Privacy Policy — Fast Tracking Anaesthetic Billing Services

Effective date: 27 February 2026
Last reviewed: 27 February 2026

Fast Tracking Anaesthetic Billing Services (“FTABS”, “we”, “us”, “our”) provides anaesthetic billing and administrative support services to anaesthetists and related healthcare providers. In delivering these services, we may handle personal information and, where relevant, health information.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, hold, use, disclose, store, and protect information, and how you can access or correct it or make a complaint.

1) Scope and commitment

We are committed to protecting privacy and handling information responsibly. This policy applies to information we handle in the course of providing billing and administrative services (including via phone, email, and customer support systems).

We review this policy at least annually and sooner if our operations, systems, technology (including automation tools), or legal requirements change, to ensure it reflects how we actually operate.

2) Definitions

Personal information: information about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable (e.g., name, contact details, Medicare number).
Health information: sensitive information about a person’s health or healthcare that may be included in billing-related documentation or administrative records.

3) What information we collect and hold

Depending on how you interact with us and the services we provide, we may collect and hold:

A) Patient/consumer information

• Name, date of birth, address, phone number, email
• Medicare and/or DVA details (where relevant to billing)
• Private health insurance details and membership numbers (where relevant)
• Billing and payment information (invoices, claim status, receipts, payment arrangements)
• Information needed to respond to account enquiries and verify identity

B) Billing/episode-related information (may include health information)

• Provider details, facility details, dates of service, item numbers, and other billing-relevant information supplied by the engaged anaesthetist/practice/hospital and used for billing administration
• Billing system records (MediTrust): We store and manage billing administration records in MediTrust, which may include patient identifiers, service dates, item numbers, invoice/claim status, and payment history, to the extent required to provide billing services.

C) Enquiries and communications

• Email correspondence, phone call notes, and customer support tickets
• Records of requests for access/correction or privacy complaints

D) Website/technical information (if applicable)

• Basic usage and security logs (e.g., IP address, time of access) for maintaining system security

4) How we collect information

We may collect information:

• From the anaesthetist/practice/hospital that engages us, and from systems they use for billing administration
• Directly from patients/consumers when they contact us about an account
• From third parties involved in billing/claims processes (e.g., private health funds, Medicare/DVA, payment providers) where required or authorised

5) Why we collect, use and disclose information

We collect, use and disclose information for billing administration and compliance purposes, including:

• Preparing and issuing accounts, processing payments, and managing billing enquiries
• Claims processing and reconciliation (where relevant)
• Quality assurance, staff training, and service improvement (de-identified where practicable)
• Managing our operations and meeting legal, regulatory, audit, and insurer obligations
• Protecting our systems and preventing fraud or unauthorised access

We generally only use and disclose information for the primary purpose it was collected, or a related purpose you would reasonably expect, unless otherwise required or authorised by law.

6) Authority and consent (how this works in a billing service)

FTABS acts as a billing and administrative service provider. In most cases:

• We receive information from the anaesthetist/practice/hospital that engaged us as part of lawful healthcare administration and billing functions.
• If you contact us directly, we collect only what is necessary to verify identity and respond to your enquiry, manage payment arrangements, or resolve billing issues.

Where express consent is required for a secondary purpose (for example, direct marketing, research involving identifiable data, or training AI models using personal information), we will seek it.

7) Anonymity and pseudonymity

Where practicable, individuals may have the option of not identifying themselves or using a pseudonym when dealing with us. However, in billing and healthcare administration contexts, it is usually not practical to handle enquiries anonymously because we must verify identity to protect privacy and process accounts correctly.

If you request anonymity or pseudonymity, we will consider the request, but we may require identification where it is impracticable or legally required.

8) Who we disclose information to

We may disclose information to the extent necessary for billing administration and compliance, including:

• The anaesthetist/practice that engaged us
• Hospitals/day facilities (for reconciliation or account queries)
• Medicare and/or DVA (where applicable) and private health funds/insurers (where relevant)
• Payment providers and banks (to process payments)
• Debt recovery providers (where instructed, lawful, and appropriate)
• Our professional advisers (e.g., insurers, accountants, lawyers)
• MediTrust (billing platform) and associated technical support providers (to the extent necessary to store, process, and manage billing administration records)
• IT and support service providers who host or support our systems
• Telecommunications and voice service providers (including SIP trunking providers) for inbound/outbound calls, call routing, and service continuity.

We take reasonable steps to ensure third parties we engage handle information appropriately (including confidentiality and security expectations).

9) Overseas storage and disclosure

We use a mix of Australia-based systems and cloud services.

Australia-based storage

• Billing platform (MediTrust): We store billing administration records in MediTrust, which (based on MediTrust’s published information) hosts its servers in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Overseas storage / overseas disclosure

We are likely to disclose personal information to overseas recipients through the use of cloud-based systems used for customer support and administration.

• Customer support platform (LiveAgent): LiveAgent may host or process service data in data centres located in the United States, Europe, and Asia (depending on customer configuration and service architecture). Our LiveAgent environment is configured to store/process customer support data in the United States (currently Virginia, North America).
• Telecommunications/voice services: We use telecommunications and voice service providers (including SIP trunking) to enable inbound and outbound calls. These providers may process call-related information such as phone numbers, call timing/duration, and routing data and may store or process this information in Australia and/or overseas depending on service configuration and network architecture.

Where we disclose personal information overseas, we take reasonable steps to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place and that overseas handling is consistent with Australian privacy requirements.

We will update this section if our LiveAgent data-centre region changes.

10) Research, quality improvement, education and training

We may use information for internal service improvement, staff training, and quality assurance, de-identified where practicable.

If we ever participate in research that requires identifiable information, we will seek express consent and ensure appropriate approvals and privacy requirements are met.

11) Direct marketing

We do not use patient information for direct marketing.

If this position changes, we will only use personal information for direct marketing with express consent and will provide a clear opt-out mechanism.

12) Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation

We may use limited automation tools to streamline administrative workflows (for example, ticket routing or template responses).

Where we use AI or automation:

• Human review applies before actions are taken or records are relied upon
• We do not use automated decision-making to make decisions that affect individual rights without human review
• We do not use personal information to train or develop AI models unless we have obtained express consent

13) Data quality

We take reasonable steps to ensure the information we hold is accurate, complete, up to date, and relevant. If you believe information is incorrect, please contact us and we will address it.

14) Data security and retention

We take reasonable steps to protect information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure. These steps include governance, staff training, access controls, and appropriate ICT and security measures.

We retain information in accordance with applicable legal and professional obligations. When information is no longer required for the purposes it was collected and relevant minimum retention periods have passed, we will securely destroy it or de-identify it as appropriate.

15) Access to and correction of information

You may request access to your personal information and request corrections.

To request access or corrections:

1. Contact our Privacy Officer in writing (email is acceptable).
2. We may ask you to verify your identity before releasing information.
3. We will respond within 30 days, where practicable.

A small fee may apply to cover reasonable administrative costs (but you will not be charged for making the request).

16) Privacy enquiries and complaints

If you have questions, concerns, or want to make a privacy complaint, please contact:

Privacy Officer: Practice Manager / Privacy Officer
Fast Tracking Anaesthetic Billing Services
Postal: 97 Forest St, Bendigo VIC 3550
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 03 5323 0275

We will acknowledge your complaint and work with you to resolve it.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

17) Updates to this policy

This policy was last updated on 27 February 2026. We review this privacy policy at least annually, or when there are changes to operations, legislation, or relevant technology. Significant changes may be communicated via our website or by other appropriate means.