Platform Terms of Use - Callers and Guests 

Platform Terms of Use - Callers and Guests

1.  General

1.1 These Terms of Use apply to your use of and access to the healthdirect Video Call as established by Healthdirect Australia.

1.2 In these Terms of Use:

(A) Devolved Local Recording or DLR means a digital recording and stored file copy of an audio or video and audio consultation that has taken place between a clinician and patient on the healthdirect Video Call platform and which is held or stored by the Provider, not by Healthdirect Australia. The recording is recorded live during the consultation and no digital copy of the Devolved Local Recording is available on the platform post-consultation.

(B) Healthdirect Australia, we or us refers to Healthdirect Australia Limited (ABN 28 118 291 044).

(C) healthdirect Video Call means the suite of services, web-based management software and associated infrastructure provided by Healthdirect Australia designed to help health care providers offer video call access to their services as part of their day-to-day operations.

(D) Live Caption means Speech to Text technology that transcribes the speaker’s speech into text.

(E)Practitioner means each individual provides a consultation to you via the healthdirect Video Call platform.

(F) Provider means the health care provider that invites you to use healthdirect Video Call to access their services.

(G) Provider Website means the website or other interface which the Provider provides to you to access the Healthdirect Video Call.

(H) Waiting Area means a way for you to participate in video consultations with the Provider to access health care services. You will enter a Waiting Area via a button on the Provider Website, and wait in your own private video room until a health care provider is ready to join you.

(I) Video Room means a video room created for you as you enter a Waiting Area.

(J) You or your refers to each person who has been invited to and uses healthdirect Video Call including both callers and their guests who join the call.

2. Your Acceptance of these Terms of Use

2.1     These Terms of Use are legally binding on you and us. By using healthdirect Video Call, you are deemed to accept these Terms of Use which govern our relationship with you in relation to healthdirect Video Call.

2.2     We may modify or amend these Terms of Use by including a modified or amended version in the "Terms of Use" link when you access healthdirect Video Call via the Provider Website. You will be deemed to have agreed to any such modification or amendment by your use of healthdirect Video Call following the date in which the modified or amended Terms of Use are posted in the "Terms of Use" link.

2.3.     healthdirect Video Call is delivered using technology from our partners.  In order to use healthdirect Video Call, you may be required to agree to additional "Terms of Service" provided by those partners.  You agree that you will be responsible for reviewing and understanding those further terms, but that nothing in those terms or any other document limits your obligations under these Terms of Use, which prevail to the extent of any inconsistency.

3. Requirements for Healthdirect Video Call

3.1.     healthdirect Video Call requires your computer, telephone, internet access, device and associated equipment to meet certain technical levels (System Requirements) in order to receive the services. Healthdirect Australia takes no responsibility for problems associated with or arising from your inability to access or receive the services due to your equipment or internet speed not meeting the System Requirements.

3.2.     Use of healthdirect Video Call requires the use of a combination of hardware and browsers supported by Healthdirect Australia (Supported Environments). Details of the Supported Environments are set out in the Video Call Technical Guide accessible at: https://help.vcc.healthdirect.org.au/itstaff 

3.3.     Use of healthdirect Video Call requires the use of audio-visual peripherals (visual displays, web cameras microphones/speakers or headsets) that are compatible with your device and operational.

4. Your use of healthdirect Video Call

4.1.     You may only use healthdirect Video Call and access the Video Room in the Waiting Areas if you have been provided permission or have been invited by a Provider.

4.2.     You may be subject to additional terms of use in relation to the services provided via healthdirect Video Call by third parties. If you decide to use these services you will be responsible for reviewing and understanding the terms associated with these services.

4.3.     We reserve the right to terminate your access to healthdirect Video Call if you fail to comply with our Terms of Use

4.4.     Healthdirect Australia only provides access to healthdirect Video Call and takes no responsibility for any health or other services provided to you through the use of healthdirect Video Call.

4.5. Your Provider or the Practitioner is able to change the displayed name of the Practitioner on the Video Call interface.   If you wish to verify the identity of your Practitioner on a Video Call, you should contact the Provider directly. Healthdirect Australia is unable to assist with this.

4.6.    Your Provider may activate the Devolved Local Recording feature which allows your video consultation with a clinician via healthdirect Video Call to be recorded, subject to you providing your consent.

4.7.    A digital copy of the Devolved Local Recording will not be available on the healthdirect Video Call platform post-consultation as this will be stored locally by the Provider. Please therefore refer to the Provider’s privacy policy or collection statement for the purposes of accessing your Devolved Local Recording.

5. Live Caption Feature

5.1 Your Practitioner may activate the Live Caption feature which has been designed to improve accessibility and understanding for hearing-impaired patients during a video consultation. 

5.2 Live Caption uses a microphone to capture the user’s speech locally on the device being used for the Video Call consultation, and this is sent to a speech-to-text processing service through the browser version of the Web Speech API used for Live Caption. The resulting data is sent directly from the speech-to-text processing service back to the browser without passing through any intermediate server and is not logged or stored by healthdirect Video Call.

