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Virtual Pain Centre
Welcome to the Virtual Medical Community the worlds premier medical information
resources developed by medically trained and qualified professionals for medical
practitioners and the general public.
Information provided on this site is designed to support, not replace, the relationship
that exists between a patient/site visitor and his or her physician!
Our primary aim always is for patients, families, their carers, allied professionals
and the medical profession to be better informed about health and have access to this information 24 hour a day.
We also believe that medical information must ALWAYS be discussed one on one with
your own medical professional and if required you can reference your doctor to
this resource.
Honesty in Advertising & Editorial within this or any of our online resources is as per our policy whereby all advertising is to be clearly marked "advertisement" beneath the advert.
By directly or indirectly entering any of our websites (titled www.virtual...
or www.mylocal…) at any point you will have recognised & therefore acknowledged
that you are entering medical information portals that relate and presents medical
information that (due to the nature of the topic) could/may possibly visually
offend some visitors.
By entering and using the sites information you acknowledge and recognise that
we have taken all actions possible to ensure you are completely aware of sensitive
visuals, images, pictures or data.
By entering this or any of the Virtualmedicalcentre.com websites you agree you
may be exposed to informational sensitive surgical images that may offend and
that you further acknowledge that we provide general medical information only
and we do not under any circumstance provide recommendations on any information
we publish.
Please read all these terms of use, which will constitute an agreement between
the site you have entered, Virtual Medical Centre or Virtual Pain Centre
and you.
We may change these terms from time to time. You will always be able to view the
most current version by clicking on a link at the bottom of any page on our site.
Sponsors:
Virtual Medical Centre gratefully acknowledges the support of the following commercial entities:
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Scope of These Terms
These terms of use apply to your use of any of the Virtualmedicalcentre.com
or Virtual Pain Centre websites. The terms of use for each of our Web
sites are available on the home page of that Web site.
Virtualmedicalcentre.com and all interconnected “Virtual” sites are owned
and operated by Virtual Medical Community. Virtualmedicalcentre.com is
our website for the general public, site members, universities, associations,
hospitals medical practitioners and allied health care professionals. Content
will vary depending on the membership type you have. Virtualmedicalcentre.com
is also the name we use to refer to our entire company.
Our Information
We include a lot of information on Virtualmedicalcentre.com sites including
articles, references and support for people living with people living with, caring for and treating patients with diagnosed medical conditions,
continuing education for medical professionals, latest results from research and advertising. While
we hope you find it helpful, you should remember that it is not meant to serve
as a substitute for your doctors clinical judgment - we recommend that all information
must be discussed with your doctor.
We specifically disclaim any warranties, express or implied, including implied
warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. It's your job
to evaluate the information and results from tools we provide. If you are a healthcare
professional, you should exercise your professional judgment in evaluating any
information, and we encourage you to confirm the information contained on our
website with other sources before undertaking any treatment based on it. If you
are a consumer, you should evaluate the information together with your physician
or another qualified healthcare professional.
Some information on our website comes from you or from other users. We are not
responsible for that information. Whether the information comes from us or from
you, we are not liable for any damages resulting from your use of the information
on our website.
Although we are selective about the organisations we link to, we don't assume
any responsibility for any websites that are linked to our site or that you browse
to after following a link from our site.
While we welcome your feedback on Virtual Pain Centre, we must make the final
decisions about the content that is posted on the site to make sure it meets the
needs of all our readers. You can use the feedback address, feedback@virtualmedicalcentre.com
to send us comments and criticisms, but if you are dissatisfied with our response
or with the contents of Virtual Medical Centre your only remedy is to stop using
the website.
Our Health Directory
We include a database of Australian health care professionals intended for the
use of site members, medical practitioners and allied healthcare professionals
on our website. This directory exists purely to allow easy contact between you
the user and the health care professional. This does not indicate any financial
of other business association with these members.
