Clinic Policies
Please read TBO's clinic policies. You will be asked to review and sign to agree to them before attending your appointment.
Informed Consent
About
It is important that you fully comprehend the overall benefit vs risk of osteopathic treatment. Your osteopath will always formulate the safest treatment and management plan. There are, however, some points you need to be aware of before you consent to treatment, to be aware of during treatment and after treatment ends.
Most treatment is quite comfortable, but on occasion can cause discomfort/pain during the treatment and for approximately 24-48hrs following. You will always be asked to give an indication of your level of discomfort/pain and can stop treatment at any time for any reason
It is common to experience of after-effects of treatment, or, transient side effects. These may include a mild increase in pain and/or other symptoms, tiredness or fatigue, mild headache, or tenderness/bruising. You will be informed what transient side-effects you may expect and can discuss this with your osteopath further if you have any questions.
Spinal Manipulation
By law your osteopath is obliged to warn you of the material risk of spinal manipulation. The most common side effects of manipulation are transient side effects, previously outlined in this document. It is extremely rare, however, manipulation to the spine may cause potentially permanent injury, notably in the cervical spine (neck).
In the neck, manipulation may cause damage to local blood vessels, producing a stroke or stroke-like symptoms. Damage to the neck and other spinal regions may occur to musculature, ligaments or spinal discs that may cause damage to nerves.Your osteopath can discuss manipulation further if you have any questions, and it will only be performed with expressed verbal consent prior to doing so.
Dry Needling
Dry needling may be incorporated in to your treatment. Dry needling uses short, thin medical needles to relieve soft tissue tension by inserting them in the required muscle. Dry needling can produce some pain during/after and may leave some bruising/discolouration. Your osteopath can discuss dry needling further if you have any questions, and will it only be performed with expressed verbal consent prior to doing so.
Cancellations
The Bridport Osteo asks out of respect that you give at least 12-hours notice of a reschedule/cancellation of an appointment. This is so to give enough time to re-fill the appointment. Short notice will be accepted under extenuating circumstances, however, repeat offenders will be asked to pay a $50 cancellation fee to cover 50% of the treatment cost.
Privacy
Handling of your personal information
Your personal information will only be handled with written consent and in accordance to Commonwealth and Tasmanian State law.
You are entitled to full disclosure about what personal information is being held by The Bridport Osteo; how and under what circumstances it may be disclosed; and how it is stored. You will always be informed when consent is required for these purposes.
Collection, use, and disclosure of your health information
Any health information collected by The Bridport Osteo is completely confidential. Osteopaths are required, under law, to keep clinical records. Information about your medical and family health history is needed to provide accurate diagnoses and appropriate treatment and management strategies.
Only information relevant to your health will be collected, either directly from you or with your consent. Occasionally, health information must be sought out/received from third-parties (eg. imaging reports or medical results) and it will be disclosed if this occurs.
Information may occasionally be provided to Medicare, MAIB, DVA and other private health funds, where relevant, for the purposes of reporting, billing and rebates. This information is usually not in-depth, but will depend on the requirements of the agency; patients agree to this sharing under those schemes, but you will be informed if this occurs.
Health practitioners can be obliged to disclose information under legal order (eg. subpoena or mandatory reporting).
Medical information is required to be held securely for 7 years after your last consult, or, if the patient is a minor, 25 years of age. All information gathered by The Bridport Osteo is held within Cliniko - a cloud-based medical admin software designed for the safe collecting and holding of medical information. When paper-based copies of information is obtained it will be uploaded to this platform, with the paper form being destroyed.
Accessing your information
You have the right to view or receive a copy your own personal and health information, in part or full. You are not obliged to give a reason, however, may be asked what extent of the information you would like. You may also request your information to be made available to another health provider. A request in writing from the patient will be required.