Before a pharmacy team offers virtual care to patients, the team must submit a privacy impact assessment (PIA) for each enabling technology it plans to use to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC) of Alberta. This requirement is stated in Standard 20 of the Standards of Practice for Virtual Care.
A PIA helps identify and address any potential privacy risks that may occur as a result of using any technology to communicate with patients, their families, or other healthcare providers. This includes any technology used to collect, use, or disclose individually identifying personal or health information.
In the past, pharmacy teams were required to submit PIAs by mailing paper documents to the OIPC. Now, PIAs may be submitted to the OIPC via email. You can find more information about the submission process, including contact information and access to the Privacy Impact Assessment Requirements Guide, on the OIPC website.
