Privacy Policy

Introduction

At Honest Physiotherapy Clinic, we are committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information as per the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). We will not disclose your personal information without consent or reasonable and lawful notice except when required or permitted by law.

 

Our Privacy Promise

At Honest Physiotherapy Clinic, we protect patient privacy by:

• Collecting only the personal information required to provide physiotherapy services

• Advising you on how your information might be disclosed and obtaining your consent.

• Safeguarding your personal information

• Sharing your personal information only for the purposes stated and agreed to in your signed consent form, or otherwise permitted by law.

• Ensuring any contractors that we hire who may have access to your information also protects the privacy of your information.

• Training staff and adapting the office space to ensure maximum protection of your privacy.

• Ensuring personal information is current, complete, and accurate.

• Providing you access to your personal information and a mechanism for requesting corrections.

• Having our privacy officer available to answer your questions.

• Periodically reviewing our privacy policy to ensure it provides adequate protection for your personal information.

 

Information Collected and its Usage

The personal information collected is required to provide you with physiotherapy services and facilitate payment for services rendered.

• Contact information:

  • Name

  • Address, phone number, e-mail address, other contact information (i.e. fax)

  • Family information

  • Emergency contact

• Health information:

  • Age/date of birth

  • Gender

  • Health history and family medical history

  • Examination results

  • Health services provided/received (including potential chart copies from other providers)

  • Your subjective and objective complaints and findings

  • Prognosis/diagnosis/other opinions formed during assessment/treatment

  • Attendance records/adherence with treatment

  • Reasons for discharge/discharge plan

  • Insurance reporting

• Financial information:

  • Alberta Healthcare information

  • Insurance/benefits coverage

  • Employer name

  • Motor vehicle accident information

  • Credit card number and expiry date

  • Other information to facilitate payment for services provided

​

Contact information is used to open and update your patient file, invoice for services, remind you of appointments and/or the need for further treatment, and to provide informational materials about our clinic and your health. We use health information to assess, diagnose, provide, prepare, and evaluate physiotherapy treatment. We use financial information to arrange payment for physiotherapy services rendered.

 

Your contact information may be disclosed to third-party health benefit providers/insurers when reimbursement claims for all or part of the treatment cost have been submitted. It may also be provided to debt collection agencies in the event of outstanding payments.

 

Your health information may be disclosed to third party health benefit providers and insurance companies when a claim is submitted for reimbursement or payment of all or part of the cost or treatment, or in cases where we have been asked to submit a claim on your behalf. This information may also be disclosed to other healthcare providers also providing you with treatment to coordinate safety and care. It may also be disclosed to your lawyer if you were injured in an accident, or to Physiotherapy Alberta if specifically requested. It may also be disclosed to research teams in an anonymous form to facilitate outcome research.

 

Financial information may be disclosed to your insurer or credit card company as required to facilitate payment. It may be necessary to also disclose to our accountant or to Revenue Canada for tax purposes. It may also be provided to debt collection agencies in the event of outstanding payments.

 

Personal information can also be disclosed without your consent if we are required to do so by law.

 

Information Stored Outside of Canada

We contract with companies outside of Canada to provide services on our behalf, such as with companies located in the United States of America who provide internet/web-related services. These companies and their affiliates may store personal information outside of Canada. For further information regarding storage of personal information outside of Canada or regarding Honest Physiotherapy Clinic policies and practices regarding storage of information outside of Canada, please contact our privacy officer, whose contact information is listed at the end of the privacy statement.

 

How Your Information is Protected

• We store physical records containing your personal information in a secure place.

• We store electronic records on secured hardware, use antivirus software and passwords on all computers and take care to protect screen monitors from public viewing.

• We transverse physical records outside our office in sealed envelopes by secure methods.

• We conduct telephone discussions with sensitivity to ensure that your personal information is not inadvertently disclosed.

• Electronic information is transferred in secured files and made anonymous wherever possible.

• We do not share your personal information outside our office for any marketing, promotional, publicity, educational, or research purposes without your consent.

• We train staff to handle your information only through the protected measures outlined in our privacy procedures. If consultants or contractors are hired, we take steps to ensure the consultant or contractor also protects your privacy.

 

Accessing and Correcting Your Personal Information

You can get access to view your personal information by asking a staff member who will refer you to our privacy officer for organizing this information. We will attempt to help you understand the reasons we collect, store, and use the information in your records.

 

You may request a change to your personal information if it is inaccurate, incomplete, no longer current, or if you believe there is a factual mistake.

 

You can also request a copy of your patient record. Requested copies will be provided in a reasonable period (45 days of receipt according to PIPA requirements). If there is a charge for the cost of producing a copy, we will advise you of the cost in advance.

 

How Long is Information Held?

We are required by legislation to keep records containing personal information for 10 years from the last date of service. In the case of a minor, this is 10 years past the minor’s eighteenth birthday. After that time, we shred paper records and delete electronic ones. When discarding hardware, we ensure the drive is destroyed.

​

More Information

If you have a concern about your personal information, please feel free to ask the physiotherapist treating you or another staff member. If your question/concern is not resolved, please address it with a written request to our privacy officer:

 

Joey Mo
Honest Physiotherapy Clinic
2735 Wheaton Drive NW
Edmonton, AB T62 0M5
780-483-8628
info@honestphysiotherapy.com

 

Assistance in understanding privacy policy can be directed to the Personal Information Protection Act Help Desk: 780-427-5848.