Riverfront policy on the collection, use and disclosure of personal information
OBJECTIVE & SCOPE OF POLICY
Riverfront Medical Services Limited (“Riverfront”) is a national provider of healthcare services to corporations, insurance companies, and individuals. Consistent with our obligations as health care professionals, we are dedicated to maintaining high standards of confidentiality with respect to all information that has been provided to us, with a particular focus on health information. This policy statement (the “Policy”), has been prepared to affirm our commitment to maintaining the privacy of our clients and others and to inform you of our practices concerning the collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information (as defined below) collected by Riverfront. This policy not only applies to Riverfront but also to our subsidiary companies.
Our obligations as health professionals are governed, in part, by the national and provincial regulations that govern each of our healthcare professionals as members of their applicable regulatory bodies and associations (ex. Canadian Medical Association, College of Family Physicians of Canada, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, etc.). The obligations set out in this Policy apply to all professionals, employees, contractors and agents who provide services in connection with our delivery of services to our clients. Other applicable laws and internal policies govern the protection of Personal Information of partners, associates and employees of Riverfront.
This Privacy Statement outlines the practices of Riverfront relating to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information (including personal health information) obtained through the performance of the Services.
PROTECTING YOUR PRIVACY
At Riverfront, protecting your privacy means that (i) we keep your information and the business you do with us in strict confidence; (ii) your information is not sold; (iii) you have control over how we obtain, use, and give out information about you; (iv) you have access to the information we have about you; and (v) we respect your privacy when we market our products and services.
We are committed to meeting or exceeding the privacy standards established by federal and provincial regulations and industry bodies. All of our information handling practices comply with federal and applicable provincial laws including the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (widely known as the “PIPED Act”).
PIPEDA has as its core, 10 guiding principles, as also set out in the Canadian Standards Association’s Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information, which is incorporated into the PIPED Act. These principles are:
1. Accountability
2. Identifying Purposes
3. Consent
4. Limiting Collection
5. Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention
6. Accuracy
7. Safeguarding Customer Information
8. Openness
9. Customer Access
10. Handling Customer Complaints and Suggestions
We have designed this Policy to address all of these 10 guiding principles.
WHAT INFORMATION IS COLLECTED? WHY DOES RIVERFRONT COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION?
Having up-to-date and accurate information helps us provide you with the best possible service and recommendations and, in certain cases, to offer additional services we believe might be of benefit to you.
At Riverfront, with your consent, we collect Personal Information.
Personal Information is information that refers to you specifically, whether factual or subjective. With your consent, we may gather personal information from you in person, over the telephone or by corresponding with you via mail or the Internet.
The types of Personal Information that we usually collect and maintain in your file may include, but is not limited to your:
a) Demographic Information
Name
Gender
Mailing Address
E-mail Address
Telephone Number
Fax Number
Social Insurance Number
Provincial health insurance number
Date of Birth
Place of Employment, etc.
b) Health Information
Height
Weight
Personal Medical History
Family Medical History
Allergies
Results of diagnostic tests (blood tests, x-rays, MRI, CT, etc.)
Dates of consultations
Results of medical examinations, etc.
For every consultation, whether in person, over the telephone or by corresponding with you via mail or the Internet, physicians must collect, organize, hold and maintain a medical chart with information relevant to the medical problem or incident expressed.
Riverfront collects only such information from individuals or organizations as is required for the purposes of providing services or information to them, marketing other services or products to them (as applicable), and for aggregated statistical analyses. To the greatest extent possible, we will collect Personal Information directly from the individual concerned. In certain cases, we will be required to collect Personal Information from other sources, including but not limited to your employer, treating physician, consulting physicians, and insurers. In those cases, we will request your consent to obtain information from those sources.
As outlined in the PIPED Act, personal information does not include the name, title, business address or telephone number of an employee of an organization.
We collect Personal Information for different purposes, depending on the type of service we are providing to you, your employer, or your insurer, as applicable.
These purposes include, but are not limited to:
i) Providing you with occupational health services (including independent medical evaluations, pre-placement examinations, diagnostic services);
ii) Collecting information on behalf of your application for life or health insurance companies for their underwriting requirements;
iii) Providing disability management services to you or your employer;
iv) Providing you with other services or products in the future; and
v) Internal Quality control processes.
Ownership of Personal Information
It’s important to note that as a client, you own your Personal Information. This Policy outlines how you can make changes to, request access to, or obtain copies of your Personal Information. However, the format in which your Personal Information is kept, including but not limited to the medical records, charts, film, software, databases, applications, methodologies and processes for gathering, processing and storing such Personal Information belongs to Riverfront and/or our physicians (as it applies to certain Health Information), as applicable.
HOW DOES RIVERFRONT OBTAIN CONSENT TO USE AND DISCLOSE PERSONAL INFORMATION?
At Riverfront, we are obliged to keep your Demographic Information and Health Information confidential except when authorized by you. We use Personal Information for the purposes described above.
