Information Managers
  • Home
  • Services
    • All Services
  • Templates
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Practice Management Success
  • Podcasts

Why Would a Dentist Want Access to the Alberta Netcare Portal?

Posted on April 27, 2021 by Meghan in Blog

Why Would A Dentist Want Access To The Alberta Netcare Portal?

As a dentist or dental hygienist, if you have concerns about a patient’s health history, you may want to have access to the Alberta Netcare Portal to view the patient's history of health concerns and current medications.

Alberta Netcare provides personal health information that is available through a province-wide electronic record system under the authority of the Health Information Act (HIA).

Whether a dentist uses paper records, electronic dental records (EDR), or electronic medical records (EMR), using the Alberta Netcare Portal will help dentists monitor their patient’s interactions with other parts of the health care system.

What is the Alberta Netcare Portal?

Alberta Netcare Portal is the secure vehicle through which patient health information from a variety of health care providers is shared and accessed electronically, by independent and hospital-based health service providers like dentists, physicians, nurses and pharmacists. The Alberta Netcare Portal is a data collection centre for registries and systems such as laboratories, diagnostic imaging facilities, hospitals and some specialized clinics. Alberta Health and Wellness is the Netcare information manager.

Dentist Access Alberta Netcare

Dentists and Dental Hygienists Are Custodians

Dentists were designated in 2010 as authorized custodians under the Health information Act (HIA). Dentists can now request access to Alberta Netcare by showing that they meet the Netcare requirements.

Dentists who manage patients with complex medical conditions or for the provision of treatment requiring sedation or general anaesthesia may require additional information about the patients’ health history. Dentists can use Alberta Netcare Portal to view medication profiles, laboratory data and tests results.

Ensuring reasonable safeguards to protect the privacy and security of personal health information of your patients and residents of Alberta is critical! We want everyone who has access to these health data repositories to follow the same best privacy and security practices. The HIA has regulated requirements for all custodians to follow.

Dentist Access Netcare

Everyone needs to follow the rules to play in the sandbox!

How To Get Started

Before you are granted access to Alberta Netcare Portal, you must complete the following steps.

Dentist Access Alberta Netcare

Step 1: Create or update your Health Information Management Privacy and Security Policies and Procedures including the rules governing the access, collection, use, of health information from Alberta Netcare.

Step 2: Complete a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) and submit this to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for review. For more information on how to complete a PIA, click here.

Step 3: Train your team on privacy awareness. I recommend the Privacy Awareness in Health Care Training — Dental Practices.

Step 4: Contact the eHealth Netcare Support Services Team.

Step 5: Complete a Provincial Organizational Readiness Assessment (pORA). See What is a pORA.

Step 6: Sign an Informational Manager Agreement (IMA) and Review Informational Exchange Protocol (IEP) with Alberta Netcare

For more tips on implementing reasonable privacy and security safeguards for your dental practice, see https://informationmanagers.ca/privacy-impact-assessment-pia/.

You can also watch the FAQ video on this topic by clicking the button below!

Watch the FAQ Video HERE!

You May Also Be Interested In:

What is a pORA?

New Health Information Policy and Procedure Manuals

Do You Need An Expedited Netcare Privacy Impact Assessment?

Who Is Doing the Recalls In Your Dental Practice?

Privacy Awareness in Healthcare Training: Dental Practices

Privacy Impact Assessment – Consultation Options Available!

Jean Eaton

When we know better, we can do better…

Jean Eaton is constructively obsessive about privacy, confidentiality, and security especially when it comes to the handling of personal health information. If you would like to discuss how I can help your practice, just send me an email. I am here to help you.

Jean L. Eaton
Your Practical Privacy Coach
INFORMATION MANAGERS

Alberta Netcare, ANP, dental hygienist, dentist, healthcare, PIA, PIA Consultant, privacy, Privacy Impact Assessment

Does a Dentist Need a PIA?

Posted on May 22, 2018 by Jean Eaton in Blog
Have you ever said…

“If only I had someone to ask!”

Each month, we discuss your questions about practice management, human resources issues, clinic management best practices, procedures, resources, practical privacy tips, and more in Practice Management Success membership.

 

In this Q&A, we're talking about: Does a Dentist Need a PIA?

If you are a member of Practice Management Success, login and join me now on the webinar. The replay will be available in your membership area.

