Media Release: Privacy Commissioner makes health related determinations

View printable version of this page

11 February 2005

The Privacy Commissioner, Karen Curtis, today announced that she has made two health related determinations. These determinations are made under section 80A and section 80B(3) of the Privacy Act 1988. The determinations have effect from 10 February 2005 and expire on 9 February 2006.

The determinations were made in response to an application from a general practitioner who was concerned that accessing the Information Service provided by the Health Insurance Commission (HIC) under its Prescription Shopping Project may have been in breach of elements of the National Privacy Principles of the Privacy Act.

"These determinations will allow Doctors to collect health information about some patients, without their consent, from the HIC's Information Service. The information being collected from the Service may be critical in informing clinical judgement in the treatment of some patients. Without these determinations the collection of this information without consent may have left the Doctors potentially in breach of the Privacy Act" said the Commissioner.

The Health Insurance Commission has developed an Information Service to disclose, on request, certain health information about some individuals to prescribed organisations, such as doctors. This information relates to whether an individual has been identified by the Health Insurance Commission under its Prescription Shopping Project as a 'prescription shopper'. If necessary, information is disclosed to the doctor about medications prescribed to the individual under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).

The Commissioner said, "I expect that in the majority of cases a doctor will seek the consent of their patients before collecting health information from the HIC's Information Service. In many circumstances this will be entirely viable and appropriate. This view was supported by information provided by the Doctor making the application."

"The Doctor also advised that there is a small group of individuals who may be unwilling to give their consent, even though the information held by the HIC's Information Service could be critical in treating them," said the Commissioner.

"In considering the application for the determinations and the need for an urgent decision, I was satisfied of the significant public interest in enabling doctors to collect health information from the Information Service without consent in certain circumstances. I considered that this outweighed to a substantial degree the public interest in doctors adhering to National Privacy Principle 10 in the Privacy Act when collecting this information," said the Commissioner.

"The central public interest objective being served by this determination is the provision of quality health care to the individual and ultimately good public health outcomes for the community. The collection of this health information can immediately and directly affect the health care of some individuals in a beneficial way," said Ms Curtis.

"These are temporary determinations for a period of 12 months. During this period, I will consider further the application for an on-going public interest determination under section 72 of the Privacy Act," said the Commissioner.

The determinations and background information about them is available @ http://www.privacy.gov.au/act/publicinterest/index.html#3

Background Information

The health information collected by the Applicant from the HIC's Information Service may be used to assist with clinical decisions about individuals who are suspected of using PBS medicines in excess of their therapeutic need.

The Information Service only discloses information about individuals identified under the Prescription Shopping Project (i.e. those suspected of being prescribed PBS medicines in excess of therapeutic need). It does not disclose the PBS history of all Australians to their doctors.

In making these determinations, the Privacy Commissioner is satisfied that:

1. The act or practice in question breaches, or may breach National Privacy Principle 10 (NPP 10), which regulates the collection of health information by private sector organisations such as general practitioners and other private doctors;
2. The public interest in the Applicant and other relevant organisations doing the act or practice (i.e. collecting health information from the HIC's Information Service) outweighs to a substantial degree the public interest in adhering to NPP 10. The Privacy Commissioner is satisfied that a small number of individuals may receive PBS medicines in excess of therapeutic need and may be unwilling to provide accurate information about their history of PBS medicines to their doctors, or be unwilling to consent to their doctors obtaining this information from other reliable sources, such as the HIC. This information may be needed to make clinical decisions, and its absence may pose immediate and direct risks to these individuals; and
3. The application raises issues that require an urgent decision, as currently the health of some individuals may be at risk.

The Privacy Commissioner notes that the Applicant and other relevant organisations still need to meet their other obligations under the Privacy Act when collecting and handling personal information from the Information Service, including taking reasonable steps to tell individuals that their information will be collected or has been collected.

Also, the information collected from the Information Service must be treated securely and must not be used or disclosed for other purposes. Individuals have a general right to be able to access personal information collected about them.

The Privacy Commissioner notes that the HIC has started communication strategies to ensure there is adequate awareness of the Information Service in the general community.

Further information about the HIC's Prescription Shopping Project Information Service can be obtained from www.hic.gov.au.