Pro Health Care’s group of practices have been using a third party online booking system through Health Engine for some time now. It is our view that Health Engine provide a far more superior user experience and integration with our internal booking systems compared to other products on the market. However, recent media attention related to accusations about Health Engine’s use of confidential information has forced us to review our relationship with Health Engine. At this point in time, we do not see enough evidence in the basis of these accusations to warrant any concern for a breach of our patient’s confidentiality. We have however expressed some concerns about the Health Engine platform and in particular, the relationship to third party advertisers within the platform. We have asked Health Engine to consider making some changes to this end and would like to share with you a position statement on behalf of Health Engine. Please note that we are in no way affiliated with Health Engine and we will continue to review their product to ensure that it provides the best experience for our patients in an ethical and confidential manner.
Health Engine Position Statement
Our Commitment
Here at HealthEngine, we’re committed to providing the highest standards of care and confidentiality, and in light of recent media reports, we’d like to reassure you that the management of our users’ health and personal information is a responsibility we don’t take lightly.
We can assure you that, under no circumstance, was the health and personal information of Health Engine users ever shared with third parties for referral purposes without their express consent.
As part of referral and advertising arrangements we previously had in place with a range of industry partners, including government, not for profit, medical research, private health insurance and other health service providers, users had the choice to receive relevant and timely information about certain products and services.
Users were able to elect to have their details provided to third parties for referral purposes by an express opt in or verbal consent.
- Referrals did not occur without express consent of the user. This consent was separate from, and additional to, any acceptance by the user of our privacy policy and collection notices. At no time did we seek to rely on the general provisions of our privacy policy or collection notice to permit the disclosure of personal information for referral purposes.
- Users could still use our booking services without agreeing to be referred to a third party service provider.
These value-added services aimed to help users along their healthcare journey.
We’re listening, we’re learning and we’re making changes
Patients and healthcare practices have always been at the heart of our business and their trust is our highest priority. But, after listening to our users, we’ve set in motion a number of major changes at HealthEngine to increase transparency and build trust.
To improve the user experience on the HealthEngine platform, while still keeping in line with our mission to create a connected healthcare ecosystem, we’ve:
- Ceased our third party referral and display advertising services
- Ceased the publication of user comments as part of our Practice Recognition System
We sincerely hope that by taking these steps and being more open to feedback and learning, we can build trust, deliver a better HealthEngine user experience and continue to improve the healthcare experience of millions of Australians.