Workers compensation certificates and AI privacy: what a certificate of capacity gives away in ChatGPT or Claude.

A workers compensation certificate is written for readers outside the practice: the employer, the insurer and often a rehabilitation provider. GPs fill in many of them, the wording matters, and the notes behind them hold far more than the employer should see, which is why the draft is often pasted into ChatGPT or Claude to tidy up. This page marks every item in a routine certificate and the notes beside it, and shows how the same certificate is prepared on Ermos inside the practice.

The workers compensation certificate

Completed by the treating GP after an injured worker is seen, then given to the worker, who passes it to the employer and the insurer. It is updated at each review while the worker recovers.

An invented certificate and notes. The employer, insurer and claim number are fictional; mobile and provider numbers are masked. Hover or tap any highlighted item for the analysis; the full list is below.

What leaves the practice

1. 1
   The worker’s name, date of birth and mobile

   Identifies the patient and how to reach her. Personal information, held by the practice as health information because it was collected in providing a health service. Privacy Act guide.

2. 2
   Employer, insurer and claim number

   Ties the patient to her workplace and an open claim. A claim number is a key that unlocks a whole insurer file.

3. 3
   The injury and the imaging result

   The diagnosis and an MRI finding. Health information is sensitive information under the Privacy Act. Patient data guide.

4. 4
   The capacity assessment

   What she can and cannot do at work, which decides her hours and pay while she recovers. Patient data guide.

5. 5
   Treatment and medication

   A prescription and a treatment plan against a named worker. Patient data guide.

6. 6
   Unrelated mental health and claim history

   An anxiety diagnosis, an antidepressant and an earlier injury claim. None of it belongs on the certificate, and it is the most damaging thing on the page if it reaches the employer or insurer by another route. Patient data guide.

7. 7
   A workplace conflict told in confidence

   An allegation about a named supervisor and a fear of retaliation, with an explicit request that the employer is not told. Good medical practice 4.4 asks doctors to hold this in confidence. Patient data guide.

8. 8
   The rehabilitation provider

   A third party involved in the claim, with a direct mobile number.

9. 9
   The certifying GP

   A register name and a masked provider number, linked here to this claim.

What happens in Frontier Models (ChatGPT, Claude)

• The whole document is transmitted to the provider’s servers. On personal plans the user cannot choose where it is stored or processed, and for the major providers that has generally meant outside Australia, under that country’s legal process. Some business plans offer storage in Australia, but the provider still receives the content.
• On consumer tiers, prompts can be retained and used to train future models.
• The provider’s staff and systems can reach the content under the provider’s own policies.
• Once sent, the practice no longer controls it. Retention and deletion happen on the provider’s terms.

The same document on Ermos

Part of AI data leakage in general practitioner (GP) practices. See how this works in practice: Certificates and reports on Ermos.

Common questions