5.3 We cannot guarantee the accuracy of captioning of your video consultation using Live Caption.

5.4 If you are not clear about any part of the consultation using the Live Caption feature with healthdirect Video Call, you should seek clarification from your Practitioner using another method of communication (e.g., via chat or email) as soon as practicable.

6. Waiting area content

6.1 While you are waiting for your consultation to commence, you may be presented with content in the online waiting area (Waiting Area Content). 

6.2 The following terms apply for Waiting Area Content posted by your practitioner or Provider:

(A) this may be video content, an electronic form to fill in, an infographic or other similar items;

(B) this content is locally configured and provided by Your Practitioner or Provider; 

(C) we do not moderate or police such content and are not responsible for it; 

(D) if you have any concerns or are experiencing any technical issues in relation to such content, you should contact Your Practitioner or Provider directly. 

6.3 We may also post Waiting Area Content which will be clearly marked as Healthdirect Content. This may include video, text or audio content. if you have any concerns or are experiencing any technical issues in relation to such content, you should contact healthdirect Video Call support. 

7. MBS bulk billing during Video Call Consult

7.1 Your clinician may activate a Medicare Benefit Schedule (MBS) bulk billing form during a Video Call Consult to obtain your consent to bill the consultation to Medicare.

7.2 If any technical issues arise with the MBS Bulk Billing Feature, please contact Video Call support. Otherwise, please contact MBS Online or Services Australia in about MBS telehealth services or any other billing issue .

8. Disclaimers

8.1     Healthdirect Video Call is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis. We disclaim any warranties, express, implied or statutory, that may be expressed or implied by law which are capable of being contracted out of regarding Healthdirect Video Call, including warranties of accuracy, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. We further disclaim any warranties regarding the security, reliability, timeliness, availability and performance of healthdirect Video Call.

8.2.     Without limitation to section 5(a), we make no warranty regarding the ownership, continuation, suitability or fitness for use of third-party intellectual property used in healthdirect Video Call.

8.3.     We do not warrant that you will have continuous and uninterrupted access to healthdirect Video Call or that healthdirect Video Call will conform to any particular service levels or performance specifications.

8.4.     We do not warrant that healthdirect Video Call is free of any form of harmful or surreptitious code, virus or other contaminants. We do not accept any liability for any interference with, or damage to, your computer systems, infrastructure, software or data occurring in connection with healthdirect Video Call.

8.5.     healthdirect Video Call may contain links to other websites. You acknowledge and agree that we have no responsibility for the content or availability of the linked websites and we do not specifically endorse any organisation, association or entity referred to or linked from the healthdirect Video Call.

8.6.      You acknowledge that your use of healthdirect Video Call is entirely at your own discretion and risk and, to the extent permitted by law, we expressly exclude all liability for any loss, damage, expenses and costs incurred by you in accessing and using healthdirect Video Call, including but not limited to:

(A) use for a purpose for which it is not intended;

(B) the inability to obtain consistent, reliable and uninterrupted access to healthdirect Video Call;

(C) damage or interference to any piece of hardware, software, equipment or device installed on or used in connection with your use and access to healthdirect Video Call, or your internet data that arises in connection to your use of healthdirect Video Call, its content or any linked website.

8.7   You acknowledge that Healthdirect Australia has no liability to you in relation to:

(a) any Devolved Local Recording of a consultation between you and any clinician
(b) any errors in captioning that may occur in connection with the use of the Live Caption;
(c) any Medicare transactions relating to your Video Call consultation. 

9. Intellectual Property

9.1     healthdirect Video Call including (without limitation) all associated content, material text, graphics, information architecture and coding (including any copyright subsisting in them), is owned by us or licensed to us.

9.2     Nothing in these Terms of Use shall be deemed to grant you any right, title or interest in healthdirect Video Call.

9.3     You may access healthdirect Video Call where made available to you and only as permitted by these Terms of Use, but may not, subject to a use for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), modify, publish, transmit, distribute, participate in the transfer or sale, create derivative works, or in any way exploit healthdirect Video Call in whole or in part without the prior written permission of the owner of the material.

9.4     healthdirect Video Call may contain trade marks owned by us and third parties. You may not display or use in any manner any trade marks featured in healthdirect Video Call without the prior written permission of the trade mark owner.

10. Governing Law

Your use of healthdirect Video Call, and any dispute arising out of your use of healthdirect Video Call, is subject to the laws of New South Wales.

Video Call – Privacy Information

To access healthdirect Video Call, Healthdirect Australia may collect your first name, last name and your phone number. However, healthdirect Video Call does not require you to create an account or to disclose these details. You are able to use healthdirect Video Call anonymously, if that is permitted by the Provider.

Where a Provider does require you to supply your personal information to the Provider, or your consultation with a clinician is recorded as a Devolved Local Recording, this is governed by the Provider’s privacy statement. For more information, please ask your Provider.

We do not use, disclose or store any of the personal information you have provided prior to access of the healthdirect Video Call or any Devolved Local Recording. Any personal information you enter is deleted from our system following the end of your healthdirect Video Call session. This information is only used to identify you in the Waiting Area or Video Room or by the Provider during their services.

For further information on Healthdirect’s Privacy Policy please see  https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/privacy-policy.