Ownership of Virtual Medical Centre
Copyright
We or our partners own the information on Virtual Medical Centre and its
associated interconnected sites. Articles on the press desk and downloadable material
are written by partners of Virtual Medical Centre, OR they are summarized
and sourced from external bodies. These external bodies own copyright of the original
article. Partners of Virtual Pain Centre own the copyright of articles
and documents they contribute. You may look at our Web site online, download individual
articles to your personal or handheld computer for later reading, and even print
a reasonable number of copies of pages for yourself, your family, or friends.
You must not remove any copyright notices and source from our materials. We reserve
all our other rights. Among other things, this means you must not sell our information,
rewrite or modify it, redistribute it, put it on your own Web site, or use it
for any commercial purpose without our prior written permission.
Trademarks
We also own the names we use for our products and services on Virtual Medical
Centre, and these names are protected by trademark laws in Australia and internationally.
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. If your activities
are non commercial, you may make use of our trademarks by linking to us or discussing
us with others, as long as you make it clear that we are the owner of the trademark.
Any other uses of our trademarks require our prior written approval.
You may not use Virtual Medical Centre or any other trademarks in any of
the following ways:
- In a non- Virtual Medical Centre product name or publication title.
- Within or as part of your own trademarks.
- To identify non- Virtual Medical Centre products or services.
- In a manner which will likely cause confusion.
- In a manner that implies that Virtual Medical Centre sponsors, endorses or is otherwise connected with your own activities, products, or services.
- In a manner that disparages Virtual Medical Centre
Linking to Us
We allow you to have a simple link from your website
to our homepage. However, you must first ask our permission if you intend to frame
our site or incorporate pieces of it into a different site or product in a way
that is not clear to our users. You aren't allowed to link to us if you engage
in illegal, obscene, or offensive content, or if the link in any way has a negative
impact on our reputation.
Information that You Put on Our Web Site
When you place materials or information on our web site that are available publicly,
you give us an irrevocable, perpetual license to use that information. For example,
we have the right to display a comment that you post on one of our discussion
boards for as long as we want. We will consider requests to remove information
that you make publicly available on our website on an individual basis (contact
us at the email address we give at the end of this document).
For information and materials you place on our website that is not publicly available,
please see our privacy policy for an explanation of how we use that information
and your rights to change or delete it. We provide the link for our privacy policy
later in this document.
We ask that you not post any messages with misleading, false, or inappropriate
language or statements. We reserve the right to remove any offensive or fraudulent
content at any time without your consent.
Software Products
We provide a link to download software to view
the website. This link is clear to the owner of the software and Virtual Cancer
Centre in no way claims ownership of this software.
Laws that govern this agreement
Virtual Medical Centre controls all interconnected
Virtual Centre websites from its offices within Perth, Western Australia and Sydney
New South Wales. The website can be accessed from any of the Australian states
and territories and from other countries worldwide. Since the laws of each State
or country able to access the website may differ, by accessing the website both
you and Virtual Cancer Centre agrees that the statutes and laws of the Perth,
Western Australia, without regard to choice of laws principles, will apply to
all matters relating to use of our website.
Virtual Medical Centre makes no representation that materials on the website
are appropriate or available for use in other locations, and accessing them from
areas where their contents are illegal is prohibited. Those who choose to access
these sites from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible
for compliance with local laws.
Acceptance Procedure
By accessing materials on any of our related websites or by registering you agree
with all the terms and conditions of this agreement. You indemnify Virtual Medical
Centre or related sites against any losses, damages or costs or expenses incurred
by Virtual Medical Centre in connection with your breach of these terms and conditions
or any other legal obligation by you, or your use of or conduct of the Virtual
Medical Centre websites.
We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change
the terms and conditions of this Agreement from time to time, and your continuing
use of our website constitutes your acceptance of and agreement to any changed
terms and conditions. We will post any such changes in a timely manner, and draw
your attention to any significant changes.
Privacy Policy
Because we are in the healthcare area, we pay special attention to privacy issues.
The purpose of our privacy policy is to identify the information we may collect
about you, describe the uses we may make of your information and the security
measures we take to protect it, and discuss your options for controlling your
information. You can review our privacy policy for Virtual Medical Centre or related
sites.
