KEYSTONE PELVIC HEALTH
PRIVACY POLICY
The following document is a requirement of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA)
Collection of Personal Health Information:
With your consent we collect your personal health information directly from you, or from the person acting on your behalf. Examples of the type of personal health information that we collect may include, your name, date of birth, address, health history, records of your visits to Keystone Pelvic Health and details of the treatment that you received during your visits. We may sometimes collect personal health information about you from other sources, if we have obtained your consent to do so, or if the law permits.
Uses and Disclosures of Personal Health Information:
Your personal health information will be used and disclosed only for the following purposes:
Your Rights:
At any time you may access, correct your personal health records, or withdraw your consent for some of the above uses and disclosures (subject to legal exceptions) by contacting our contact person.
Our Responsibilities:
We take steps to protect your personal health and financial information from theft, loss, unauthorized access, copying, modification, use, disclosure, and disposal.
We conduct audits quarterly to monitor and manage our privacy compliance.
Contact Us:
Our Contact Person is Jen Kokelj PT
To find out more about our privacy protection practices, or raise any concerns, contact our contact person at:
Tel No: 905-251-6211
You have the right to file a complaint to the information and Privacy Commisioner/Ontario if you think we have violated your rights.
Privacy of personal information is an important principle to Keystone Pelvic Health. We are committed to collecting, using and disclosing personal information responsibly and only to the extent necessary for the goods and services we provide. We also try to be open and transparent as to how we handle personal information. This document describes our privacy policies.
What is Personal Information?
Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. Personal information includes information that relates to their personal characteristics (e.g., gender, age, home address or phone number, family status), their health (e.g., health history, health conditions, health services received by them) or their activities (e.g. sports, hobbies). Personal information is to be contrasted with business information (e.g., in individual’s business address and telephone number), which is not protected by privacy legislation.
Who I Am:
Keystone Pelvic Health, at this time of writing, includes one physiotherapist practicing as a solo practitioner.
Primary Purpose of Collecting Personal Information:
About Clients
I collect, use and disclose personal information in order to serve my clients. For my clients, the primary purpose for collecting personal information is to provide physiotherapy treatment specific to the pelvic floor. For example, I collect information about a clients health history, including family history, physical condition and function and social situation, in order to help me assess what the client’s health needs are, to advise the client of his/her options and then to provide the health care the client chooses to have. Another primary purpose is to obtain a baseline of health information so that in providing ongoing health services I can identify changes that are occurring with time. It would be rare for me to collect such information without the clients express consent, but this might occur in an emergency (e.g., the client is unconscious).
Secondary Purposes for Collecting Personal Information:
Like most organizations, we also collect, use and disclose information for purposes related to or secondary to our primary purposes. The most common examples of our related and secondary purposes are as follows:
To invoice clients for those goods and services that were not paid for at the time, to process credit card payments, or to collect unpaid accounts.
To advise clients and others of special events or opportunities (e.g., a seminar, development of a new service, arrival of a new product) that we have available.
Physiotherapists are regulated by the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario, who may inspect our records and conduct interviews as a part of their regulatory activities in the public interest. In addition, as professionals, we will report serious misconduct, incompetence or incapacity of other practitioners, whether they belong to other organizations or our own. Also, our organization believes that it should report information suggesting illegal behaviour to the authorities. External regulators have their own strict privacy obligations. Sometimes these reports include personal information about our clients, or other individuals, to support our concern (e.g., improper services). Also, like all organizations, various government agencies (e.g., Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, Information and Privacy Commissioner, Human Rights Commission, etc.) have the authority to review our files and conduct interviews as a part of their mandates. In these circumstances, we may consult with professionals (e.g. lawyers) who will investigate the matter and report back to us.
Clients or other individuals we deal with may have questions about our goods and services after they have been received. We also provide ongoing services for many of our clients over a period of months or years for which our previous records are helpful. We retain our client information for a minimum of ten years after the last contact to enable us to respond to those questions and provide these services (As per the CPO Standards of Practice).
You can choose not to be part of some of these related or secondary purposes (e.g., by declining to receive notice of special events or opportunities). We do not, however, have much choice about some of these related or secondary purposes (e.g., external regulation).
