Category: Risk

If you ever needed a reason to behave, this is as good a one as any. In a new Ontario court decision, a nurse was denied coverage from her former hospital employer’s insurance provider for her legal fees and possible costs associated with her alleged snooping in health records. So now, she walks into court… Read more »

I have noticed over the last month that the tone of conversations has changed and social critique has resurfaced. Individuals are rightly asking more questions. There is greater need in all aspects of life and public service for clarity and certainty.  There are more queries and complaints about the impact of decisions made in the… Read more »

The global pandemic COVID-19 has left us all feeling unsettled at best. Some of us have no work. Some of us have too much work. Regardless of what camp you find yourself in – I thought this might be a message worth sharing. I was reminded this morning that I cannot be all things to… Read more »

Just when you thought it was safe … a new class action was recently certified after a health privacy breach at a hospital in Ontario. Here’s what every health Privacy Officer needs to know. Stewart v. Demme and William Osler Health System (2020) “The central question … is whether a privacy violation can be “highly… Read more »

Client: I have a quick question for you. … Can I do <enter question that seems perfectly straightforward to client>? Lawyer:  hmmmmm.  It depends. Client: Grrrrrrrr.  Why can you never just tell me yes or no?! We all know this dance.  Clients ask questions. Lawyers give equivocal answers. Why does this happen? Honestly, we the… Read more »

Listening to the acoustic version of A-Ha’s “Take on me” I heard the line: “Say after me … it’s no better to be safe than sorry”. I’m a lawyer. I have probably said “it’s better to be safe than sorry” or “on the safe side” a million times. But when I heard that line in… Read more »

I recently witnessed a dispute within my faith community. One congregant was accused of violent and highly inappropriate activity. The synagogue struggled to respond. Things escalated. People took sides. Positions became entrenched. There was a mixture of genuine concern, mythology, innuendo, hyperbole, valid issues to be addressed and unsubstantiated issues that needed to be cleared… Read more »

Trust. Trust is the foundation of healthcare. Without trust, patients delay receiving care. Without trust, patients do not share the truth that helps clinicians uncover what is actually happening. Where trust is compromised, patients, their families and caregivers feel vulnerable and unsafe. They go elsewhere or nowhere to seek help. I’ve been studying “trust” in… Read more »

We know this intuitively – but it bears repeating. Health care organizations should be very careful when speaking with the media about specific patient cases. There is a new Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) health privacy decision directly on this topic. Decision 82 Background: A patient of a hospital died. The family members… Read more »

We have a new government in Ontario after 15 years of the same party in power.  You know what that means? Change. Hold on to your seats folks – we are going to see legislative changes in healthcare in Ontario. Any time of change can be tough.  But a time of change is upon us… Read more »