In the normal course of general medical practice, UltiMed Health Care (Dr Breeweg and Partner) needs to process patient information. We are committed to protecting your personal information and complying with legislation, including the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and the Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act.
POPI Act requires, inter alia, that you are informed about what information is collected, how it is processed and stored and for what purpose.
This includes ID or Passport numbers, contact details, next of kin and other family member details, marital status, medical aid details (including number, members and plan type), employer (if relevant) and the details of the person responsible for the account.
This information may also include, but is not limited to, other personal information that may be relevant to your health care, such as gender, sex, race, pregnancy status, disability, religion, matters of conscience, belief, culture, language, location, occupation, mental or physical health, travel history or ethnic or social origin.
This information relates to your health care and may include, but is not limited to, the following: medical notes, referral letters, pathology and radiology requests and reports, prescriptions sent to nominated pharmacies, correspondence with other medical professionals, diagnoses, treatment plans, sick notes, and records of allergies.
This includes ICD 10 codes (a legal requirement for medical aid claims), dates of consultations, patient name, applicable authorisation numbers and relevant procedure codes.
This includes insurance medical forms, immigration forms, Death Certification, and sundry forms where applicable and relevant, such as skipper’s licences, HSFA, NSRI, Occupational Health assessments and VWS forms.
This includes letters and emails relevant to your healthcare that you may send to the practice or a specific doctor, or letters related to your healthcare that we may send you.
Information is provided by patients as well as relatives (such as a spouse or parent) or by a legal guardian (in the case of a minor) or other legitimate informant (with the express permission of the patient, where possible).
Information is also obtained from appropriate clinical reports and clinical correspondence (for example, from a referring doctor or allied health professional).
Your personal, appointment, clinical, and billing information is securely processed and stored using Elixer Live and Health One, which are both reputable, password-protected software systems widely trusted by medical professionals. These platforms are designed to safeguard patient confidentiality while ensuring the secure management of clinical records and billing data. Your clinical notes are only visible to the doctors and the practice manager (for the purpose of relevant filing or administrative functions). Your billing and contact information are visible to reception staff, the doctors, the practice manager and Promed Billing Solutions (Outsourced Accounts Bureau).
Sometimes, especially after hours, correspondence takes place on the practice phone and may be stored on this. The practice phone is shared by the doctors and is password protected. Correspondence and stored contact details on the phone are erased from time to time when no longer relevant.
Emails and other correspondence are stored on password-protected computers. These are deleted from time to time when they are no longer relevant or required to be stored. Some important correspondence may be stored on the password-protected clinical note system.
Written correspondence and reports are filed and stored in a room that is locked when not in use. Where possible, written correspondence is scanned and stored in the password-protected clinical notes system. Hard copies are then destroyed if no longer needed or required.
Medical aids require ICD 10 codes, date of consultation, procedures charged for as well as any medical equipment billed. If you specifically do not want the information sent to the medical aid or recorded on the bill, please speak to your doctor at the end of the consultation, and they can bill you privately without submitting ICD 10 code. The main member of a medical aid account may receive the information processed on the account. Some medical aids e.g., Discovery Health, have care programs which require sharing of clinical information e.g., HealthID. You will be required to give your consent before this is allowed to happen, and you will be informed via SMS that permission has been given. Please familiarise yourself with your medical aid rules before granting this consent. Medical Aids will sometimes request/ require information from us regarding a specific claim or to register for chronic conditions or additional benefits e.g., sports benefit or Extended Care Program or COVID WHO funding.
Applications e.g., Life or Disability insurance require confidential sharing of reports with the relevant Insurance company. Please remember that when you apply for insurance, there is standard consent to disclose relevant clinical information as a part of the application, and the application will not be processed without consent. Sometimes Insurance companies will request further medical history or summaries where necessary for the application to be processed. Please speak to your broker about this if you have any queries.
Your billing and related personal information is securely processed through Elixer Live, a trusted electronic switching platform used by healthcare providers. In the event of non-payment exceeding 90 days, your information may be shared with LexMed, a registered debt collection agency, for the purpose of recovering outstanding amounts in accordance with legal and ethical standards.
In line with POPIA and other applicable legislation, UltiMed Health Care may disclose specific patient information or documentation to third parties only when legally mandated or where the patient has provided explicit written consent. These disclosures are strictly limited to legitimate purposes and authorised entities, which may include (but are not limited to):
Such disclosures are handled with the highest degree of confidentiality and in accordance with the patient’s rights under the POPIA framework.
Sick notes are governed by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), labour law, and the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). A valid sick note must include the patient’s and doctor’s names, the doctor’s qualifications and registration details, the date of consultation, the period booked off, and any special provisions. A diagnosis is generally not required. In some cases, employers may contact the issuing doctor to verify the authenticity of the note.
In the case of Occupational Health assessments, some clinical information may be required by or shared with the employer or a regulating authority. Please talk to your employer and the doctor involved for more clarity on what will and will not be shared in this instance.
While you have the right to access and request corrections to your personal health information, this right is subject to specific professional and legal limitations as stipulated by the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) and other applicable regulations. These include:
UltiMed Health Care adheres strictly to these legal and ethical requirements to ensure patient safety, medico-legal compliance, and the integrity of your medical records.
We are committed to managing your personal information responsibly. In general, we retain records only for as long as they are relevant to your care or required by law. Where permitted, and once records are no longer needed for medical, legal, or administrative purposes, we take appropriate steps to securely dispose of or anonymize them. This process is carried out in accordance with applicable legislation and best practices to ensure the continued protection of your personal information.
If you are relocating or changing healthcare providers, you have the right to request that your medical notes or a summary of your records be transferred to a new nominated practice or registered healthcare practitioner of your choice. F. YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO KEEP YOUR INFORMATION UPDATED. You have the responsibility to inform UltiMed Health Care if any of your information needs updating, such as a change in contact information or medical aid details, relevant clinical information from other medical professionals or personal information, e.g., marital status or telephone number.
Please check with the receptionists that the information we have is correct, especially telephone numbers and email address (check our spelling, please)
If you have any concerns or complaints about how your information is obtained, processed, stored or used, please raise these with your doctor or the Practice Manager.
If you are not satisfied that your concerns have been dealt with adequately, please direct correspondence to the UltiMed Health Care Information Officer, and we will attempt to address your concerns and communicate our actions to you.
UltiMed Health Care Information Officer:
Mr. W Bester – werner@ultimedhealth.co.za
Formal complaints can be directed at: The Information Regulator at www.justice.gov.za/inforeg/