Protecting Personal Information:
We understand the importance of protecting personal information. For that reason, we have taken the following steps:
Retention and Destruction of Personal Information:
We need to retain personal information for some time to ensure that we can answer any questions you might have about our services provided and for our own accountability to external regulatory bodies. However, we do not want to keep personal information too long in order to protect your privacy.
We keep our client files for a period of ten years. For minors, the files are retained for a period of 10 years after that minor turns 18 years old. Our client and contact directories are much more difficult to systematically destroy, so we remove such information when we can if it does not appear that we will be contacting you again. However, if you ask, we will remove such contact information right away.
We destroy paper files containing personal information by shredding. We destroy electronic information by deleting it and, when the hardware is discarded, we ensure that the hard drive is physically destroyed. Alternatively, we may send some or all of the client file to our client, if requested and consent is given.
You can look at your Information:
With only a few exceptions, you have the right to see what personal information we hold about you. Often all you have to do is ask. We can help you identify what records we might have about you. We will also try to help you understand any information you do not understand (e.g., short forms, technical language, etc.). We reserve the right to charge a nominal fee for such requests. If there is a problem we may ask you to put your request in writing. If we cannot give you access, we will tell you within 30 days if at all possible and tell you the reason, as best we can, as to why we cannot give you access.
If you believe there is a mistake in the information, you have the right to ask for it to be corrected. This applies to factual information and not to any professional opinions we may have formed. We may ask you to provide documentation that our files are wrong. Where we agree that we made a mistake, we will make the correction and notify anyone to whom we sent this information. If we do not agree that we made a mistake, we will still agree to include our file in a brief statement from you on the point and we will forward that statement to anyone else who received the earlier information.
Do you have a Question?
Our Information Officer, Jen Kokelj PT can be reached at 905-251-6211
She will attempt to answer any questions or concerns you might have regarding your personal information.
If you wish to make a formal complaint about our privacy practices, you may make it in writing to our Information Officer. She will acknowledge receipt of your complaint and ensure that it is investigated promptly.
Collection of Personal Health Information:
With your consent we collect your personal health information directly from you, or from the person acting on your behalf. Examples of the type of personal health information that we collect may include, your name, date of birth, address, health history, records of your visits to Keystone Pelvic Health and details of the treatment that you received during your visits. We may sometimes collect personal health information about you from other sources, if we have obtained your consent to do so, or if the law permits.
Uses and Disclosures of Personal Health Information:
Your personal health information will be used and disclosed only for the following purposes:
- Treating and providing health care to you;
- Comply with legal and regulatory requirements;
- Fulfill other purposes permitted or required by law;
Your Rights:
At any time you may access, correct your personal health records, or withdraw your consent for some of the above uses and disclosures (subject to legal exceptions) by contacting our contact person.
Our Responsibilities:
We take steps to protect your personal health and financial information from theft, loss, unauthorized access, copying, modification, use, disclosure, and disposal.
We conduct audits quarterly to monitor and manage our privacy compliance.
Contact Us:
Our Contact Person is Jen Kokelj PT
To find out more about our privacy protection practices, or raise any concerns, contact our contact person at:
Tel No: 905-251-6211
You have the right to file a complaint to the information and Privacy Commisioner/Ontario if you think we have violated your rights.
Privacy of personal information is an important principle to Keystone Pelvic Health. We are committed to collecting, using and disclosing personal information responsibly and only to the extent necessary for the goods and services we provide. We also try to be open and transparent as to how we handle personal information. This document describes our privacy policies.
What is Personal Information?
Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. Personal information includes information that relates to their personal characteristics (e.g., gender, age, home address or phone number, family status), their health (e.g., health history, health conditions, health services received by them) or their activities (e.g. sports, hobbies). Personal information is to be contrasted with business information (e.g., in individual’s business address and telephone number), which is not protected by privacy legislation.
Who I Am:
Keystone Pelvic Health, at this time of writing, includes one physiotherapist practicing as a solo practitioner.