In some cases, your consent to the use and/or disclosure of your Personal Information will be obtained verbally or in writing, through an informed consent form. In other cases, such as when an appointment is made over the Internet, your consent will be obtained electronically. In providing healthcare services, as outlined in the Canadian Medical Association’s discussion on privacy in medical practices, consent is implied for the collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information needed for care and treatment.
Your provision of Personal Information to Riverfront means that you agree and consent that we may collect, use and disclose your Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with these terms, you are requested not to provide any Personal Information to Riverfront.
Remember, the choice to provide us with Personal Information is always yours, and your consent for us to use your Personal Information can be withdrawn in writing at any time. However, in providing healthcare services, your decision to withhold particular details may limit the services we are able to provide and make it more difficult for us to advise you, provide services to you, ensure the follow-up required by certain conditions, or suggest appropriate alternatives.
If we are unable to accommodate your request based on the information that has been provided, we may ask for additional details in order to identify other ways to be of assistance. In some instances, we may also maintain a file containing contact history that is used for customer inquiry purposes.
Our Employees
In the course of daily operations, access to private, sensitive and confidential information is restricted to authorized employees who have a legitimate business purpose and reason for accessing it. For example, when you call us, visit our offices, or e-mail us, our designated employees will access your information to assist you in providing services to you.
Unauthorized access to and/or disclosure of client information by an employee of Riverfront is strictly prohibited. All employees are expected to maintain the confidentiality of Personal Information at all times and failing to do so will result in appropriate disciplinary measures, which may include dismissal.
Outside Service Suppliers
At Riverfront, in order to provide certain services, we sometimes contract outside organizations or health professionals to perform specialized services such as independent medical evaluations, paramedical examinations, or data processing. Our trusted service suppliers may at times be responsible for processing and handling some of the information we receive from you. For example, in order to perform an independent medical evaluation, we are required to provide the independent physician with enough Personal Information for them to be able to perform their role. Another example would be referring you to a specialist physician for additional tests – we need to be able to provide them with enough Personal Information to be able to assist you.
In these cases, Riverfront may disclose Personal Information to organizations that perform services on our behalf. Personal Information will only be provided to such organizations if they agree to use such information solely for the purposes of providing services to Riverfront and under the instruction of Riverfront and, with respect to that information, to act in a manner consistent with the relevant principles articulated in this Policy.
WHEN WOULD WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION WITHOUT YOUR CONSENT?
Please note that there are circumstances where the use and/or disclosure of Demographic Information and/or Health Information may be justified or permitted or where Riverfront is obliged to disclose information without your consent. Such circumstances may include:
• Where required by law or by order or requirement of a court, administrative agency or other governmental tribunal (in this case, only the information specifically requested is disclosed and we take precautions to satisfy ourselves that the authorities that are making the request have legitimate grounds to do so);
• Where Riverfront believes, upon reasonable grounds, that it is necessary to protect the rights, privacy, safety or property of an identifiable person or group, including for the purpose of acting in respect of an emergency that threatens the life, health or security of an individual;
• Where it is necessary to permit Riverfront to pursue available remedies or limit any damages that Riverfront may sustain; or
• Where such information is already in the public domain.
Where obliged or permitted to disclose information without consent, Riverfront will not disclose more information than is required, and when disclosed in the context of an emergency that threatens the life, health or security of an individual, we will inform the individual afterwards in writing regarding the disclosure.
Riverfront does not sell, trade, barter or exchange for consideration any Personal Information it has obtained.
ACCURACY OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
At Riverfront, decisions, including healthcare recommendations, are often made based on the information we have. Therefore, it is important that your personal and health information is accurate and complete. We endeavor to ensure that any Personal Information provided and in its possession is as accurate, current and complete as necessary for the purposes for which Riverfront uses that information.
As a client, you can request to check your information to verify, update and correct it (where applicable).
Requests for access to your Personal Information should be made in writing (see the Contact Us section in this document for the information). After receiving the request, we will provide you with a reasonable cost estimate that reflects the cost of photocopying and staff time for generating the photocopied records. When the request is to see Health Information, in certain cases, the physician will review the record with those staff entrusted with this task.
If you only wish to view the original record, one of our staff must be present to maintain the integrity of the record. Again, a request to do so must be made in writing, and we will provide you with a reasonable cost estimate that reflects the cost of staff time.
As per our obligations as healthcare providers, we will only refuse access to medical records in extremely limited circumstances. For example, when the information could reasonably be expected to seriously endanger the mental or physical health or safety of the individual making the request or another person. Or if disclosure of the information would reveal personal health information about another person who has not consented to the disclosure. In this case, we will do our best to separate out this information and disclose only what we can.
If you have a sensory disability, we will give you access to your personal information in any alternative format you request if we already have it in that format or if its conversion into that format is reasonable and necessary in order for you to be able to exercise your rights under applicable legislation. Again, a request to view your Personal Information in an alternative format must be made in writing, and we will provide you with a reasonable cost estimate that reflects the cost for such conversion.
