Category: Mental health facilities

What commitments have you made to your patients, team members and the public? When I work with a healthcare organization through a difficult situation (like a patient complaint or a privacy breach) I always look at their mission, vision and values.  These public statements should guide all decision making through difficult times.  These statements are your guide… Read more »

Last week the IPC issued two new decisions for health care organizations in Ontario. The first one has practical impact on group practices like family health teams. Group practices should proactively clarify who is the health information custodian  Decision 50 – This one will interest all family health teams and other group practices. It relates to… Read more »

The IPC has posted their new Privacy Breach Reporting Form online. This is what health care organizations will use to alert the IPC to reportable privacy breaches as described in my previous post   These requirements came into effect October 1st. Here’s a PDF version of the Privacy Breach Report Form.    

If you are a health care leader, at some point you have wondered about the risks of social media. You know you need to use social media platforms to share your organizational message. And you may want to expand what you are doing though social media in order to stay relevant with your patient population like add… Read more »

If you are a Privacy Officer for a primary care clinic – this course is for you! Full details and registration I have taught a few hundred Privacy Officers how to feel more confident in what they do.  It’s my passion to bring the law to life. Through storytelling and scenario-based learning you will learn… Read more »

The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario just released a new practice guideline last week to assist health care organizations to better understand their upcoming new obligations to report privacy breaches to the IPC. Here is the document: health-privacy-breach-notification-guidelines Those new obligations come into effect on October 1st. A few weeks ago, the IPC released another practice direction related to  Frivolous and… Read more »

The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario just released two more decisions all health care providers in Ontario should read. Decision 48: A hospital received a request for access to records. The hospital provided the complainant with a full copy of his health records but the complainant believed there should be additional records (specifically letters from… Read more »

The other day I was a pedestrian on the sidewalk waiting for the traffic light to turn green. Up rode a young guy on a bicycle – on the sidewalk. Honestly, I hadn’t noticed he was on the sidewalk.  But a woman next to me did. And she instantly tore into him. “How dare you… Read more »

I train Privacy Officers to understand their role. So, what does a Privacy Officer do for a health care organization? In Ontario, every health care organization must have a “contact person” to do the following five tasks: Facilitate compliance with the health privacy law, PHIPA Ensure that everyone who works for the organization is informed… Read more »

A note popped into my inbox this morning from Michael Hyatt, who is an extraordinary business coach.  The topic is “The anatomy of a true apology”. I am working right now with a medical office on a privacy breach and notifying patients.  And we have had some heartfelt discussions about how to convey sincerity in… Read more »