Commitment to Privacy
The appropriate collection, use and disclosure of patients’ personal health
information is fundamental to our day-to-day operations and to patient care.
Protecting the privacy and the confidentiality of patient personal information is
important to the physicians and staff at The Kids Clinic. We strive to provide our
patients with excellent medical care and service. Every member of The Kids Clinic
must abide by our commitment to privacy in the handling of personal information.
This policy was last modified on the 1stday of February 2017.
Applicability of This Privacy Policy
Our Privacy Policy attests to our commitment to privacy and demonstrates the
ways we ensure that patient privacy is protected. Our Privacy Policy applies to the
personal health information of all our patients that is in our possession and control.
What is Personal Health Information?
Personal health information means identifying information about an individual
relating to their physical or mental health (including medical history), the providing
of health care to the individual, payments or eligibility for health care, organ and
tissue donation and health number.
Principles of Privacy
Our Privacy Policy reflects our compliance with fair information practices,
applicable laws and standards of practice.
1. Accountability
We take our commitment to securing patient privacy very seriously. Each
physician and employee associated with the Practice is responsible for the personal
information under his/her control. Our employees are informed about the importance of
privacy and receive information periodically to update them about our Privacy Policy
and related issues.
2. Identifying Purposes: Why We Collect Information
We ask you for information to establish a relationship and serve your medical
needs. We obtain most of our information about you directly from you, or from other
health practitioners whom you have seen and authorized to disclose to us. You are
entitled to know how we use your information and this is described in the Privacy
Statement posted at The Kids Clinic. We will limit the information we collect to what
we need for those purposes, and we will use it only for those purposes. We will obtain
your consent if we wish to use your information for any other purpose.
3. Consent
You have the right to determine how your personal health information is used and
disclosed. For most health care purposes, your consent is implied as a result of your
consent to treatment; however, in all circumstances express consent must be written.
Your written Consent will be forwarded to the Privacy Officer who will document the
request in patient’s medical records and notify appropriate Health care
providers and their supporting staff.
Patients who have withdrawn consent to disclose PHI must sign and date the
Consent to Withdrawal Form. It is understood that the consent directive applies only
to the PHI which the patient has already provided, and not to PHI which the patient
might provide in the future: PHIPA permits certain collections, uses, and disclosures
of the PHI, despite the consent directive; healthcare providers may override the
consent directive in certain circumstances, such as emergencies; and the consent
directive may result in delays in receiving health care, reduced quality of care due
to healthcare provider’s lacking complete information about the patient, and
healthcare provider’s refusal to offer non-emergency care. Your written Consent
to Withdrawal Form will be forwarded to the Privacy Officer who will document the
request in patient’s medical records and notify appropriate Health care
providers and their supporting staff.
4. Limiting Collection
We collect information by fair and lawful means and collect only that
information which may be necessary for purposes related to the provision of your
medical care.
5. Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention
The information we request from you is used for the purposes defined. We will
seek your consent before using the information for purposes beyond the scope of the
posted Privacy Statement.
Under no circumstances do we sell patient lists or other personal information to third
parties. There are some types of disclosure of your personal health information that
may occur as part of this Practice fulfilling its routine obligations and/or practice
management. This includes consultants and suppliers to the Practice, on the
understanding that they abide by our Privacy Policy, and only to the extent necessary
to allow them to provide business services or support to this Practice.
We will retain your information only for the time it is required for the
purposes we describe and once your personal information is no longer required, it will
be destroyed. However, due to our on-going exposure to potential claims, some
information is kept for a longer period.
Patients may be required to sign and date a Consent to Disclose PHI Form
and pay a fee based on current OMA rates prior to release of information.
6. Accuracy
We endeavor to ensure that all decisions involving your personal information are
based upon accurate and timely information. While we will do our best to base our
decisions on accurate information, we rely on you to disclose all material information
and to inform us of any relevant changes.
7. Safeguards: Protecting Your Information
We protect your information with appropriate safeguards and security measures.
The Practice maintains personal information in a combination of paper and electronic
files. Recent paper records concerning individuals’ personal information are
stored in files kept onsite at our office. Older records may be stored securely
offsite.
Access to personal information will be authorized only for the physicians
and employees associated with the Practice, and other agents who require access in the
performance of their duties, and to those otherwise authorized by law.
We provide information to health care providers acting on your behalf, on
the understanding that they are also bound by law and ethics to safeguard your
privacy. Other organizations and agents must agree to abide by our Privacy Policy and
may be asked to sign contracts to that effect. We will give them only the information
necessary to perform the services for which they are engaged, and will require that
they not store, use or disclose the information for purposes other than to carry out
those services.
Our computer systems are password-secured and constructed in such a way
that only authorized individuals can access secure systems and databases.
If you send us an e-mail message that includes personal information, such
as your name included in the "address", we will use that information to respond to
your inquiry. Please remember that e-mail is not necessarily secure against
interception. If your communication is very sensitive, you should not send it
electronically unless the e-mail is encrypted or your browser indicates that the
access is secure.
8. Access and Correction
With limited exceptions, we will give you access to the information we retain
about you within a reasonable time, upon presentation of a written request and
satisfactory identification.
We may charge you a fee for this service and if so, we will give you
notice in advance of processing your request.
If you find errors of fact in your personal health information, please
notify us as soon as possible and we will make the appropriate corrections. We are not
required to correct information relating to clinical observations or opinions made in
good faith. You have a right to append a short statement of disagreement to your
record if we refuse to make a requested change.
If we deny your request for access to your personal information, we will
advise you in writing of the reason for the refusal and you may then challenge our
decision.
9. Challenging Compliance
We encourage you to contact us with any questions or concerns you might have
about your privacy or our Privacy Policy. We will investigate and respond to your
concerns about any aspect of our handling of your information.
In most cases, an issue is resolved simply by telling us about it and
discussing it. You can reach us at:
Naveed Shah, Privacy Officer
The Kids Clinic
300 Rossland Road East, Suite301,
Ajax, ON, L1Z 0M1
nshah@kidsclinic.ca
(905) 683-4440 x 2003
(905) 683-3303 (fax)