Written Statement of Practices

What is Personal Health Information?

Personal Health Information (PHI): refers to information about an identifiable individual that relates to:

the individual’s health or health care history, including genetic information about the individual
the provision of health care to the individual, or
payment for health care provided to the individual, and includes:
– the Personal Health Identification Number (PHIN) and any other identifying number, symbol or particular assigned to an individual, and
– any identifying information about the individual that is collected in the course of, and is incidental to, the provision of health care or payment for health care.

What is Personal Information?

Personal Information: refers to information about an identifiable individual including:

the individual’s name
home address, or personal phone/fax number or personal email address,
ancestry, race, colour, nationality, or national or ethnic origin,
religion or creed, or religious belief, association or activity
blood type, fingerprints or other hereditary characteristics
political belief, association or activity
education, employment or occupation, or educational, employment or occupational history
source of income or financial circumstances, activities or history
criminal history, including regulatory offences
involvement in legal matters

Collection, Use & Disclosure

Your personal information is protected by the Federal Government’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and your personal health information is protected by the Protection of Privacy Provisions of Personal Health Information Act (PHIA).

Personal information and personal health information is confidential and is collected directly from the client when possible or by a person acting on their behalf. Personal health information may also be collected from other sources with the client’s consent or where it is permitted by law. To provide physiotherapy services, Parks Edge Physiotherapy will collect, retain, use and disclose personal information/personal health information deemed necessary to fulfill the following purposes:

To provide assessment and treatment services
To satisfy the requirements of any claims submitted on the client’s behalf to Third Party insurers and their service providers
To receive or directly invoice for a client’s payment for treatment and care (e.g., WCB, MPI,
private insurers, others);
To comply with legal or regulatory requirements
To fulfill other purposes permitted or required by law
To conduct risk management and quality improvement activities
To contact a client about services they have received or services we’re offering. This may
include (without limitation): follow-up calls or appointment reminders, newsletters, notices
of classes.

Your Rights

Consent to sharing personal health information can be withdrawn unless permitted or required by law.
Personal health information can be accessed or corrected at any time with limited exceptions.
Confidentiality complaints can be directed to the Parks Edge Physiotherapy privacy official. Unresolved complaints can be directed to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada or the Manitoba Ombudsman, an independent authority who can investigate complaints.

Our Responsibility

Staff are trained in accessing, using, disclosing and discussing confidential information only where required in the performance of one’s job duties and responsibilities. Only the minimum amount of information is communicated on a “need to know” basis. Privacy audits are conducted regularly to monitor and manage privacy compliance. Guidelines set by PHIA will be followed in response to complaints, inquiries, and requests to access personal health information and implement breach and incident management protocols.

Storage

Confidential information may be processed and stored electronically on the computer or through third party service provider on the cloud or in paper form. Administrative, physical and technical safeguards are used to protect confidential information. Protection methods may include confidentiality disclaimers, encryption, firewalls, password protection and locked storage.

Destruction

The College of Physiotherapy of Manitoba requires personal health information to be retained for a minimum of 7 years for an adult and until the age of 25 for a minor. Records maintained in paper form will be shredded and electronic records will be deleted once the retention period has been satisfied. When computer hardware is discarded, the hard drive will be physically destroyed.

Questions

If you have any questions about the collection of your personal or personal health information, contact our privacy official Kara Braschuk MPT 420 Main Street North, Dauphin, MB, Ph #204-638-9642

We ask that you first try to resolve any complaints about access or privacy of confidential information with us. Any unresolved complaints regarding:

personal health information can be directed to the Manitoba Ombudsman by calling (204) 982-9130 or 1-800-665-0531 (toll free)
personal information can be directed to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada 1-800-282-1376 (toll free)
physiotherapy treatment or physiotherapist’s conduct can be directed to the Manitoba College of Physiotherapists(204) 287-8502