Purpose 

The purpose of this Privacy Statement is to set out how we collect, use, share and otherwise process your personal information, in a manner that is compliant, ethical, adheres to industry best practice and applicable protection of personal information legislation as enacted from time to time.

Definitions 

“The Practice” refers to the medical practice of Dr Joshua Czech; Practice number: 0994782; Address: 6 Harfield road, Claremont, Cape Town 7708. “You” refers to you the patient. “Your personal information” refers to personal and special personal information about you. It includes information about race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, national, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental health, well-being, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth of the individual amongst other things. Thus, your personal information comprises information you may have given to us yourself or we may have collected from other sources (e.g. pathology laboratory). Process(ing) (of) information means the lawful and reasonable automated or manual activity of collecting, recording, organising, storing, updating, distributing and removing or deleting personal information to ensure that such processing is adequate, relevant and not excessive given the purpose for which it is processed.

How the practice will process and disclose your personal information and communicate with you 

The Practice will keep your personal information confidential. When you engage with the practice, you entrust it with personal information about yourself. We are committed to protecting your right to privacy. We have a duty to take all reasonably practicable steps to ensure your personal information is complete, accurate, not misleading and updated on a regular basis. To enable this, we will always endeavour to obtain personal information from you directly. Where we are unable to do so, we will make use of verifiable independent third-party data sources. You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information and have a choice whether or not to accept these terms and conditions. However, it is important to note that we require your acceptance to provide your medical treatment and care.

Your consent and acceptance 

You understand and accept that the Practice may process your personal information. We will do so in a manner that complies with the law. We will process your information for the following purposes:

  1. For the provision of health care services to you
  2. For the administration of your interactions with the Practice including but not limited to scheduling appointments, referrals to hospital and /or other healthcare professionals, procuring tests and diagnostic procedures, prescribing and dispensing medication, and the processing/payment of accounts, debt collection, etc
  3. For claim submissions to your medical scheme (where applicable) 
  4. For the provision of relevant information to a contracted third party who requires this information in order to provide a healthcare service to you 
  5. To share your personal information with external health administrators, managed care providers and other healthcare practitioners for them to assess or evaluate certain clinical information, in the event that you are subject to such a clinical assessment.
  6. To communicate or report to any state regulatory or any other governance body on any matter relating to your personal information that we are by law obliged to communicate and report on. Examples of when and how we will get and share your personal information include getting your personal information from other relevant sources, including other medical practitioners, contracted service providers; transferring your personal information outside the borders of the Republic of South Africa where appropriate, for example to administer international emergency treatment. 
  7. If a third party asks the Practice for any of your personal information, we will share it with them only if a) you have already given your consent for the disclosure of this information to that third party; or b) we have a legal or contractual duty to give the information to that third party. 
  8. The Practice will provide your personal information to any entity with whom you already have a relationship; or where you have applied for a product, service or benefit from such an entity. This information will be provided for the administration of your products or benefits with such entities. 

  9. To provide you with high-quality healthcare and ensure the operational efficiency of our practice, we utilize specialized third-party technical, marketing and IT service providers (including but not limited to IT consultants and software administrators). These service providers may, in the course of maintaining or optimizing our systems, have incidental access to our digital infrastructure, which contains patient records. We take the privacy of your sensitive information with the utmost seriousness. In accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA), we ensure that any such service provider is contractually bound as a ‘Data Operator.’ This means they are strictly required to:

    • Maintain the confidentiality of all patient information in perpetuity.

    • Use such information exclusively for the purpose of technical maintenance and support.

    • Implement rigorous security measures, including encryption and access controls, to prevent any unauthorized disclosure.

    • Adhere to our strict security protocols and immediately notify us of any security concerns.
      Your information is never sold, shared for marketing purposes, or disclosed to these providers for any reason other than the secure maintenance of our practice systems.

Your rights over your information 

You have the right to ask us to update, correct or delete your personal information, unless the law requires us to keep it. Where we cannot delete your personal information, we will take all practical steps to de-personalise it. Where this Practice is required by law to collect and keep personal information, we shall do so. At a minimum, this includes the following legislation: 1. Medical Schemes Act, 1998 2. The Consumer Protection Act, 2008 3. The Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 4. Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002 5. Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2002 The Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) The PAIA was passed to give effect to the constitutional right, held by everyone in South Africa, of access to information which is held by the State or by another person and which is required for the exercise or protection of any right. Where a request is made in terms of PAIA, the body to which the request is made, is obliged to give access to the requested information, except where the Act expressly provides that the information may or must not be released. It is important to note that PAIA recognises certain limitations to the right of access to information, including, but not exclusively, limitations aimed at the reasonable protection of privacy, commercial confidentiality, and effective, efficient and good governance, and in a manner which balances that right with any other rights, including such rights contained in the Bill of Rights in the Constitution. The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) was enacted in November 2013, to promote the protection of personal information processed by public and private bodies. POPIA amended certain provisions of PAIA, balancing the need for access to information against the need to ensure the protection of personal information. We will take all reasonable steps to confirm your identity before providing details of your personal information in respect of a formal request for such information. We are entitled to charge a fee for this service and will let you know what it is at the time of your request. 

Your right to complain 

If you believe that this Practice has used your personal information contrary to this Privacy Statement, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Regulator, under POPIA, but we encourage you to first contact the Practice via email to support@meridianhealth.co.za to resolve the complaint. If, thereafter, you feel that we have not resolved your complaint adequately, kindly contact the Information Regulator at JD House, 27 Stiemens Street, Braamfontein, Johannesburg or PO Box 31533, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, 2017.