How we maintain confidentiality between patients and practitioners

We understand how important confidentiality is for healthcare practitioners, which is why we pride ourselves on keeping information confidential when answering calls from patients. 

What is patient confidentiality?

Patient confidentiality is a principle that essentially outlines that a medical practitioner cannot disclose any personal information given by their patient. 

Patient confidentiality is enforced by the Health Practitioners Council of South Africa. The National Health Act (Act No. 61 of 2003) states that all patients have a right to

confidentiality and this is consistent with the right to privacy in the South African

Constitution (Act No. 108 of 1996).

This law also protects the patient by ensuring that the practitioner or their employees don’t take advantage and use the information for their own gain. For example, without this law, patient information could easily be sold to companies for advertising purposes. If you are diagnosed with diabetes, for example, your information could be sold to companies that produce diabetes medication. 

With this law, patient information, medical records, history and other information are safe and cannot be shared. 

What are some examples of confidential information? 

• Name, date of birth, age, sex, and address
• Current contact details  
• Bank information
• Medical history or records
• Personal care issues
• Service records and file progress notes
• Assessments or reports

What are the benefits of maintaining patient confidentiality?

Aside from complying with the law, privacy is fundamental in building trust between the patient and their doctor. When there is trust, patients are more willing to share information that may help their practitioner with diagnosis and treatment. 

If a client’s information were to be shared, it would not only be a breach of privacy but could potentially result in the loss of patients for a practitioner. 

Patient Confidentiality and Third Party Vendors

When a practitioner hires a virtual assistant, the idea is to make life easier for them and improve the overall patient experience. 

They might feel that there is no guarantee that the virtual assistant will maintain client confidentiality, especially considering that a virtual PA is an outsourced service and privacy policies are not easily enforced. 

This is why it is important for medical practitioners to hire virtual PA companies that know the importance of keeping crucial information private and have developed a specific policy for virtual assistants. 

To find out more about our company and the steps we implement to secure your patients’ confidentiality, give us a call at 087 135 0138 or email info@thethaconnect.co.za. You can also complete our contact form!

Thetha Connect and Patient Privacy

Thetha Connect adheres to strict guidelines regarding patient confidentiality. Our agents are highly trained and we maintain the highest standard of care for patient information and medical records, so you can rest assured that your patient information is safe. We are fully compliant with all international data security and privacy laws.

As for the medical practitioner themselves, we have strategies in place to ensure that their personal information is protected too, such as their private cell phone number. This ensures that their patient’s calls get transferred to dedicated telephone lines and that the medical practitioner only receives calls relating to their services. 

There are loads of virtual PA companies out there, but not all are reputable. When choosing your virtual assistant, you should do your research and check the legitimacy of their work. Make sure that you check their references or testimonials, their background and how reliable they are. 

Take a look at our website to see how we can help you free up your time and secure more patient bookings.