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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

Privacy Compliance and Technology in Healthcare

Posted on March 7, 2021 by Meghan in Blog

Privacy Compliance and Technology in Healthcare

Event by Rafiki Technologies with Information Managers

 

A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is a practical business tool in your healthcare practice.

A PIA is an important tool that you can use to help you with project management.

It will help you anticipate risks to the project before it starts and avoid serious problems, wasted time and money.

The PIA process requires you to have written policies and procedures so that you can implement the project effectively and train your staff consistently.

Sometimes a PIA is a requirement of legislation. But it is always a best practice whenever you implement a project that includes personal health information.

Join Rafiki Technologies’ Naheed Shivji and Information Managers’ Jean L. Eaton for a guide to successfully keep your patients’ information safe, follow cyber security best practices, and comply with the requirements of the Health Information Act (HIA).

This on-line workshop will provide you with practical tips to plan your Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) amendment as well as a strategic cybersecurity checklist.

Who Should Attend?

  • Medical, dental, chiropractic, optometric, pharmacy practices in Alberta.
  • Clinic manager, privacy officer or administrative lead responsible for updating your Privacy Impact Assessment.
  • Healthcare provider

Join Naheed Shivji and Jean L. Eaton for a guide to your PIA completion and technology requirements

Thursday, March 18th, 2021

6:00 PM – 7:00 PM MT

Free Registration

 

Click the button below to register for the workshop!

Register for the Complimentary Workshop HERE!
speakers lady man

Meet Naheed Shivji, Founder & President of Rafiki Technologies Inc.

Naheed has more than 20 years of experience in IT with expertise in the dental industry. He is a passionate entrepreneur helping companies understand and embrace technology and is always searching for business best-practices while giving back to the community.

Naheed works hands-on with his clients to develop winning IT strategies and smooth implementations. He is constantly learning and adapting to industry trends to maintain Rafiki Technologies’ position as a leading managed IT services company in Canada.

Meet Jean L. Eaton, BA Admin (Healthcare), CHIM, CC

Your Practical Privacy Coach and Practice Management Mentor with Information Managers Ltd.

Jean has helped hundreds of physicians, chiropractors, pharmacists, and other healthcare providers complete their Privacy Impact Assessment. She has visited hundreds of practices across Canada.

Jean helps independent healthcare practices with practice administration, privacy awareness, privacy breach management, and legislated regulation compliance in Canada.

Jean's career started as a receptionist and transcriptionist in a busy family medical walk-in practice. She moved into health records and health information management and hospital administration in hospitals, regional health authorities, cancer agencies across Canada and Alberta Health.

Now, Jean specializes her consulting practice to independent healthcare practices who want to start, grow, or improve their practice administration so that healthcare providers can focus on providing quality healthcare services. Jean provides training to businesses including healthcare on practical privacy and security best practices and privacy breach management.

If you are starting your new practice and need your first Privacy Impact Assessment, see our available consultation options here.

You May Also Be Interested In:

 

“What is a Privacy Impact Assessment?”

Read the article and watch the short video now to take a look at what is a PIA, what will a PIA do for you, when you need a PIA, and what is the PIA process.

You can also listen to the Practice Management Nuggets podcast episode here.  

 

“How Long Does it Take to do a New Privacy Impact Assessment?”

Ideally, you should start the Privacy Impact Assessment process 3- 6 months prior to your go-live date. Find out more by reading the article.

cybersecurity, dentist, healthcare, privacy, privacy compliance, privacy consultant, Privacy Impact Assessment, security, technology

New Health Information Policy and Procedure Manuals!

Posted on November 23, 2020 by Meghan in Blog

Written Health Information Policies and Procedures

Most healthcare practices have good systems in place to properly collect, use, and disclose health information – but most practices don’t have these in writing!

Patients have the right to access their personal health information but yet frequently complain about long wait times and uncooperative front office staff when trying to request their personal information.

New staff members are hired and don’t receive clear written instructions on how to perform routine health information management tasks.

Why do these same problems repeatedly appear in practice audits and privacy complaints?

The most common reason that I see is incomplete, outdated or missing written policies and procedures! It doesn’t have to be this way.

