On Friday January 12, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario released four new decisions. Here is my updated summary of all 64  IPC PHIPA Decisions Decision 61: Reasonable Search: A physician received a request for access to all records relating to the complainant’s deceased son. The complainant believed additional records should exist. The physician said… Read more »

Just a reminder that as of January 1, 2018 if you are a health information custodian you need to start keeping track of certain information relating to privacy breaches. The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario released guidelines that will come into effect March 2019 but require you to start tracking certain kinds of privacy breaches now…. Read more »

It is with great sadness that I announce my little sister, Beth Ferkranus, passed away over the holidays.  It was sudden and completely unexpected.  We are all devastated.  You can read her Obituary here. I want to thank everyone for your kindness and the outpouring of love we have received. Some of you know that my sisters are… Read more »

Thrilled to announce that I was one of the winners of Best New Blog – for the Clawbies, the Canadian Law Blog Awards for 2017. The Golden Globes for lawyers! Telling stories about my work and the intersection of health care and law is a privilege and brings me great joy. Thank you for the recognition… Read more »

What was your favourite read of 2017?  I have four books I would highly recommend. The Artist’s Way – Julia Cameron By far my favourite book of 2017.  This is a 12-week course on unlocking your creativity and finding the artist that is inside all of us.  If it seems familiar, it might be. This… Read more »

Have you ever heard the phrase: “time is the great equalizer”? What does that even mean? I have heard it used like this: No matter who you are – how successful you are – your status in the world – you cannot create more time. We each have only 24 hours a day. 7 days… Read more »

I know you have a lot on your plate. So, it is totally understandable that you may have missed some privacy updates from the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario  this year. There is good news! The IPC provided a summary slide deck that is super helpful. Click here. You can read their updates on: The… Read more »

The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario spoke today in Windsor.  It’s always good to read the presentations of the IPC’s road shows.  You get the latest information and updates right from the source! If you don’t have time to read to the end – I’ll start with the breaking news: New Snooping Prosecution –… Read more »

The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario released four new PHIPA decisions today. These are relevant to any health care organization in Ontario. Read the summaries of all 60 IPC PHIPA Decisions here. Decision 57: A patient made an access request at a hospital. The patient wanted to know why he was being told by physicians at the… Read more »

If you are a CEO or ED of a healthcare organization, you need to talk to your board about risk. How do you do it without scaring them or boring them? You make risk real. You explain real situations that have happened to similar organizations. Here are a couple of pointers: Give them a risk architecture:… Read more »