The Health Information Protection Act (HIPA) and Regulations legislate privacy protection and obligations of trustees in the health system.
The privacy and protection of your personal health information has always been a priority in Saskatchewan. When you receive health services in the province, you rightfully expect that government institutions, health providers, and administrators provide the highest level of protection regarding the collection, use, disclosure and safekeeping of your personal health information.
HIPA was developed to protect the privacy of your personal health information and ensures that information is available when needed to provide you with services and to monitor, evaluate and improve the health system in Saskatchewan.
HIPA also identifies specific rights that individuals have with respect to their personal health information. These rights are important because they ensure that you will be involved in decisions about your personal health information.
HIPA applies to individuals and organizations who are part of Saskatchewan's health system and who have custody or control of personal health information. The Act calls them trustees to reflect the fact that they hold your personal health information "in trust" and must manage it with your best interests in mind. Examples of a trustee include, but are not limited to:
- Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA);
- Regulated health professionals (e.g. physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists);
- Hospitals;
- Ambulance operators; and
- Government institutions in Saskatchewan as defined in The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
Trustees are required to protect the privacy of personal health information in their custody or control and to respect the rights of individuals identified in the Act. Trustees must follow all the rules regarding collection, use, disclosure, storage, retention and destruction of records containing personal health information.
HIPA identifies several rules that trustees must follow for the collection, use and disclosure of your personal health information. Among others, some of these rules include:
- The primary purpose for collecting personal health information must be for the benefit of the individual;
- Trustees should only collect, use or disclose personal health information that they need to know to provide you with a service; and
- Trustees must also have practices in place that will protect the safekeeping of personal health information.
HIPA applies to personal health information in the custody or control of a trustee. Personal health information is information about your physical or mental health as well as information gathered in the course of providing you with a health service. It also includes information collected to register you for a service (health services number, name, address, gender, date of birth). Personal health information can be in any form, including traditional paper records, electronic records on computers, microfilm, and x-ray film to name a few. Examples of personal health information include but are not limited to:
- A medical record held by a health professional;
- A patient record held by a hospital;
- Registration information held by eHealth Saskatchewan to register individuals for insured services; and
- Records of prescriptions filled by a pharmacist.
Rights of individuals
HIPA describes a number of rights that you have with respect to your personal health information. These rights include:
- The right to consent to use and disclosure. It should be noted that there are circumstances identified in HIPA where consent of the individual is not required for use or disclosure of an individual's personal health information.
- The right to revoke consent to the use or disclosure.
- The right to prevent access to a comprehensive health record.
- The right to be informed by trustees about anticipated uses and disclosures.
- The right to be informed about disclosures without consent.
- The right to refuse to provide the Health Services Number as identification for a non-health service.
- The right to access personal health information about oneself.
- The right to request amendments to records of personal health information about oneself.
- The right to request a review by the Information and Privacy Commissioner about a decision by a trustee.
- The right to appeal to a court the decisions of a trustee.
- The right to designate another person to make decisions about one's personal health information.
The Saskatchewan Ministry of Health has limited personal health information and does not hold typical personal medical records such as doctor visits, hospital visits, lab results, x-ray results, etc. If you are seeking copies of various personal health records, you may have to request a copy of the medical file/records directly from each trustee where you have received care.
HIPA also states that a trustee has a right to charge a reasonable fee in relation to photocopying and providing a patient record. If a fee is to be charged, that fee should be fair and represent cost recovery including staff time and overhead costs. For example, the Saskatchewan Medical Association (SMA) and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan (CPSS) developed guidelines for physicians to follow when providing patient records to patients.
Health Information Protection Act Brochure
Here are the most common places to request copies of your records:
Ministry of Health Medical Services Branch
The Medical Services Branch produces Medical Statements, which are listings of physician services, the date of service, and the community where the service was provided. Complete the Medical Statement Request Application to provide consent to Medical Services Branch to produce this information.
eHealth Saskatchewan
The electronic Health Record (eHR) Viewer is a secure website authorized health care providers can use to access patient information, no matter where a patient presents for care. The types of information available in the eHR Viewer can include: laboratory results, medication and immunization information, hospital and clinical documents, medical imaging, and chronic disease information. Visit the eHealth Saskatchewan website for more information and forms on how to access information.
MySaskHealthRecord
MySaskHealthRecord is a secure website that enables Saskatchewan citizens to quickly and easily access their personal health information. Those who sign up will be able to access their information such as laboratory test results, medical imaging reports and clinical visit history (displayed as inpatient, outpatient or emergency visits to a health care facility) from across the province. All personal information in MySaskHealthRecord is stored securely and can only be accessed through a highly secure, personalized login. Visit the eHealth Saskatchewan website for more information and instructions on how to register.
Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA)
If you have received care in an SHA clinic or facility, the physical record is held by the SHA facility, but you have the right to read or request a copy of your health information. You have the choice of physically viewing your health record or receiving a copy. In either case, you may ask for help understanding what the terms, codes or abbreviations in the record mean. Visit the Saskatchewan Health Authority website for more information and forms on how to access information.
Each organization, employee or trustee that has your PHI and processes a request to provide a copy to you is bound by the duties and obligations of HIPA including requiring that only employees that "need to know" have access to your information. Typically, a request to process an access request would involve as few persons as necessary to perform the task, all of whom are bound to protect the information. If you feel that your PHI has been improperly handled or breached, you may file a complaint with that trustee or the Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner at: Toll free (within Saskatchewan): 1-877-748-2298 or by Email: webmaster@oipc.sk.ca.