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Record and Information Requests

Record and Information Requests

Throughout the course of service provision, DPV Health will collect information about individuals for the purpose of delivering excellent healthcare services. This information is known as a Health Record and follows the rules outlined within the Health Records Act 2001. DPV Health commits to ensuring that personal and sensitive health record information is kept safe and secure, and only accessed when strictly necessary.

The information below is here to guide and support people in making a request to access health record information from DPV Health.

Why might someone need to access a health record?

There are many reasons why someone might request all of or part of a health record, such as:

  • Transferring Health Record information to a new service provider
  • Retaining a copy of what was discussed with a healthcare clinician
  • Requesting a report from a GP outlining diagnosis and/or medical conditions
  • Information Sharing Entities under the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS) or Family Violence Information Sharing Scheme (FVISS) ensuring the safety of the community
  • Legal services and representation preparing for an upcoming matter
  • Subpoenas or Coroner requests

What does it cost?

Fees to access Health Information are capped by the Health Records Regulation 2023 and outline how much organisations can charge for providing access to Health Records.

A link to the current page with rates can be found here: https://hcc.vic.gov.au/public/health-records-individuals

To keep things simple and consistent, DPV Health charges for the time taken to provide a copy of a health record. This is because time spent responding to information requests is time that would otherwise be used to deliver healthcare services to the community. This allows DPV Health to respond to information requests without impacting on service delivery.

Table updated: 10/07/2024

Medical and Dental services $250/hr + $40.80 est.
All other services $125/hr + $40.80 est.

The above table should be used as an estimate only, please contact client.info@dpvhealth.org.au for a more specific quote for your individual request. Broader requests (e.g. “Provide all health records you have”) take more time to process and generally cost more than simple and more specific requests.

CISS and FVISS requests from Information Sharing Entities are never charged.

If you are unable to pay due to financial difficulties, you may apply for a fee waiver; please include this within your initial request.

How can I request information?

All information requests are to be sent to client.info@dpvhealth.org.au. This ensures information requests are forwarded through to the correct area of DPV Health to collate the required information and respond in a timely fashion. Information requests not e-mailed to this e-mail address may not be acted upon.

Frequently Asked Questions

As per the Health Records Act 2001, DPV Health will keep files for *7 years from the last date of service provided*. There are some exceptions to this, such as children’s files being kept until the child turns 25.

DPV Health will try to process all requests as quickly and timely as possible, and within the 45 days outline within the Health Record Act. Broader requests (e.g. “Provide all health records you have”) take longer to process than specific request (e.g. “Can I have the report from my Doctor from last Tuesday”). You will be provided a quote for the request and given the option to proceed or not. The information will be released once the invoice is paid and the funds have cleared.

No. DPV Health is an independent not-for-profit organisation and not considered to be a government organisation or public entity for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act.

In most cases, No, with some rare exceptions. These might include:

  • Records that are subpoenaed for legal proceedings
  • DPV Health are compelled to provide information to a regulator or governing body
  • Doing so is required to ensure the safety of a child or person escaping family violence (CISS and FVISS requests from information sharing entities)
  • Records are requested by the Coroner
  • Records are requested by parent of minor, advocate or medical power of attorney

Do you have any more questions?

1300 234 263

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