I have seen how privacy compliance and patient satisfaction improves when practices have access to written templates. But templates and checklists alone are not enough!

You know your practice better than anyone else. When you customize standard policies and procedures to best reflect your practice, you develop strategies for your daily tasks.

And, when your team receives short on-demand video tutorials about the purpose of the policies and procedures and how it impacts patient care, the staff better understand and more consistently follow the policies and procedures.

That’s why I’ve developed the Health Information Privacy and Security Policies and Procedures Manual with templates and training to help you with your health information practice management and practice management. These policies and procedures have been implemented in hundreds of practices across Alberta and Canada.

I have consulted with medical, pharmacy, chiropractic, nursing, and nurse practitioners to create practical policies and procedures for them. Now, I’ve used these best practices as templates that you can use right away!

Now For Chiropractic and Nursing, Too!

Your healthcare practice needs a Health Information Policy and Procedure Manual. Written policies and procedures assist you to correctly, efficiently, and confidently collect, use, access, and disclose health information so that you can meet your accreditation, privacy impact assessment, and regulatory compliance requirements.

  • Starting with a template saves you time and money
  • Be privacy and security compliant
  • No special software to buy or learn
  • Use your existing MS Word and MS Excel office productivity software
  • One-time fee
  • On-line support
  • Available now!
Health Information Policy and Procedure Manual

Click the >> arrow to watch a short demo of the robust manual you can create quicker than you thought possible!

Different Policy and Procedure versions available for your specific type of healthcare practice

Medical Doctor

Medical Practice

Dental Practice

Dental Practice

Chiropractor

NEW!

Chiropractic Practice

Nurse Practitioner

NEW!

Nurse Practitioner Practice

Registered Nurse

NEW!

Registered Nurse Practice

Health Information Policy and Procedure Manuals ready for you now!

Step 1: Complete the questionnaire and download the templates

Step 2: Easily generate draft 24+ policies and 28+ procedures and forms using MS Word

Step 3: Edit the documents

Step 4: Video coaching and best practices for the policies and procedures and implementation tips

Step 5: Customize for your healthcare practice

Step 6: Video orientation for your employees

Get the Reliability And Power of Policy and Procedure Templates Without Spending Hours (or Days) Creating Them.

Show me the Policy and Procedure Templates!

Did you enjoy this article? If you’d like to look at similar posts, visit these links:

Do You Know Where Your Policies and Procedures Are? 

Why Do You Need Health Information Policies and Procedures?

Healthcare Policies And Procedures: Essential in EVERY Practice

Do You Use Employee Privacy and Security Policy and Procedure Checklist Templates?

chiropractors, dentist, health information, Health Information Act, healthcare, medical clinic, Nurse Practitioners, Policies and procedures, policy, privacy and security, Privacy Impact Assessment, procedure, Registered Nurses, template

Improved Communication, Improved Dental Business

Posted on November 5, 2019 by Jean Eaton in Blog

Would you like to increase your dental business practice revenue immediately?

Maybe you have a need to maximize efficiencies and create your dream team.

Dr. Angela Mulrooney believes that when you focus on communication with your customers and create consistency in your dental practice, you will increase your revenue and reduce your working hours.

Angela Mulrooney is the Business Doctor, and today she is my guest expert.

Meet Dr. Angela Mulrooney

Angela Mulrooney is published author, a retired dentist, and a dental practice coach who resides in Calgary.

Angela Mulrooney discussed how communication with patients and your team and a marketing strategy can improve your business.

If you would like to transform your dental practice and maximize the potential within the practice so that you can focus on spending more time with patients, giving them the best care that you possibly can while trying to level up everyone's skills in the practice as well, be sure to tune in to my interview with Dr. Angela Mulrooney, Improved Communication, Improved Business Episode | #081.

Don’t Miss This!

Angela has a generous offer for you to get a complimentary 1 hour strategy call to discuss your practice.

Listen to the Practice Management Nuggets Podcast For Your Healthcare Practice Here.

#PracticeManagementNuggets, #SocialMediaGuru, Angela Mulrooney, business, coaching, dental, dental business My Business Doctor, dentist, marketing

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

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dental, dental hygienist, dentist, healthcare, PIA, Privacy Impact Assessment

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