Overview of the Act
The Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 establishes consistent rules governing the collection, use and disclosure of personal health information in the hands of ‘health information custodians’, such as health care professionals and hospitals. It also has rules for non-health information custodians, such as insurance companies and employers that receive personal health information from a custodian.It gives the client the right to access their own health care records and to correct records when information is incomplete or inaccurate. The legislation applies to staff, students and volunteers in those organizations in respect of the collection use or disclosure of OHIP card numbers.
What is Personal Health Information?
Personal health information is identifying information about an individual that:
- Relates to the physical or mental health of the individual
- Relates to the providing of health care to the individual
- Is a plan of service within the meaning of the Long-Term Care Act, 1994 for the individual
- Relates to payments or eligibility for health care in respect to the individual
- Relates to the donation of any body part or bodily substance or is derived from the testing or examination of such parts or substances
- Is the individual’s health number
- Identifies a provider of health care to the individual or a substitute decision maker of the individual
- Records containing any of the above in any form: oral (tapes), written, electronic or paper
Who Does PHIPA Apply to?
The legislation applies to defined “Health Information Custodians” (HICS) where they collect, use or discloses personal health information.
A health information custodian includes doctors, other health care practitioners, hospitals, and long-term care facilities. It also includes health care clinics, laboratories, pharmacies, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and other health-related organizations. WRNPLC is a healthcare custodian.
The legislation also applies to individuals and organizations outside the health system that receive personal health information from the health care system, such as insurance companies, employers, and schools. The legislation applies to everyone regarding the collection use or disclosure of OHIP numbers.
Principles that Guide the Legislation
The following are the 10 principles that guide the legislation. WRNPLC privacy policy and guidelines addresses each of these principles.
- Accountability
- Identify purposes
- Consent
- Limiting collection
- Limited use, disclosure and retention
- Accuracy
- Safeguards
- Openness
- Individual access
- Challenging compliance
The Privacy Officer at WRNPLC is: Leanne Terry
Mail:
13 Water Street North
Cambridge Ontario
N1R 3B2
Phone:
519-772-2322 and request to speak with the Privacy Officer for further information.