Lung Health Foundation Health Privacy Policy Public Notice
We are committed to promoting privacy and protecting the confidentiality of the personal information and health information we hold about our clients. Everyone at Lung Health Foundation is bound by confidentiality.
HEALTH RECORD
Lung Health Foundation is a “health information custodian” under the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA) for health care services provided by our health care practitioners.
Specifically, Lung Health Foundation health care practitioners offer client self-management visits, over the phone or via videoconference, through which clients are provided with individualized education and advice, based on their assessed needs.
If you receive these services, your health record with the Lung Health Foundation includes information relevant to your health, potentially including your date of birth, contact information, health history, family health history, details of your physical and mental health, record of your visits, the care and support you received during those visits, results from assessments, and information from other health care providers.
Your record is our property, but the information belongs to you.
With limited exceptions, you have the right to access the health information we hold about you, whether in the health record or elsewhere.
You can request a copy of your record. If you wish to view the original record, one of our staff members must be present. If you need a copy of your health record, please contact our Privacy Officer, as outlined at the bottom of this statement, or ask your health care provider who will explain the process. A copy will be provided at a reasonable fee. In rare situations, you may be denied access to some or all of your record (with any such denial being in accordance with applicable law).
We try to keep your record accurate and up-to-date. Please let us know if you disagree with what is recorded, and in most cases we will be able to make the change or otherwise we will ask you to write a statement of disagreement and we will attach that statement to your record.
Please note: some Lung Health Foundation programs and services—and activities more broadly—collect, use and disclose health information and/or other personal information that we protect as personal information but that is not subject to PHIPA or any other privacy legislation. Those activities are covered by Lung Health Foundation’s Privacy Policy. For example, Lung Health Foundation in some circumstances delivers condition-specific exercise programming in small groups and support groups for people living with lung disease (and/or caregivers)—but these services are not considered health care services, and the information we collect through them is not subject to PHIPA.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Everyone here is bound by confidentiality. We have to protect your information from loss or theft and make sure no one looks at it or does something with your information if they are not involved with your care or allowed as part of their job. If there is a privacy breach, we will tell you.
OUR PRACTICES
We collect, use and disclose (meaning share) your health information to:
- Treat and care for you
- Provide services to you
- Provide appointment or preventative care reminders to you and/or send client surveys to you
- Update you of upcoming events, activities and programs
- Coordinate your care with your other health care providers and services, including potentially through shared electronic health information systems
Deliver and evaluate our programs - Plan, administer and manage our internal operations
Be paid or process, monitor, verify or reimburse claims for payment
Conduct risk management, error management and quality improvement activities
Educate our staff and students
Respond to or initiate proceedings
Conduct research (subject to certain rules)
Compile statistics
Allow for the analysis, administration and management of the health system
Comply with legal and regulatory requirements
Fulfill other purposes permitted or required by law - In collecting your health information, we may seek your consent, where appropriate, to use or disclose it in specific contexts—including some of the contexts identified above. And when it is no longer required to fulfill the identified purposes the information is destroyed, erased, or made anonymous safely and securely.
Our collection, use and disclosure (sharing) of your personal health information is done in accordance with Ontario law.
YOUR CHOICES AND WHO DECIDES
You have a right to make choices and control how your health information is collected, used, and disclosed, subject to some limits.
You may make your own decisions if you are “capable”. Your health care provider will decide if you are capable based on a test the law sets out. You may be capable of making some information privacy decisions and not others. If you are not capable, you will have a substitute decision-maker who will make your information decisions for you. Who can act as a substitute decision-maker and what they have to do is also set out in law.
For children, there is no magic age when you become able to make your own decisions about your health information. If you are capable, you can make your own decisions. However, if you are under the age of 16, there are some additional rules to know. If you are capable to make your own information decisions, your parent(s) or guardian will also be allowed to make some decisions about your health record. But they won’t be able to make decisions about any records about treatment or counseling where we asked for your permission alone. We encourage you to share information with your family to have supports you need. And we also encourage you to ask your health care provider questions to find out more about privacy and your family.
We assume that when you come to have health care from us, you have given us your permission (your consent) to use your information, unless you tell us otherwise. We may also collect, use and share your health information in order to talk with other health care providers about your care unless you tell us you do not want us to do so.
You have the right to ask that we not share some or all of your health record with one or more of our team members or ask us not to share your health record with one or more of your external health care providers. This is known as asking for a “lockbox”. If you would like to know more, please contact our Privacy officer, as outlined at the bottom of this statement.
There are other cases where we are not allowed to assume we have your permission to share information. We may need permission to communicate with any family members or friends with whom you would like us to share information about your health (unless someone is your substitute decision-maker). We will need your permission to give your health information to organizations outside of Lung Health Foundation, such as your insurance company or employer. If you have questions, we can explain this to you.
When we require and ask for your permission, you may choose to say “no”. If you say “yes”, you may change your mind at any time. Once you say “no”, we will no longer share your information unless you say so. Your choice to say no may be subject to some limits.
But, there are cases where we may collect, use or share your health information without your permission, as permitted or required by law. For example, we do not require your permission to use your information for billing, risk or error management, or quality improvement purposes. We also do not need your permission to share your health information to keep you or someone else safe (to eliminate or reduce a significant risk of serious bodily harm); or to meet reporting obligations under other laws.
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR COMPLAINTS
If you would like a copy of our Health Privacy Policy, please contact us and we’ll be happy to provide it.
We encourage you to contact us with any questions or concerns you might have about our privacy practices. You can reach our Privacy Officer at:
Suresh Naraine
Chief Financial Officer & Corporate Secretary
Telephone: 416 864-9911 ext. 263
Email: snaraine@lunghealth.ca
Address: Lung Health Foundation, 18 Wynford Drive, Suite 401, Toronto ON M3C 0K8
If, after contacting us, you feel that your health privacy concerns have not been addressed to your satisfaction, you have the right to complain to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. The Commissioner can be reached at:
Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1400
Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8
1-800-387-0073
1-416-325-9195 (fax)
www.ipc.on.ca