11
Volume3 Issue1
|
CDA
at
W
ork
Whydodentistsneed theseprivacy
principles?
Dentists, likeother regulatedhealth
professionals, are required to follow
confidentialityprovisions in their
professional codesof conduct. But these
privacyprinciples specificallyaddresspatient
privacyand securityof patients’ health
informationas required inprivacy legislation,
matters that all dentists inCanadaneed to
beawareof inaddition to their regulatory
responsibilities.
Whodo theseprinciplesapply to?
Wedecided to limit theprinciples to
dentists inprivatepractice. Depending
on theprovince, the legislation that
applies tohealth informationmanagedby
dentistswhopractise inahospital, school
or universitymaybedifferent from that
applicable todentists inprivatepractice.
So toavoid thecomplexities around
what rules apply todentists indifferent
practicecontexts,wedecided to limit these
principles todentists inprivatepractice.
Do theprinciplesapply tonon-dentists
whoaccesspatienthealthrecords, such
ashygienists,officestafforITpersonnel?
Theway the legislationworks across the
country is that ahealthprofessional (a
dentist in this case) isgenerally knownas the
custodian. Thecustodian is responsible for
theway inwhichothers in thepractice, such
as the receptionist and thedental hygienist,
dealwithhealth informationof thedentist’s
patients. At theendof theday, dentists
maintain legal responsibility for those
individualswho requireaccess topersonal
health information toprovide services to
patientsonbehalf of thedentist.
What typesof informationdo theprivacy
principlesapply to?
Theprinciples apply topersonal health
information,which includes any information
that can identifya specificpatient:
treatmentsprovided, past healthhistory,
medicationhistory, familyhistory, name,
address, contact information, insurance
numbers, health insurancenumbers—all of
that together, in thedental record, canbe
consideredpatient health information.
Are theremajordifferences inprivacy
legislationdependingon theprovince?
Becausehealth is aprovincial responsibility,
most provinceshave stepped in todevelop
health informationprivacy legislation. I think
it’s fair to say that eachprovincial law is
basedon the sameprinciplesbut thereare
important differences andnuances as you
moveacross thecountry—thedevil really is
in thedetails.
Canyouelaborateon that?
I’ll useBritishColumbiaandAlbertaas
anexampleof twoprovinceswithquite
different legislative structures. B.C. has
apublic sector law that applies toall
government institutions, includingall
hospitals, and it has aprivate sector law that
applies todentists inprivatepracticeaswell
as anyorganization in theprivate sector, like
retail stores.
Incontrast, Albertahas those twopiecesof
legislation—one for thegovernment sector
andone for theprivate sector—but also
has avery specific law that applies tohealth
information inpublicandprivate sectors.
Quite frankly, specifichealth information
laws reallymakemore sensebecause they
specificallyaddress the realitiesof ahealth
AnitaFineberg
CDA isdeveloping
privacyprinciples to
helpdentistsunder-
stand their responsi-
bilities forprotecting
personalhealth
information.Anita
Fineberg, aToron-
to-based lawyerand
consultant specializ-
ing inhealth informa-
tionprivacy, access
to information, data
securityand informa-
tionmanagement,
wascommissioned
todraft the
Privacy
Principles forCanadian
Dentists
.Weasked
Ms.Fineberg to tell
usabout someof the
key issuespresented in
thisdocument.
Are you doing enough to
PROTECTPATIENTHEALTH
INFORMATION?
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