Primary Care Providers may expect their patients to be asking more questions about Health Information in Netcare. Review this information and your policies and procedures with your staff so that you know how to respond.
In order to mark Data Privacy Day 2013 (January 28, 2013), the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta, Jill Clayton, has announced a new initiative to inform Albertans about their privacy rights.
Under the authority of the Health Information Act (HIA), your health information is available through the province-wide electronic record system named Alberta Netcare. Netcare is a network of information systems that allows authorized users to see prescriptions, lab results, diagnostic images, and hospital reports. It is used throughout Alberta in hospitals, and in medical clinics and pharmacies.
Consent to have your health information in Netcare is not required by law, but you do have rights that allow you to exercise privacy control.
With the provincial electronic health record system, Alberta Netcare, you have the right to:
Know why your health information is collected and whether it is available in Netcare
Know what information about you is in Netcare by asking for a print-out
Limit access to your Netcare record by asking for your information to be masked
Know who has looked at your information in Netcare
Request that errors be corrected
Ask the Information and Privacy Commissioner to review or investigate if you are not satisfied with a decision or response you receive about any of these rights
See the OIPC webpage and contact information, visit: http://www.oipc.ab.ca/pages/HIA/NetcareKnowYourRights.aspx
To view the News Release from the OIPC, visit: http://www.oipc.ab.ca/Content_Files/Files/News/NR_Netcare_Know_Rights_Jan_2013.pdf