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PrivacyHORIZON: Vol. 1, No. 2 |
Imagine being detained at the border as customs and immigration officials scanned your electronic health record for signs of communicable diseases or mental illness. Far fetched? At the moment perhaps, but in a world paranoid about terrorism and biological threats, law enforcement and security agencies are obtaining unprecedented access to personal records. [More...]
Globalized health care is a reality for many Canadians. Consider the treatment of foreign visitors to Canada and of Canadian visitors to other countries; use of cross-border health facilities in border communities or where Canadian facilities cannot meet demand; off-shore processing of health insurance claims; international clinical trials; or remote maintenance of health information systems by vendors in other countries.
Canadian health care organizations must pay attention to privacy and security laws in other countries, particularly in the United States where millions of Canadians visit for business and pleasure each year. We must ensure that the rights of Canadian residents are respected when we export health information to health care organizations in foreign countries.
One important development is work underway by ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, which is creating an international standard for the protection of health data. Despite its rather unwieldy title, "Guidelines on data protection to facilitate trans-border flows of personal health information", the standard will give important guidance to health care organizations that must transfer personal health information abroad. [More...] 
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In 2002, Canada Health Infoway Inc. conducted a pan-Canadian EHR survey that included questions on the security and privacy practices of EHR initiatives. "Infoway asked organizations about five key privacy and access policies and processes. The responses indicate that the existence and implementation of security and access policies and infrastructure vary widely, as follows:
- The large majority of organizations require staff to sign confidentiality agreements.
- The large majority regulate access of employees and physicians to clinical records.
- About 2/3 carry out regular audits.
- Over 1/2 have policies that regulate remote access to clinical information.
- Fewer than 1/2 have policies that govern patient consent to the sharing of electronic information.
- About 1/4 have all five key privacy and access policies in place."
You can view the complete report on the Canada Health Infoway website. [More...]
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Consumers, Confidentiality and the EHR
There is little concrete research about the attitudes of Canadians towards privacy and the electronic health record. In Britain, the National Health Service has conducted a comprehensive survey of consumer attitudes and has published the results in a document titled "Share with Care: People's views on Consent and Confidentiality of Patient Information". Some of the findings are surprising. [More...]
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Privacy in the News
PRIVA-CTM Research scans dozens of news sources each day to identify articles about information privacy. Links to these articles are posted daily to the PRIVA-CTM website. Reference to current news is a powerful tool for motivating executive management and staff. Keep up to date on breaking privacy developments. [More...]
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Are you a Chief Privacy Officer?
The whole idea of the Chief Privacy Officer is very new to the health care community. Privacy legislation requires that someone be designated to create and oversee an organization's privacy program. Imagine being hired to worry about patient privacy and getting fired if something goes very wrong. Are you a Chief Privacy Officer? Do you need to hire one? [More...]
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PRIVA-CTM offers a series of three workshops designed for the privacy professional. Led by Canada's leading privacy experts, these solutions give you the means to plan, implement and maintain a program of privacy compliance in your organization.
PRIVA-CTM Training Solutions are coming to Ontario from March to May in the following locations:
Toronto, Ontario - starting Mar. 19 (Discount Date: Feb. 28)
Ottawa, Ontario - starting Apr. 23 (Discount Date: Mar. 14)
Seating is limited, so register early. Register for any workshop before the Discount Dates shown and save up to $300.
For more information, or to register online, go to
www.priva-c.com/training
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