The Importance of Privacy In Healthcare
13 Jan 2021
Doctors and healthcare workers are people that you want to trust the most. Imagine telling a friend one of your biggest secrets, and they decided to share it with everyone around you. The odds are you won’t trust that person and may stop trusting people in general. This is an example as to why patient confidentiality is vital within the healthcare industry.
Let’s take a closer look at more details around privacy in healthcare.
Why is having a strong doctor-patient relationship important?
When a patient has confidence and trust in their doctor, it will lead to more check-up visits and overall better medical information quality. For example, if a patient feels comfortable with their physician, they will talk more freely about their health and any issues they may be having. This allows doctors to gather more accurate information about the patient, which results in them being able to provide the patient with quality healthcare services.
This becomes especially important in youth. Many children and young adults don’t feel comfortable discussing certain topics with their doctor because they may not want their health records shared with their parents. If trust between the patient and the doctor isn’t there, it could hinder the quality of care given to the child.
Are my medical records protected?
Patient confidentiality and medical records are protected because it’s the law. According to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), all of your health records and other medical information you have provided to any healthcare institution or professional, is confidential information. Your medical records can only be shared with your consent, or for the safety of others.
Your medical and clinical records are not sent to the Ministry of Health. Still, under the Health Insurance Act, all health care professionals are responsible for holding, maintaining and updating your records.
Are my electronic medical records safe?
In today’s day and age, technology has become a solution to most of our problems. Electronic Health Records have become a favoured replacement because they save time, reduce cost, and improve the patient’s overall quality and experience.
You may be asking yourself if your records can be hacked? Like most information online, specific safety procedures need to be put in place to ensure patient records are kept safe. To put your mind at ease, your medical records are protected by the same security programs that banks use to protect their financial and personal data.
At Accerta, we do our due diligence to protect and inform our clients by clearly outlining our privacy and security program. We also provide additional resources, such as:
Why choose Accerta?
Healthcare is definitely not a “one size fits all model.” Since every Canadian citizen’s healthcare plan may look different, we believe that everyone still deserves quality healthcare equal to all individuals.
As a social enterprise, we manage dental, vision, drug, and healthcare benefit programs exclusively for government and social services agencies in Canada. We take your privacy seriously and have many safeguards to ensure your healthcare data is secured with all the Ministry of Health rules and regulations.
We have developed a state-of-the-art information security system to protect all of our client’s information. Baseline control measures are in place to deter various negative risk scenarios from occurring, such as a breach of the confidentiality and integrity of personal data, industrial espionage; sabotage; and system unavailability. To sum it all up, we will always be one step ahead of any security issues.
We provide governments, their clients, and practitioners with real advantages. Contact us to learn more about how we can serve you!