The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has new tools to help.
Pharmacy professionals are custodians of personal health information, which can include personal information such as names, addresses, and email addresses of individuals. It can also include diagnostic, treatment, and care information, including prescription medication information. Being a custodian of personal health information is a big responsibility, and there are many obligations that must be met under the Health Information Act (HIA).
These responsibilities include
- reporting privacy breaches when they occur; and
- submitting a privacy impact assessment (PIA) to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) before implementing proposed new administrative practices or information systems that relate to the collection, use, or disclosure of individually identifying health and personal information.
The OIPC has created the following new tools to help custodians—including pharmacists and pharmacy technicians—to meet these obligations:
- PIA Submission Assessment Tool – assists custodians in determining if they need to complete a PIA to the commissioner under HIA.
- HIA Breach Notification Assessment Tool – assists custodians in determining if they are required to notify the commissioner, affected individuals and the minister of a privacy breach.
- HIA Breach Notification Form – HIA dedicated breach notification form to assist custodians in notifying the commissioner of a breach under the HIA.
Comments or questions about these tools can be directed to generalinfo@oipc.ab.ca.
