New tools to help achieve compliance with PIPA

Issue: BCMJ, vol. 60, No. 1, January February 2018, Page 56 News
By: Heather Hannah, CAPP, CBCP, CIA, CRMA, CPA, CGA

Creating a robust privacy management program can seem daunting, and putting such a program in place can sometimes take a back seat to providing patient care. Under current privacy legislation, physicians must maintain patient confidentiality, but must also be able to prove that they are doing so.

Doctors of BC, in collaboration with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for BC and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC, has updated the BC Physician Privacy Toolkit: A guide for physicians in private practice, originally published in 2004 and subsequently updated in 2009 and now in 2017. Along with the updated guide, comprehensive resources that physicians can rely on to meet their obligations under the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) are now available in the online Privacy Toolkit. The Privacy Toolkit includes:

• A PIPA fact sheet.
• A module devoted to each privacy principle and guideline.
• Numerous tips and checklists.
• Short videos (including one that guides users on navigation) that focus on privacy principles and guidelines, each 2 to 4 minutes long and accompanied by notes that include the points discussed.
• A consolidated video for employee orientation and annual refresher training.
• Searchable FAQs.
• Customizable forms and templates.
• The revised BC Physician Privacy Toolkit: A guide for physicians in private practice (concise and current).

Privacy management programs can always be improved, so whether a practice is well established or just starting, the Privacy Toolkit can help. The Toolkit is available on the Doctors of BC website at www.doctorsofbc.ca/resource-centre/physicians/managing-practice/privacy-toolkit. 

If you have questions, email privacyofficer@doctorsofbc.ca.
—Heather Hannah, CAPP, CBCP, CIA, CRMA, CPA, CGA
Risk and Compliance Officer, Privacy Officer, Doctors of BC

Heather Hannah, CAPP, CBCP, CIA, CRMA, CPA, CGA . New tools to help achieve compliance with PIPA. BCMJ, Vol. 60, No. 1, January, February, 2018, Page(s) 56 - News.


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