I’ve had a dental practice for 10 years. Do I need a PIA?

 

In Alberta, the Health Information Act (HIA) was proclaimed in 2001.

Dentists and dental hygienists were named as a designated health professional under the HIA in March 2011.

A custodian as defined by the HIA is defined

1) as a member of a Regulated Health Profession

2) the Health Profession is named in the HIA as a custodian

3) the individual is acting as a custodian

There is a ‘grandfathering’ period when custodians who were already in practice at the time are not required to submit a privacy impact assessment (PIA). The dental practice, of course, must meet all of their dental college requirements including appropriate privacy and security policies, procedures, and reasonable safeguards to protect the privacy, confidentiality, and security of personal health information.

If  (when) you have had any changes to your practice, you need to complete a PIA. For example, since 2011, have you had any changes to:

  • administrative practice, for example, changes to billing practices, third party contractors, moving to a new location, etc.
  • information system, for example, computer network changes, remote backup, or practice management or EMR software
  • practices relating to the collection, use, disclosure of personal (health) information
  • new or changes to your current information flow (for example new projects, stakeholders, Netcare)
  • legislation (i.e. research)
  • any new risks to the privacy of health information
  • custodians, for example custodians (including dentists and dental hygienists) leaving or joining your practice

The PIA is a process that assists custodians to review the impact that an implementation of a new administrative practice, information system, or change to existing practices or systems relating to the collection, use and disclosure of individually identifying health information, may have on individual privacy.

A PIA describes the information flows in the project, identifies the legal authorities that allow for the flow of information, assesses potential impacts on and risks to privacy and identifies mitigation strategies to minimize the risks.

The process is designed to ensure that the custodian evaluates the new practice or proposed change to ensure technical compliance with the HIA as well as assessing the broader privacy implications for individuals.

Often, the Privacy Officer of the dental practice completes the Privacy Impact Assessment.  However, the custodian or CEO is responsible for the Privacy Impact Assessment.

Privacy principles and legal authority determine compliance obligations.

If you don't have a PIA already for your dental practice, and you were in practice prior to 2011, you probably will need a PIA soon. If you opened your practice after 2011, or are just planning your practice now, you need a PIA.

For more information about PIA's, pop over to our resource page here:

Tell me more about PIA's

Want more content like this?

Get Your Practice Management Success membership
dental, dental hygienist, dentist, healthcare, PIA, Privacy Impact Assessment

Recruit Admin and Support Staff for Your Healthcare Practice

Posted on March 24, 2018 by Jean Eaton in Blog, Clinic Manager / Privacy Officer, New Practice

Information Managers can assist your healthcare practice in Alberta to recruit administrative and support staff. Recruiting is one of our Virtual Clinic Manager Services.

 


 

What is the Virtual Clinic Manager?

We are not an employment agency – we can help you recruit to fill your vacancies in your healthcare practice.

This might include:

  • Create customized job description, job posting, on-line application form.
  • Distribute advertising for the opening to multiple locations.
  • Receive application forms and create and maintain a database of applicants. This will help to quickly review incoming applications and follow-up with candidates. The applications will come directly to Information Managers. The client will receive the information from all candidates.
  • Screen candidates by telephone. When I identify a candidate(s) that meets your requirements, I will contact the client. You can decide at that time if you want me to do the first in-person interview with the candidate or if you want me to do the first in-person interview.
  • After the interview, I can assist you with the reference checking and follow-up with the candidate. This may include a thank you notice to the candidates selected for a telephone interview and draft letter of offer to the successful candidate.
Show Me More About VCM Services

Contact Jean to discuss if our Virtual Clinic Manager Service is for you. Email

Alberta, clinic manager, dental associate, dental hygienist, Edmonton, healthcare, interpreter, job, job posting, medical office assistant, MOA, opportunities, practice manager, receptionist, recruit, recruiting

Search the site

What is the elephant in the room?

The Elephant in the Room Find out here...

Privacy Policy

"The 15 Day Privacy Challenge has given me some great resource information and helped me to identify the areas that I need to work on. I found value in almost all of the Privacy Challenges, but I would say Risk Assessment, Social Media, Email Phishing and Spam, and Confidentiality are the top four."

- Sharon

Register for Free On-line Privacy Breach Awareness Training!

Privacy Policy

Copyright 2022 Information Managers Ltd.

Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}