1800MEDICARE (GP) collection notice

This notice outlines how Healthdirect Australia Ltd will collect, use, protect and share your information when you engage with the 1800MEDICARE (GP) service, including where artificial intelligence (AI) note-taking tools are used during your consultation.

Healthdirect Australia Ltd collects and uses personal and health information to provide you with 1800MEDICARE (GP) services, including facilitating your access to healthcare. Additionally, 1800MEDICARE (GP) is a call-back service that requires you to provide identifying details to access the service. You will not be able to receive this service if you choose to remain anonymous or provide a pseudonym.

We generally collect this information directly from you. If you provide consent, the GP will collect relevant information from your My Health Record during your consultation.

On occasion we may collect information about you from persons or sources other than yourself (for example, a family member or authorised representative that is assisting you).

If you do not provide this information, we may only be able to provide limited healthcare services to you.

During your consultation, your GP may use an AI-generated note-taking tool to transcribe and generate clinical documentation. The tool listens to your consultation in real time and produces draft clinical notes, which are reviewed and approved by your GP before being saved to your health record.

Your consent to AI note-taking is voluntary. You can choose not to use the AI note-taking tool at any time, before your consultation or during it, and this will not affect the quality of care you receive. If you change your mind during your consultation, tell your GP and the AI note-taker will be stopped immediately. Your GP will continue to document your consultation manually.

What the AI note-taker does:

• Captures the audio of your consultation and converts it into a written transcript using speech recognition and natural language processing technology.
• Generates a draft clinical note summarising key health information discussed during your consultation.

What the AI note-taker does not do:

• It does not make clinical decisions about your health, diagnosis, treatment or care.
• It does not replace your GP's clinical judgement. Your GP is always responsible for the accuracy of your health record.
• It does not record or analyse video. Only the audio component of your consultation is processed by the AI tool.

Your GP always reviews, edits (where necessary), and approves all AI-generated content before it becomes part of your clinical record. The AI is a clinical documentation support tool only and it does not operate autonomously.

Which AI tools do we use?

We use one of the following two Australian AI note-taking tools, both of which are purpose-built for healthcare:

• Heidi Health
• Lyrebird Health

Both are Australian companies bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). We have formal contractual arrangements in place with each provider to ensure your information is managed securely and in accordance with applicable privacy obligations.

When you use 1800MEDICARE (GP), we may collect the following types of information:

• your name and date of birth
• socio-demographic information, such as your age and sex, dependants, occupation and postcode
• contact details, such as your address, email address and phone number
• sensitive health information about your illnesses, symptoms you have experienced, any disabilities or other health services you are receiving or are to be provided in the future, or any medications that you may be taking, and where clinically relevant, sensitive information about your ethnic background or sexual practices
• government-issued identifiers such as your Medicare number, Veteran Card details, and other healthcare identifiers
• recordings of your audio and video calls which we retain as part of your health record
• audio recordings and AI-generated transcripts of your consultation, used solely for clinical documentation purposes.

If you do not wish to have your audio or video consultation recorded, please tell our staff as soon as possible. You can also ask your GP not to use the AI note-taking tool during your consultation. Choosing not to have your consultation recorded or not to use the AI note-taking will not affect the quality of care you receive.

Your information is primarily used to provide you with 1800MEDICARE (GP) services, including helping us deliver healthcare and facilitate your access to care.

We may also use your information for related internal purposes, such as quality assurance, service improvement and staff training.

We may use your contact details to invite you to provide feedback about your experience with the 1800MEDICARE (GP). This helps us understand how our services are performing and where improvements can be made.

If selected, you may:

• receive an SMS survey, or
• be invited to remain on the line after your interaction with 1800MEDICARE (including GP services) to complete a survey.

Participation is voluntary, and you may choose not to take part or opt out of receiving feedback requests at any time.

Feedback is generally used in a de-identified or aggregated form for service monitoring, reporting and improvement activities. Any identifying information used to send survey invitations is handled securely and kept separate from survey responses.

If AI-generated transcripts or notes are created during your consultation, they are used only to support your GP to prepare accurate clinical records. Your GP reviews and approves this information before it is saved to your health record. These records are not used to train AI models and are not shared with third parties for commercial purposes unless you separately and expressly agree. AI-generated transcripts may be used for secondary purposes directly related to the provision of your healthcare, such as quality assurance, clinical evaluation and clinical governance review. Any such use is conducted securely and in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988, our contractual obligations and existing internal processes.

We may disclose your personal and health information in the following circumstances:

• To our AI scribing technology providers, Heidi Health and Lyrebird Health, so they can process consultation audio and generate draft clinical notes on behalf of your GP. Both are Australian companies bound by the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). We have contractual arrangements in place with each provider to ensure your information is managed securely and in accordance with applicable privacy obligations.
• With your consent, a summary of your 1800MEDICARE (GP) consultation may be sent to you by SMS or provided to your nominated GP.
• A summary of your consultation may also be uploaded to your My Health Record. If you do not want your summary uploaded, please tell our staff as soon as possible.
• As required or authorised by law, including where necessary to lessen or prevent a serious threat to life, health or safety, or in response to lawful requests by regulatory bodies, courts or law enforcement agencies.

Healthdirect has an obligation to ensure that the personal and sensitive information that you provide is appropriately protected from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure.

• Audio and video recordings: These recordings are stored securely by Healthdirect in accordance with our data retention obligations.
• AI scribing: Where AI scribing is used, your consultation audio is temporarily processed to generate clinical notes. Once the notes are generated, the audio is deleted and is not permanently stored. Clinical notes are encrypted during processing and transmission and are approved by your GP before being saved to your health record.
• Access controls and encryption: Only your GP and authorised clinical staff can access your consultation notes. All information is encrypted both in transit and at rest using industry-standard security methods.

All data is hosted within Australia in compliance with Australian data sovereignty requirements.

You have the right to:

• Decline AI scribing — just tell your GP during the consultation. Choosing not to use the AI note-taker will not affect your care in any way.
• Access your health records, including AI-generated clinical notes, under Australian privacy law. Contact us to request access.
• Request correction: If you believe any information we hold about you is inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date, you can ask us to correct it.
• Make a complaint: If you have concerns about how your information has been handled, you can contact us at support@healthdirect.org.au.

Our Privacy Policy for members of the public explains in more detail how we process personal information, including how you can access or correct information we hold about you and how to contact us.