Consequences
If you don't comply with these terms, we have the right to suspend or eliminate
your membership and remove any information you have placed on our site. We may
also take any legal action we think is appropriate. If your violation of this
agreement causes harm to others, you agree to hold Virtual Medical Centre or related
companies harmless against any liability for that harm.
Jurisdiction
The above terms and conditions are governed by the law in force in the state of
Western Australia, and you irrevocably submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction
of the courts of Western Australia.
Questions or Concerns about Our Terms of Use
For questions or concerns about these terms of use, please email: info@virtualmedicalcentre.com
CME Terms and Conditions
Changes to the site
The Virtual Medical Centre reserves the right to make improvements or change information, services, products and or other materials on the site at any time without notice. The Virtual Medical Centre may modify this agreement at any time and such modifications shall be effective immediately upon posting of the modified agreement. Accordingly, you agree to review the agreement periodically and your continued access or use of the site shall be deemed your acceptance of the modified agreement.
Applicable Law
This agreement and resolution of any disputes relates to this Agreement or the site shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Australia without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law. By accessing and using the site, these Terms and Conditions or the legal relationship established by them, you consent and submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Australian Courts all questions and/or disputes arising out of your use of these Terms and Conditions or legal relationship established by them.
Disclaimer
The content of the Virtual Medical Centre Online Learning web site is provided for health care education purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. While every attempt is made to ensure the currency and accuracy of material on the Virtual Medical Centre Online Learning web site, no claim is made as to its currency, accuracy or completeness. The Virtual Medical Centre does not accept any liability from any person for the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) which is provided on this web site or any web site linked from it.
Although every effort is made by the Virtual Medical Centre and its contractors to ensure the integrity of this web site, the Virtual Medical Centre cannot guarantee the safety of computer systems of site users. The Virtual Medical Centre does not accept liability for any damage to any computer system which has been connected to the Virtual Medical Centre Online Learning web site. Users enter the web site at their own risk.
Privacy policy
We have taken steps to protect the privacy of all our web site users. To better protect users’ privacy, we provide this Privacy Policy to explain our online information practices. All users of the web site, whether they are organisations or individuals, are both bound by and protected by our Privacy Policy.
If you have any questions or concerns about our Privacy Policy for the online web site, or its implementation, you may contact us by emailing info@virtualmedicalcentre.com Our web site Privacy Policy covers the following areas:
- The information we collect
- How we use the information
- Links to other web sites
- Concerns and complaints
- Changes to this Privacy Policy
- More information on privacy
1. The information we collect
When a user enrols at our web site we collect the following personal information from them:
- Name
- Date of birth
- Phone number
- Email address
- Postal address
Other information may be required if users are undergoing vocational training or aiming to collect RACGP QA&CPD points, in order that their work can be credited with the appropriate organisations. Users may also be asked optional questions in order for the Virtual Medical Centre to better meet their learning needs.
This information is held securely on the Virtual Medical Centre Learning Management System (LMS) and will not be made available to any person besides staff or contractors to the Virtual Medical Centre, or members of an organisation which has the right to access this information, such as the RACGP. Any organisation that is using our web site must also abide by our privacy policy.
Cookies
Cookies are items of information transferred from a web site to a user’s computer hard disk to assist with record keeping. In the VMC Online Learning web site, cookies are used only to enable the user’s computer to recognise that the user has begun a learning activity and has logged out before it was completed. This cookie will act as a ‘marker’ to take the user back to the same place in the activity the next time they enter our web site. Most web browsers are programmed to accept cookies. The Virtual Medical Centre only takes the information from a user’s computer that is necessary to ensure efficient use of the Online Learning web site.
Cookies can be disabled, but this may affect the functionality of the web site and is not recommended. Information on how to disable cookies is available in the help function of a web browser.
Storing and securing your personal information
The Virtual Medical Centre takes all reasonable steps to ensure that the personal information we hold is kept secure, accurate and up to date. All our employees, agents and contractors are required to respect the confidentiality of personal information we hold.
To assist us in preventing unauthorised access to user information, users are advised to maintain the confidentiality of their passwords.
Access to information we hold
All users have password-protected access to both their personal information, to which they can make changes as necessary. They also have access to information that the LMS maintains concerning their use of the web site.
