The Impact of Privacy Legislation on Patient Care

This article looks at how privacy legislation in Canada may interfere with patient care and the use of electronic health records. A review of the literature shows that legislation across Canada is not uniform and varies to the degree in which it addresses issues of privacy and confidentiality. What is not clear is what impact legislation has on the movement towards electronic health records? A case study was undertaken to look at a specific project involving the design of an electronic health record as a means of sharing information between physicians and prostate cancer patients. Through interviews with those associated with the project, it was clear that legislation itself was not a barrier. The problem was that the legislation was open to interpretation. The author hopes that an understanding of the issues raised by this article will lead to further discussion and research on this topic. IntroductIon Patient privacy is a topic of great interest both in Canada and internationally. Many health conferences and academic journals often have several papers devoted to this topic. This issue has gained more attention in the last five years as there is a continuing trend in health care towards more electronic capture and sharing of information between providers and patients. It has been recognized that health care has typically been behind other industries, such as, airlines and banking, when it comes to embracing its users in the sharing of electronic information. Patients and their health care providers have expressed an interest in sharing of information to facilitate optimal patient care. Unfortunately, as more patient information is made available electronically, there is an increased potential for loss of privacy and confidentiality.