Protecting your patient's privacy and confidentiality

It’s important to protect the privacy and confidentiality of your patient when sharing information with other parties during the workers compensation process.

Confidentiality of information

You will need to provide information relevant to your patient's work-related injury or illness to other relevant stakeholders as part of the workers compensation process.

Workers provide consent on the NSW workers compensation certificate of capacity for you to communicate with stakeholders involved in the management of their injury and claim.

This generally includes the employer, other treating practitioners, the insurer and workplace rehabilitation provider. It can also include an injury management consultant, the State Insurance Regulatory Authority (SIRA) or the Workers Compensation Commission (or an approved medical specialist).

A copy of a signed and dated consent to disclose relevant personal and health information to the party concerned is considered sufficient for the release of information.

Medical records requested by the insurer

You may receive a request to provide medical records relating to your patient. Visit the SIRA forms page to download the Workers injury claim form. This form contains an authority for the release of medical information relevant to their injury and claim.

This authority means that any person providing medical or hospital service to your patient in connection with their claim-related injury or condition will need to provide any information regarding the service relevant to the claim, upon request by SIRA or the insurer.

If you receive a request for information and are concerned about the right of that party to obtain sensitive information about your patient, you should establish that the request has been made with your patient's consent.

You may also, on occasion, be directed to provide medical records relating to a patient by the Workers Compensation Commission or Court.

Find out more about what you can claim for providing medical records 

Requests for information by the insurer

Insurers may ask you specific questions allowing provision of information that is succinct and relevant to the purpose of the request.

If you receive requests from the insurer for information you have already provided, remind the insurer when the information was provided and confirm that it can be located on file.

Similarly, if you receive a request for what you believe to be an excessive amount of information, contact the insurer to discuss the issue.

Find out how to contact the insurer