Primary Purpose of Collecting Personal Information:
About Clients
I collect, use and disclose personal information in order to serve my clients. For my clients, the primary purpose for collecting personal information is to provide physiotherapy treatment specific to the pelvic floor. For example, I collect information about a clients health history, including family history, physical condition and function and social situation, in order to help me assess what the client’s health needs are, to advise the client of his/her options and then to provide the health care the client chooses to have. Another primary purpose is to obtain a baseline of health information so that in providing ongoing health services I can identify changes that are occurring with time. It would be rare for me to collect such information without the clients express consent, but this might occur in an emergency (e.g., the client is unconscious).
Secondary Purposes for Collecting Personal Information:
Like most organizations, we also collect, use and disclose information for purposes related to or secondary to our primary purposes. The most common examples of our related and secondary purposes are as follows:
To invoice clients for those goods and services that were not paid for at the time, to process credit card payments, or to collect unpaid accounts.
To advise clients and others of special events or opportunities (e.g., a seminar, development of a new service, arrival of a new product) that we have available.
Physiotherapists are regulated by the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario, who may inspect our records and conduct interviews as a part of their regulatory activities in the public interest. In addition, as professionals, we will report serious misconduct, incompetence or incapacity of other practitioners, whether they belong to other organizations or our own. Also, our organization believes that it should report information suggesting illegal behaviour to the authorities. External regulators have their own strict privacy obligations. Sometimes these reports include personal information about our clients, or other individuals, to support our concern (e.g., improper services). Also, like all organizations, various government agencies (e.g., Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, Information and Privacy Commissioner, Human Rights Commission, etc.) have the authority to review our files and conduct interviews as a part of their mandates. In these circumstances, we may consult with professionals (e.g. lawyers) who will investigate the matter and report back to us.
Clients or other individuals we deal with may have questions about our goods and services after they have been received. We also provide ongoing services for many of our clients over a period of months or years for which our previous records are helpful. We retain our client information for a minimum of ten years after the last contact to enable us to respond to those questions and provide these services (As per the CPO Standards of Practice).
You can choose not to be part of some of these related or secondary purposes (e.g., by declining to receive notice of special events or opportunities). We do not, however, have much choice about some of these related or secondary purposes (e.g., external regulation).
Protecting Personal Information:
We understand the importance of protecting personal information. For that reason, we have taken the following steps:
- Paper information is either under supervision or secured in a locked area.
- Electronic hardware is either under supervision or secured in a locked or restricted area at all times. In addition, passwords are used on computers and mobile devices
Retention and Destruction of Personal Information:
We need to retain personal information for some time to ensure that we can answer any questions you might have about our services provided and for our own accountability to external regulatory bodies. However, we do not want to keep personal information too long in order to protect your privacy.
We keep our client files for a period of ten years. For minors, the files are retained for a period of 10 years after that minor turns 18 years old. Our client and contact directories are much more difficult to systematically destroy, so we remove such information when we can if it does not appear that we will be contacting you again. However, if you ask, we will remove such contact information right away.
We destroy paper files containing personal information by shredding. We destroy electronic information by deleting it and, when the hardware is discarded, we ensure that the hard drive is physically destroyed. Alternatively, we may send some or all of the client file to our client, if requested and consent is given.
You can look at your Information:
With only a few exceptions, you have the right to see what personal information we hold about you. Often all you have to do is ask. We can help you identify what records we might have about you. We will also try to help you understand any information you do not understand (e.g., short forms, technical language, etc.). We reserve the right to charge a nominal fee for such requests. If there is a problem we may ask you to put your request in writing. If we cannot give you access, we will tell you within 30 days if at all possible and tell you the reason, as best we can, as to why we cannot give you access.
If you believe there is a mistake in the information, you have the right to ask for it to be corrected. This applies to factual information and not to any professional opinions we may have formed. We may ask you to provide documentation that our files are wrong. Where we agree that we made a mistake, we will make the correction and notify anyone to whom we sent this information. If we do not agree that we made a mistake, we will still agree to include our file in a brief statement from you on the point and we will forward that statement to anyone else who received the earlier information.
Do you have a Question?
Our Information Officer, Jen Kokelj PT can be reached at 905-251-6211
She will attempt to answer any questions or concerns you might have regarding your personal information.
If you wish to make a formal complaint about our privacy practices, you may make it in writing to our Information Officer. She will acknowledge receipt of your complaint and ensure that it is investigated promptly.