E-Health Privacy Legislation Finalised in British Columbia.

The following press release appeared a few days ago.

New E-Health Act To Regulate Health Records

VICTORIA – Health Services Minister George Abbott today announced regulations to bring legislation into force that supports the introduction of electronic health records while ensuring patient privacy is protected.

“The E-Health Act is another step towards faster, safer healthcare in a secure electronic environment,” said Health Services Minister George Abbott. “It provides a legislative framework for governing the collection, use and disclosure of personal health information in electronic health records that will be held in databases called Health Information Banks.”

The E-Health (Personal Health Information Access and Protection of Privacy) Act was introduced April 10. The eHealth program will create an Electronic Health Record (EHR) for every British Columbian. The EHR is a secure and private lifetime record of a patient’s health history and care within the health system, which authorized health professionals can electronically access to improve patient care.

“I congratulate the government of B.C. for reaching this important milestone in its efforts to safeguard electronic patient data,” said Richard Alvarez, president and CEO of Canada Health Infoway, the not-for-profit organization investing federal dollars in the development and adoption of electronic health records across Canada. “British Columbia’s E-Health Act is strong and indicative of the government’s leadership, respect for patient privacy and continued commitment to the adoption of electronic health records.”

This transition from paper to electronic records will be implemented gradually across the province starting in 2009. The E-Health Act will regulate information sharing and privacy in development of the EHR. Key elements of the new regulations will:

• Allow individuals to issue disclosure directives to block access to (or “mask”) their personal information when the EHR implementation begins in summer 2009;
• Prohibit disclosure of information from a Health Information Bank (HIB) for market research;
• Establish a data stewardship committee made up of members from the health authorities, health professions and the public to evaluate requests from researchers for access to information in the EHR;
• Permit patient contact information to be disclosed for the purposes of asking individuals to participate in health research, with the specific approval of the B.C. Information and Privacy Commissioner (April 1, 2009);
• Add new whistleblower protection to protect individuals who report privacy breaches to the chief data steward or the privacy commissioner and to encourage good faith reporting to enhance privacy protection; and,
• Establish penalties for privacy and security breaches in the EHR. Penalty provisions for privacy breaches in HIBs will incur a maximum $200,000 fine.

Canada Health Infoway is an independent, not-for-profit organization funded by the federal government. Infoway jointly invests with every province and territory to accelerate the development and adoption of electronic health record projects in Canada. Fully respecting patient confidentiality, these secure systems will provide clinicians and patients with the information they need to better support safe care decisions and manage their own health. Accessing this vital information quickly is intended to foster a more modern and sustainable health care system for all Canadians.

Since 2006, B.C. has invested approximately $146 million in eHealth projects that will, in a gradual phased implementation starting in 2009, bring lab results, diagnostic scans, medication histories, and electronic prescriptions online over time to help patients anywhere health care is delivered in B.C.

The press release can be found here:

http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2005-2009/2008HSERV0101-001697.htm

The actual law is found here:

http://www.leg.bc.ca/38th4th/3rd_read/gov24-3.htm

BILL 24 — 2008

E-Health (Personal Health Information Access And Protection Of Privacy) Act

Commentary and suggestions from the by the British Columbia Office of the Information and Privacy are found here:

http://www.llbc.leg.bc.ca/public/PubDocs/bcdocs/437692/F08-34731_Abbott_Letter(Bill_24)(14Apr08).pdf

This is a useful act and commentary – as it actually provides a model for EHR privacy that has been legislated and thus the difficult issues have been faced and decisions taken.

It is this step that NEHTA now needs to take by producing draft proposed legislation to cover their planned initiatives.

David.