s privacy policy. If you do not want your personal information being stored offshore, you can decline to provide this information by not responding to these surveys.
Why Does Wellvue Collect and Use Your Personal Information?
The primary reason Wellvue uses your personal information is to provide the services you have elected to receive.
Wellvue may also use your personal information:
- to contact you about your use of the Wellvue Network;
- to facilitate communications between you and health professionals such as to remind you of an upcoming appointment, to confirm a booking, or to request feedback or participate in a survey or questionnaire;
- on a de-identified basis for analysis, research and quality assurance purposes;