Yukon’s Health Information Legislation

Canada’s Yukon Territory joins other domestic jurisdictions in moving to implement personal health information legislation. The Health Information Privacy and Management Act, introduced in November, is now in second reading. Leaving aside the trend to including EHR governance in personal health information statutes, there are some intriguing aspects to the bill not found in other statutes […]

Ontario EHR Governance Arrives…

I had previously written on the subject of electronic health records here, as well as about their governance here. The latter post was about the state of EHR governance in Ontario, especially when one considers legislative developments in Alberta and BC. It seems that the current Liberal government has decided to address the issue with the […]

Health Privacy: A Need for Dialogue

When you consider the vast pool of personal health information that exists in electronic health record databases as well as the growing number of registries (both public and private) a large number of unanswered questions exist as to just what people, as patients and stakeholders, should accept as the “rules” surrounding such data.

Trusting Medical Researchers with PHI

The subject of medical research and personal information protection can quickly become a quagmire. Even raising the subject risks one being tagged as a Grinch-like character who surely must drown kittens and tell those young cancer-stricken children appearing in telethons that there’s no Santa Claus. The win-win scenario is de-identified information with good security around […]

To Fine Or Not To Fine

It’s tough to be a hospital these days and I don’t envy the people trying to manage such places.  But one thing I do expect is some degree of attention to the confidentiality of patient information. One hospital provides a unique set of facts that raises the question of appropriate regulatory responses.

Setting Expectations: EHRs, Governments & Privacy

“If you build it, he will come” Shoeless Joe Jackson – Field of Dreams (1989) In the healthcare IT space, this famous movie line could easily be changed to “If you build a database, they will find secondary uses for it.”

Two-Tier Healthcare; Two-Tier Privacy

“Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.” F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Rich Boy”, 1926 In healthcare, they have more privacy.