Privacy Awareness Week 2019

Privacy Awareness Week (PAW), an initiative of the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities forum (APPA), is held every year to promote awareness of privacy issues and the importance of protecting personal information. This year, Privacy Awareness Week is celebrated May 6-10, 2019.

Protect Your Organization and Your Patients

Equip your staff with the information they need to confidently and correctly handle personal health information.

Healthcare businesses need privacy awareness training to support key policies, procedures and risk management programs need a privacy awareness training program.

Reasonable Safeguards

As an employer and health care provider, you are responsible to provide training to all of your employees about privacy awareness.

If you don’t provide the training, or if the employees don’t understand the policies and there is a privacy breach, then the healthcare provider is more likely to be held accountable under the legislation and face penalties including fines and even prison!

Patients value the privacy and security of their information.

Healthcare providers and clinic managers value privacy and security, and they value not having adverse results as a lack of compliance or patient safety issues.

Patients trust their healthcare providers with their sensitive, personal, and financial information.

If patients don’t feel that the healthcare provider will keep their information confidential and secure, patients may choose not to share their information which may impact their healthcare and treatment.

When we are privacy aware, we can better respond to patients’ questions and build their trust in the quality of services that we provide.

Avoid Fines

On August 31, 2018, amendments to the Health Information Act (HIA) came into force that introduce a fine of not less than $200,000 for a person who fails to take reasonable steps in accordance with HIA regulations to maintain safeguards to protect against reasonably anticipated threats to the security of health information (sections 107(1.1)(a) and 107(7)).

SAY NO TO SNOOPING! If an individual affiliate knowingly breaches the privacy and security of health information, and the custodian can demonstrate that reasonable safeguards (including privacy awareness training) were in place, the individual affiliate can be charged under the Health Information Act. Fines of up to $50,000 per may be applied to the individual in addition to other sanctions from their employers and/or their professional regulatory colleges where applicable. (HIA s.107)

What Will You Do To Be More #PrivacyAware?

Join Information Managers for Privacy Awareness Week! May 6-10, 2019. #PrivacyMatters!

Information Managers would like to spread the message of #PrivacyMatters to raise privacy awareness in healthcare everyday.

Share these resources in your healthcare practice to keep privacy top-of-mind and demonstrate your commitment to privacy awareness!