HealthLink Health Information Privacy Notice

This Health Information Privacy Notice explains how HealthLink handles health information transmitted through our secure digital health communication systems in Australia. This notice applies to health information exchanged between authorised healthcare providers, insurers, government bodies, and other approved organisations using HealthLink services.

1. Lawful Purpose for Exchanging Health Information
HealthLink enables the secure exchange of health information to support approved healthcare and administrative workflows used by authorised organisations in Australia. Health information is exchanged only when necessary for purposes such as clinical referrals, reporting, claims processing, care coordination, and other healthcare related activities.

2. Provider Responsibilities for Authority to Share Health Information
HealthLink does not collect health information directly from individuals. Instead, we provide the secure infrastructure through which information is transmitted. Healthcare providers using HealthLink systems are responsible for ensuring they have appropriate authority to share health information, including patient consent where required or other lawful authority consistent with their professional and regulatory obligations.

3. Health Information Transmitted Through HealthLink Systems
Examples of information exchanged through HealthLink services include:
– referral details
– clinical documents such as consultation notes or discharge summaries
– diagnostic or laboratory data relevant to a patient’s care
– Insurance or publicly funded healthcare claims information required to support billing or reimbursement
The specific information transmitted depends on the workflow used by the healthcare provider.

4. Responsibilities for Accuracy and Error Handling
Healthcare providers are responsible for ensuring that health information submitted through HealthLink systems is accurate, complete, and up to date. If errors occur within transmitted information, providers must correct these at the source system and reissue or update the relevant data. HealthLink supports the secure delivery of messages but is not responsible for the clinical accuracy or content of the information exchanged.

5. How HealthLink Protects Information During Transmission
HealthLink systems are designed to safeguard health information during transmission. This includes the use of encryption, strong authentication and access controls, secure network infrastructure, monitoring and logging, incident response practices, and compliance with recognised security standards.

6. When Information May Be Shared with Government Agencies
Some workflows require the secure exchange of health information with authorised Australian government or public health agencies involved in healthcare funding, oversight, or administration. Information is shared only where this supports an approved healthcare purpose and only with organisations that are authorised to receive it.

7. Limitations on Secondary Use of Health Information
HealthLink does not use health information for secondary purposes such as marketing, profiling, or unrelated analytics. Health information exchanged through HealthLink systems is used solely to support the clinical or administrative workflow for which it was transmitted. Any data used to support service improvement is processed in a way that excludes personal information.