Privacy and security in SCARD
As one of the first platforms to store medical records online, SCARD is committed to the privacy and security of your data.
As with other practice management platforms, the patients Name, DOB and Sex are entered into SCARD however this is only for your use in identifying the patient. Under no circumstance would the identifiable data be shared with any party and as the data is encrypted per-doctor, so no person has the ability to access the identifiable data.
A separate “de-identified” reference (the patient_uid) is used in a shared practice where patients may see several practitioners. Each practitioner would still need to provide these details individually as we do not share identifiable data across databases; nor can we read the patients name from the database as this is stored encrypted.
Within the reporting platform there is the de-identified pool of data that uses the patient_uid and removes the doctors identity. This is a manual ‘opt-in’ process and no data is taken automatically. The pool allows for practitioners to compare their individual results against their aggregated peers.
In the case of RACGP NREEC approved study, if the de-identified data includes your results or selected for further analysis then you will be contacted by us to see if you wish to be part of the study and facilitate an anonymous dialog between yourself and the RACGP NREEC panel.
Privacy, confidentiality and consent
Below is an excerpt from RACGP NREEC Project No. 07/009 annual report on data storage.
“Data stored on the central server is protected by multiple safeguards; such as individual databases for each user, unique encryption keys for each user and encryption of patient identity. Access to stored data by users is limited to their records only. Server level credentials for individual databases are not disclosed (including to the user). Below is an example of the format of data stored on the server. This is how patient identity would be presented, even to an administrator.”
How will you address patient informed consent forms?
3.3: As identifiable data is not accessible outside of the surgical audit, patient and practitioner informed consent forms are applicable when directed by the RACGP NREEC for research projects which utilise the data.
List all intended uses of the aggregated data other than those listed above
3.4: Aggregated data is not used outside the surgical audit except as specified by an approved project by the RACGP NREEC
List all intended users, third parties or organisation that will access the data
3.5: Aggregated data access:
- Identifiable data
– Identifiable data is NOT aggregated and remains accessible only by the respective General Practitioner. - De-identified data
– Only de-identified data is aggregated for statistical analysis.
– The General Practitioner elects to contribute and manually submit de-identified data.
– Statistical data displayed in a pre-defined report template is made available to participants for comparison against their own pre-defined report; NOT the individual de-identified records
– Only SCARD and bodies approved by the RACGP NREEC have access to the de-identified data for purposes approved by the RACGP NREEC; such as research projects.
– At this time no external bodies currently hold RACGP NREEC approval; nor are there any approved actives in progress.