PrivacyHORIZON: Vol. 1, No. 1

Privacy in Health: A Billion Dollar Issue

Privacy in Canadian health care is a billion dollar issue. Governments and health organizations in Canada are investing heavily in electronic health records, telehealth, health information infrastructure and clinical management systems to support reform of the health system. Add up the numbers - Canada Health Infoway, Ontario Smart Systems for Health, Alberta Wellnet, and the Saskatchewan Health Information Network to name a few. Billions of dollars have been committed to initiatives by every government jurisdiction in the country.

There is almost universal agreement that information technology in health care is a good thing. Only one issue stands in the way of a pan-Canadian health infostructure: Privacy. In his response to the Romanow report, Federal Privacy Commissioner George Radwanski says, "What he recommends would appear to be the end of health privacy as we know it". While the Commissioner's views are a tad extreme, he does reflect an undercurrent of public concern about our plans for health information.

The nub of the problem is this. If we fail to deal with the privacy issue adequately, public confidence in electronic health records, telehealth and other health information initiatives will be undermined. The public will not participate. Only by addressing privacy in a comprehensive way will we have a chance of ensuring public acceptance of our plans to reform the health system and increase the odds that our billion dollar investments in information technology will be sound.

Privacy Training Opportunities

It doesn't matter what your title is, if you are responsible for information privacy in your organization you need access to the best information and training available. PRIVA-C^TM Training Solutions are a series of one and two day workshops to help you and your organization develop and run an enterprise-wise privacy and information security program:

>> Chief Privacy Officer Workshop
>> Privacy Impact Assessment Workshop
>> Privacy Training for Trainers Workshop

COACH, Canada's Health Informatics Association is offering the following one day workshop based on the COACH Guidelines for the Protection of Health Information:

>> Health Privacy and Security Workshop

Breaches of Health Privacy a Criminal Offence?

On November 28, 2002 Commissioner Roy Romanow released his report titled Building Values: The Future of Health Care In Canada. The report provides a blueprint for reform of the Canadian Health System. The report acknowledges the importance of privacy and recommends changes to the Criminal Code of Canada "to make abuse or misuse of personal health information a criminal offense". PRIVA-C^TM has completed a summary of privacy and security references in the Romanow Report. [More...]

What Radwanski Says About Romanow

Federal Privacy Commissioner George Radwanski was not impressed by Roy Romanow's recommendations concerning electronic health records. The Toronto Star quotes Radwanski as accusing Romanow of paying lip service to privacy concerns while outlining a system that would seriously violate privacy rights. [More...]

The Coming Chaos in Health Information Privacy

More than a year after writing this article in Healthcare Information Management and Communications Canada, I still believe that the current patchwork of privacy legislation across Canada will create chaos for health information privacy, especially in the run-up to implementation of the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. [More...]

COACH Guidelines for the Protection of Health Information

COACH, Canada's Health Informatics Association publishes the definitive guidelines for health information privacy and security in Canada. This is a very readable and practical guide to establishing your organization's privacy and information security program. [More...]