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Amendments to Privacy Legislation to Improve Protection of Health Information

Released on November 26, 2014

Health Minister Dustin Duncan today introduced legislative amendments that will strengthen the protection of personal health records and increase the accountability of trustees and employees in protecting those records.  Trustees are individuals and organizations that have personal health information under their custody and control.

These amendments result from government’s support of recommendations from the Health Records Protection Working Group.  The group’s report, released in April 2014, included recommended changes to The Health Information Protection Act (HIPA) to help enforce trustees’ responsibilities under the Act, to address possible gaps in the legislation, and to put a system in place to deal with the discovery of unsecured records.

”I’m confident these amendments will help strengthen the protection of personal health records and increase the accountability of trustees and employees in protecting those records,” Duncan said.  “We take seriously the protection of privacy of personal health information of Saskatchewan residents.”

“Not only will these changes fill a legislation gap that existed previously, they will also provide peace of mind for people in this province,” Justice Minister and Attorney General Gordon Wyant said.  “I would like to thank everyone involved for their hard work on this matter.”

Amendments to HIPA include:
  • Strict liability offence:  If records are found unsecured, the trustee responsible for the records would need to show they took all reasonable steps to prevent the abandonment.  Sometimes called the “reverse onus” clause, this change will forgo a need to prove the trustee intended to abandon the records.
  • Individual offence for willful disclosure of personal information: This change will make it clear that HIPA offences for intentional disclosure of personal health information apply not only to trustees, but to individuals who are employees of trustees.
  • Snooping offence: A specific offence will be established for inappropriate use of personal health information by employees who access information without a need for that information.
  • Take control of abandoned records: A specific provision will be added to HIPA for a system to be put in place to quickly respond to a discovery of abandoned or unsecured records and to take control of the records.
The government will examine the remaining recommendations made by the Health Records Protection Working Group, including creating a single repository for abandoned records, making private record storage solutions available and clarifying the definition of “trustee” for physician practice arrangements.
The Health Records Protection Working Group was formed in 2012 after a large number of medical records was found abandoned in a Regina dumpster.

The working group included members from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Saskatchewan Medical Association, College of Pharmacists, Saskatchewan Registered Nurses Association, a patient representative, and the Ministries of Justice and Health.

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For more information, contact:

Tyler McMurchy
Health
Regina
Phone: 306-787-4083

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