Quality and Safety Pharmacy Program (QSPP) Patient-Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) and Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs)

1. Patient Collection Notice

The technology provider engaged by your pharmacy, collects survey responses to help your pharmacy, the Quality and Safety Pharmacy Program (QSPP) and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia (PGA) understand patient experiences and outcomes and improve community pharmacy services.

Your survey responses and relevant personal information, such as your name, contact information, demographic details, records of your consent, privacy and preferences details, will be collected by your pharmacy’s technology provider and securely shared with QSPP. This information may be used to administer the program, manage patient feedback and support appropriate clinical or service follow-up.

Your personal information will be stored and handled by your pharmacy, its technology provider, QSPP and PGA in accordance with this notice and the Privacy Policy linked below. Your pharmacy’s authorised personnel may use survey responses which identify you to contact you where appropriate about health, patient safety or service-related concerns.

In addition, QSPP and PGA may use de-identified information for reporting, analysis, evaluation, benchmarking and continuous quality improvement across the Australian community pharmacy sector. They may share de-identified or aggregated information with government, research or other QSPP partners to support pharmacy-level, sector-wide and national reporting, benchmarking, evaluation and quality improvement. This use of information, in addition to any other reporting outside your pharmacy, will not identify you.

Participation is voluntary. By selecting to participate in the survey, you consent to the collection and use of your information as described here. Choosing not to participate will not affect your care or access to pharmacy services.

You may opt out of future PREMs and PROMs survey invitations from your pharmacy at any time by following the opt-out instructions supplied with the invitation or by contacting your pharmacy. This opt-out applies only to that pharmacy; other participating pharmacies may still invite you to complete a survey. Opting out will not affect the care or services you receive.

For further details, including access, correction and privacy complaints, https://qspp.com/privacy-prems-proms

2. Privacy Policy

About this policy

The Quality and Safety Pharmacy Program (QSPP) uses Patient-Reported Experience Measures (PREMs) and Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) to understand patients’ experiences of community pharmacy services and the outcomes of care. This policy explains how information associated with these surveys is collected, used, disclosed, stored and protected. The QSPP’s broader treatment of privacy and other forms of personal information and in other contexts is described in its general Privacy Policy, which may be found here.

Survey participation is voluntary and declining to participate will not affect your care or access to services.

Who handles your information

Information may be handled by the pharmacy that provided your care; its approved technology provider, which collects and manages survey responses; approved messaging or integration providers, which support delivery of invitations and related communications; and QSPP and its authorised technology and data service providers, which operate the national program. The broader PGA supports the program and may receive authorised de-identified or aggregated reporting.

Participating technology providers currently include Dragatron, Light, MedAdvisor and MyPharmaPrograms Pro. Each provider must handle personal information in accordance with its applicable privacy obligations and authorised role.

Information used to deliver and manage surveys

To determine eligibility, send survey invitations and administer the program, pharmacies and participating technolog providers may collect or use personal, service and communication information, including:

• Name, mobile number and email address; other identifiers such as Medicare or Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) number.
• Date of birth, sex or gender, postcode, state or territory and preferred language or contact method, where relevant to the approved program.
• Pharmacy identity, service type and date, survey and consultation identifiers, and invitation or response dates.
• Consent status and associated records, privacy-notice acknowledgement, survey eligibility, communication preferences and pharmacy-specific opt-out records.

The precise information collected will depend on the approved data requirements and the service provided. Information may be used for survey administration, validating and linking records, avoiding duplicate communications and recording preferences.

Information collected through surveys

If you participate, we may ask about your experience of care, the information and support you received, your experience of the pharmacy or pharmacist, and your health or wellbeing following a service. Please only provide information you are comfortable sharing.

How QSPP receives and manages information

Your pharmacy’s technology provider initially collects survey responses and associated information and securely transmits the approved data, including relevant patient-identifiable information, to QSPP. QSPP processes the information using safeguards such as encryption, tokenisation and de-identification, with identifiable information separated from information used for broader analytics.

Identifiable information is accessible only to people who are authorised by QSPP and/or your Pharmacy for approved purposes described below. Where required for pharmacy patient-safety or service follow-up, authorised personnel may be provided with identifiable feedback about your experiences and outcomes as relate to their pharmacy. Reporting and benchmarking outside the relevant pharmacy will only use de-identified or aggregated information and are not designed to directly identify patients.

How QSPP and the PGA use the information

PGA may use patient-identifiable information to manage the program’s technological infrastructure, including administer and secure the program, validate and link records, manage responses and enable appropriate pharmacy follow-up. QSPP and the PGA may use de-identified or aggregated information to evaluate patient experience and outcomes; monitor service quality and safety; support participating pharmacies with benchmarking; improve programs and services; and inform approved research, policy, service evaluation and funding analysis.

Pharmacy access and patient follow-up

The pharmacy that provided your care may access relevant identifiable survey responses through the technology systems to review patient feedback and manage clinical, patient-safety or service concerns. Some responses may result in an alert to an authorised pharmacy representative for consideration and appropriate follow-up.

Your choice to participate and opt out

You may decline to participate or stop before submitting a survey. You may also opt out of future PREMs and PROMs invitations from your pharmacy, use the opt-out instructions supplied with the invitation or contact your pharmacy about your preferences. However, the opt-out is recorded in relation to that pharmacy only and does not apply automatically to other pharmacies. You may change your preference through your pharmacy’s technology provider. None of these choices affects your access to medicines, care or pharmacy services.

Security, Storage and Disclosure of Information

QSPP and its approved technology providers will securely store, process and protect information in Australia using appropriate security measures, including encryption, access controls, monitoring and audit processes. Personal information will only be accessed or disclosed to authorised parties for permitted purposes and will not be sold.

De-identified or aggregated information may be shared with approved government, research, industry or other partners for reporting, evaluation and quality improvement.

Information will be retained in accordance with applicable legal, contractual and program requirements and securely deleted, destroyed or de-identified when no longer required.

Access, correction and privacy enquiries

You may request access to or correction of personal information held about you, subject to applicable law. Requests concerning information held by your pharmacy should generally be directed to that pharmacy. For information held through QSPP, or to raise a privacy question or complaint, contact:

Quality and Safety Pharmacy Program (QSPP)
Attention: Privacy Officer
Email: support@qspp.com
Postal address: PO Box 310, Fyshwick ACT 2609