OUR COMMITMENT TO PRIVACY
Protecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your personal information has always been an important aspect of Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital's operations. We strive to provide you with service excellence. To us, that includes treating your personal information fairly and with respect. Each employee, volunteer, and physician must abide by our commitment to privacy in the handling of your personal information.
LEGISLATIVE RESPONSIBILITY
The passage of the Ontario Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) marks a significant step forward for Ontario. Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital believes that we must fulfill our legislated obligations professionally, ethically, and prudently.
Consent is implied when information is needed for health care purposes. You have a right to access personal information held by Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital and to challenge its accuracy, if need be.
Personal information will be used as follows:
With the internal/external healthcare team
With the Ontario Hospital Association for the purpose of patient satisfaction surveys
For billing purposes
For research, teaching and statistics
If Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital is going to use it for another purpose, consent must be obtained. You should also be assured that your information will be protected by specific safeguards, including measures such as locked cabinets, computer passwords, or encryption.
WHAT IS PERSONAL INFORMATION?
Personal information includes any factual or subjective information, recorded or not, about you, our patient. This includes information in any form, such as:
Registration information
Diagnostic, treatment, and care information
Health services provider information
LIMITING USE, DISCLOSURE AND RETENTION
The information we request from you is used only for the purposes defined. We will seek your consent before using the information for purposes beyond the scope of your original consent unless the use or disclosure is authorized by legislated mandatory reporting requirements, for appropriate health care in an emergency and where there is a duty to warn a third person.
Information may be disclosed:
To treat and care for you;
To the estate/trustee/solicitor, individual with a Certificate of Approval or personal representative of a deceased patient/client;
In a proceeding before the Ontario Review Board, Consent and Capacity Board;
To the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office;
To the Police or the Childrenos Aid Society;
From CEO to CEO of another facility;
A one-word condition update will be provided to the media if the reporter can identify the patient (good, fair, serious, critical);
As outlined in Section 22 of the Public Hospital Act;
To the Development/Foundation Office.
We will retain your information in accordance with the Public Hospital Act for the purposes disclosed. Records shall be electronically retained:
- in the case of a patient who is eighteen years of age or older, for at least TEN YEARS after the date of discharge or death of patient
- in the case of a patient who is under eighteen years of age, for at least ten years after their eighteenth birthday
Patients may withdraw their consent at any time upon written request.
ACCURACY
All decisions and patient care involving personal information should be based on accurate and timely information. While we will do our best to base our decisions on accurate information, we rely on individuals to disclose all information requested and to inform us of any relevant changes.
We will make reasonable efforts to keep your information accurate and up-to-date based on information we receive from you and to the extent updated information is relevant to the purpose for which it was originally collected. All patient information shall be verified upon each registration or admission to the facility. All insurance information for the purposes of hospital coverage (semi-private/private/ambulance) billing is required to bill for services. Inaccurate information may result in follow-up verification with you the patient and/or employer holding supplemental insurance information.
If you find any errors in this information, we urge you to contact us as soon as possible so the appropriate corrections may be made immediately.
SAFEGUARDS: PROTECTING YOUR INFORMATION
We will protect your information with appropriate safeguards and security measures through HDGHos computer usage and security policies. We audit our procedures and security measures regularly to ensure that your information is properly protected and administered. Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital maintains personal information in a combination of paper and electronic files. Recent records concerning individualos personal information are stored in electronic files. Older paper records are stored at an offsite storage facility or secured area of the hospital.
Access to personal information will be authorized only for service providers who require access in the performance of their duties, to any person granted access by the individual through the consent process, and to those otherwise authorized by law.
Hôtel-Dieu Grace Hospital's computer systems are password-secured and constructed in such a way that only authorized individuals can access secure systems and databases. All staff must understand and sign a Confidentiality Agreement for the protection of patient information.
PROVIDING RECOURSE: RESPECTING AND RESPONDING TO YOUR PRIVACY CONCERNS
We encourage you to contact us with any questions or concerns you might have about your personal health information 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 the Patient Representative at 973-4411 ext 3115.
If after consulting the Patient Representative, you feel that your concerns have not been addressed satisfactorily, please contact our Chief Privacy Officer at 973-4411 ext 3289.
If the issue is still not resolved satisfactorily, we will provide information on how to contact the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
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