Protection of Personal Information Act and its impact on the healthcare industry

As you might know, the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) is a reality and compliance by stakeholders in the healthcare industry, as in every industry, is required once the final Regulations containing the commencement date is published.

Your Scheme, the Administrator, managed care organisations and other third-party providers all need to reconsider how to process your personal information and personal health data.

Many Acts already guide us on how to protect, collect, use, store and process this sensitive data and POPIA needs to be aligned to all of these. Some shared questions across all existing Acts are:

  • How is personal data defined?
  • Who is accountable for the protection of your data?
  • Why and how do we need to share your health data?
  • What consent is required and how do we get it?
  • What are we allowed to use your data for?
  • Who fulfils which role and responsibilities when sharing your data?

Where do we stand?

Together with our partners and stakeholders, we have been identifying whether we are compliant in all areas. We investigated, for example:

  • How we collect data and documents from you and / or your healthcare providers
  • How we share information, for example with pharmacies, doctors' rooms, hospitals, call centres and managed care organisations
  • How we keep your information secure and protected.

Some additional changes might be necessary in the handling and safeguarding of your information, although some were already implemented in anticipation of POPIA when we changed administrator.

The Chairperson, Adv. Pansy Tlakula, and the members of the Information Regulator, have been appointed with effect from 1 December 2016 for a period of five years.

The commencement date for the operative provisions of POPIA has yet to be announced, and thereafter stakeholders in the industry will be granted a year to ensure compliance. The Scheme and Administrator, however, have started a journey towards implementing the requirements of POPIA, including requirements as set out in the equivalent European Union Act called GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). We aim to have these changes implemented by the end of 2019, meaning that you may see additional communication about this from us in the coming months.

Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA)

PAIA Act 2 of 2000 protects the right of South African citizens to see what information the State or any other person or company holds about them if they need to see the information to protect or use any legal right.

Anglo Medical Scheme, to comply with the Act, provides the records held by and on behalf of the Scheme to you on request.

View the Promotion of Access to Information Manual and Data subject request form for more information.

Queries and Complaints

Fraud Hotline (Ethics Line)

0860 004 500

The Fraud Hotline is an independent entity where members, providers and employers can report any form of unethical practice in an anonymous and secure manner.

Scheme related complaints

If you have a query or complaint, we would like to resolve it appropriately and efficiently. This is the correct process to follow:

Step 1

Contact our service team with your enquiry or complaint. (You will get a reference number).

Standard and Managed Care Plan members Value Care Plan members
  • Call: 0860 222 633
  • Email: member@angloms.co.za
  • Post: Anglo Medical Scheme, PO Box 746, Rivonia 2128

Step 2

If you have followed Step 1 and feel that your enquiry or complaint was not dealt with to your satisfaction, please contact us again, provide us with your query and reference number, and ask for your query to be escalated within the service team. Alternatively, ask your HR department to pass your query on to your Client Liaison Officer.

Step 3

If the issue cannot be resolved via the Administrator's process, you can contact the Principal Officer’s office.

Step 4

If you are still not satisfied, you can lodge your complaint with the Scheme's Disputes Committee.

  • Post: Anglo Medical Scheme, Disputes Committee, PO Box 62524, Marshalltown 2107

Step 5

Should all efforts fail to resolve an issue with the Scheme, you can submit your complaint to the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) via the following channels:

  • Physical address: Block A, Eco Glades 2 Office Park, 420 Witch-Hazel Avenue, Eco Park, Centurion 0157
  • Postal address: Private Bag X34, Hatfield 0028
  • Phone number: 0861 123 267
  • Fax number: 012 431 7644
  • Email: complaints@medicalschemes.com
  • Web: www.medicalschemes.com

Please note that the CMS requires you to first exhaust all avenues and communication channels available, as mentioned above, before you submit a complaint to them.

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