We make every endeavour to ensure this information is kept up-to-date by inviting users to update it every time they visit the site.
2. How we use the information
Information provided by users
We use the information that users provide about themselves to fulfil their requests for our products, programs, and services, or to respond to their inquiries. Neither the Virtual Medical Centre nor any other user of this web site may provide any personal information we obtain through this web site to our site sponsors, or to any other parties, without the users’ express consent.
We sometimes use this information to communicate with users or to meet their learning needs, such as to notify them when we make changes to the site or send a newsletter.
Information collected from the LMS
The information collected by the Virtual Medical Centre LMS can provide the user with the most appropriate use of the web site. It identifies them whenever they log in and records their use of the site. Individuals can always access their own records. The following information on individual usage can be collected:
- the identity of any user
- what time each user logs on
- the places on the web site that each user visits and how long they spend at that place
- the activities that they undertake at that place and any work undertaken by a user for that activity.
The Virtual Medical Centre may use non-personally identifiable information to improve the design and content of the site. We will also aggregate this information to analyse usage of our web site (see No 4. below).
Disclosures we might make
We will disclose information we maintain when required to do so by law, for example, in response to a court order or a subpoena. We also may disclose such information in response to a law enforcement agency's request.
We might also disclose your private information if we considered it necessary to lessen a serious threat to a person’s health or safety.
As a provider of QA&CPD points to the RACGP, we are required to report to the RACGP the progress of a user who is enrolled for the purpose of accumulating these points.
Agents and contractors who have access to personally identifiable information on the Virtual Medical Centre Online Learning web site are required to protect this information in a manner that is consistent with this Privacy Policy by, for example, not using the information for any purpose other than to carry out the services they are performing on the web site. If we propose to disclose personally identifiable information to companies not owned by us who want to market products or services to users, we will provide users with an opportunity to opt out or block such disclosure of their information.
The Virtual Medical Centre will not use or transfer personally identifiable information provided to us in ways unrelated to the ones described above without also providing users with an opportunity to opt out of these unrelated uses.
Disclosure by users
Users are bound by the usual medical privacy conventions when using chat rooms, discussion boards or other areas where information is shared between users of the web site. They are reminded when they enter such areas to take care not to disclose identifiable patient information in the course of their learning activities. If this information is accidentally revealed, other users are bound not to reveal that information to any other person.
Although the Virtual Medical Centre takes appropriate measures to safeguard against unauthorized disclosures of information, we cannot give an absolute assurance that personally identifiable information that we collect will never be disclosed in a manner that is inconsistent with this Privacy Policy. Access to the web site is password protected and the Virtual Medical Centre takes no responsibility for disclosure of a password by a user to a third party that may give unauthorised access to the site. Other unauthorised access, although defended against by the Virtual Medical Centre LMS software, is impossible to prevent entirely.
Analysing site usage
Usage across the web site is measured automatically by the Virtual Medical Centre LMS. The LMS collects and collates aggregate depersonalised information that we can use to assist with analysing site usage. Some uses to which evaluation of site usage might be put include:
- papers that staff might wish to publish on site usage
- commercial propositions that might require the Virtual Medical Centre to show evidence of site usage.
3. Links to other web sites
Sometimes we provide links on the web site to other web sites. These sites are not under our control, however, and we can’t accept responsibility for the contents or operators of those sites. We don’t provide any information about users to these sites, nor does any such information automatically pass to them when users link to them. Before users disclose any personal information for another site they should read the terms of use and privacy policy for that site.
4. Concerns and complaints
We take privacy extremely seriously and will work to address any problems or concerns users have in relation to the site. If a user has a problem or a concern they should email us at info@virtualmedicalcentre.com.
5. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We recognise we may need to improve and change this policy if legislation changes or the web site acquires new features. Accordingly, we may change both our Terms of Use and this Privacy Policy at any time. Changes will be notified by posting an updated policy on the web site.
6. More information on privacy
If you want more information on privacy issues and the manner in which privacy is protected in Australia you should consult the web site of the Federal Privacy Commissioner at http://www.privacy.gov.au