CORRECTING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
Despite our best efforts, errors sometimes do occur. Should you identify any incorrect or out-of-date information in your file(s), we will make the proper annotations and provide you with a copy of the corrected information. Where appropriate and/or applicable, we will communicate these changes to other parties who may have unintentionally received incorrect information from us. If a third party has given us information which you tell us is wrong, we'll give you the name and address of that party so that you can correct the information.
For corrections to your Health Information, you can request changes to be made to your record and this request will be documented by an annotation in the record. However, we will only make changes to reflect factual inaccuracies, rather than correcting medical opinions, diagnoses, laboratory evaluations or other medical evidence, which we as healthcare providers are required to keep.
All requests to access, or to make corrections and changes to your Personal Information must be made to us in writing.
We will deal quickly with your request to see your information, and always respond to you within 30 days. If we need to extend the time, or we have to refuse your request, we'll tell you why, subject to any legal restrictions and we'll notify you of the new deadline, the reasons for the extension, and your rights under applicable legislation respecting the extension.
RETENTION & DISPOSAL OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Riverfront keeps Personal Information only as long as it is required for the reasons it was collected. The length of time we retain information varies, depending on the product or service and the nature of the information. This period may extend beyond the end of a person's relationship with us but it will be only for so long as it is necessary for us to have sufficient information to respond to any issues that may arise at a later date.
For Health Information, depending on the particular service offered, we retain patient medical records at least as long as required by law and provincial health regulations. In certain cases, this is 3 to 7 years after the examination, or 7 years after the last entry in the medical record.
Currently, the principal places in which Riverfront holds Personal Information is in Riverfront’s Toronto head office and nearby municipalities where off-site storage facilities may be located, or, in instances where Riverfront uses third party contractors to provide services to you (e.g., Physicians who perform independent medical evaluations, or nurses who perform paramedical examinations), at such premises for those third party contractors.
When your Personal Information is no longer required for Riverfront’s purposes, we have procedures to destroy, delete, erase or convert it into an anonymous form.
We destroy our records in a way that protects patient privacy in accordance with regulations made under appropriate provincial legislation. We use supervised shredding contractors who must adhere to contractual privacy obligations.
SECURITY
At Riverfront, we use technology and maintain security standards to ensure that your Personal Information is protected against unauthorized access, disclosure, inappropriate alteration or misuse. All safety and security measures are also appropriate to the sensitivity level of your information.
Riverfront further protects Personal Information by restricting access to it to those employees that the management of Riverfront has determined need to know that information in order that Riverfront may provide its services.
Client Files
Electronic client files are kept in a secured environment with restricted access. Paper-based files are stored in locked fire-resistant filing cabinets or filing rooms equipped with sprinkler systems.
Electronic Security
We manage our server environment appropriately and our firewall infrastructure is strictly adhered to. Our security practices are reviewed on a regular basis and we routinely employ current technologies to ensure that the confidentiality and privacy of your information is not compromised.
Our computer security specialists build security into all our computer systems. For information stored in electronic format, this protects your information at all times, when it is stored in data files or handled by our employees. Our systems also protect your information if and when it is transmitted, for example, between our offices.
Our web sites or web applications where Personal Information is collected or stored use Secure Socket Layer (SSL) and 128 bit encryption technologies to enhance security when you visit the secured areas of these sites. SSL is the industry standard tool for protecting and maintaining the security of message transmissions over the Internet. When we access or send information from secured sites, encryption will scramble your data into an unreadable format to inhibit unauthorized access by others.
AMENDMENT OF RIVERFRONT PRACTICES AND THIS POLICY
This statement is in effect as of July 1, 2007. Riverfront will from time to time review and revise its privacy practices and this Policy. In the event of any amendment, an appropriate notice will be posted on Riverfront web site. Policy changes will apply to the information collected from the date of posting of the revised Policy to Riverfront’s web site as well as to existing information held by Riverfront.
QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS POLICY
In the event an individual has questions about (a) access to Personal Information; (b) the collection, use, management or disclosure of your Personal Information; or (c) this Policy, that person should contact the Chief Privacy Officer in writing.
At Riverfront, we are committed to maintaining and protecting the Personal Information under our control. In fulfilling this mandate, we have designated an individual (and in certain cases, individuals) who are accountable for our compliance with this Policy.
If you have any concerns, inquiries or suggestions regarding this Policy, please submit them in writing (either by fax, mail or e-mail) to:
Mail: Attention of: Chief Privacy Officer
180 Dundas Street West
Suite 1050
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1Z8
E-Mail: info@riverfrontmed.com
Fax: (416) 599-1530
We will deal quickly with your request to see your information, and always respond to you within 30 days. If we need to extend the time, or we have to refuse your request, we'll tell you why, subject to any legal restrictions and we'll notify you of the new deadline, the reasons for the extension, and your rights under applicable legislation respecting the extension. We will also maintain a record of all complaints and decisions regarding Personal Information on file.
Individuals who feel that their privacy rights have been infringed upon can complain to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. The Commissioner’s role is that of an ombudsman, trying to find solutions to privacy problems, and resolving complains through negotiation and persuasion, and using mediation and conciliation if appropriate.
Please visit the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s website at http://www.privcom.gc.ca for details
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