Advice for physicians travelling across international borders and carrying devices that may contain patient information.
Physicians may face a privacy breach when viewing personal health information that is not required for current clinical care and without the patient’s or information custodian’s consent.
Text messaging offers the potential for improved communication among physicians and healthcare teams, and using it appropriately can mitigate some of the inherent risks of this channel.
Points for physicians to consider if a journalist asks for an interview.
An overview of changes to federal and provincial privacy laws.
When physicians wish to record a clinical encounter, they should first obtain express consent from the patient and have in place security measures to ensure confidentiality.
Physicians owe patients a duty to keep their personal health information confidential, yet there are times when this conflicts with other statutory duties or with concerns for public safety.
Physicians may release a patient’s medical records to lawyers only with patient authorization or where required by law.
How to respond to queries seeking to verify the authenticity of doctors’ certificates.
Suggested ways that physicians can reduce the risk of privacy breaches when using fax to communicate confidential patient information.
An exploration of privacy and consent issues when using clinical images or recordings of patients to teach medicine.
An overview of a physician's duty to maintain confidentiality and protect the privacy of patients' personal health information in instances of disclosure requests from third parties, including the police or other authorities.
The physician's role in providing a child's medical information to a parent.
The increased availability of genetic testing raises a number of medico-legal questions that physicians should consider.
Individuals have a general right to access their personal information in independent medical examination files, but there are exceptions to what must be produced
Addressing privacy breaches has become more complex as the rules around notifying and reporting have recently changed or are about to change across the country.
A discussion of the principles of access, the challenges with access, and managing the risks.
Physicians can take steps to mitigate the medical-legal risks of patients taking photos and making video and audio recordings during healthcare encounters.
Physicians should understand the role of coroners and medical examiners in Canada,
and how and when to provide information to them.
An overview of the principles of retention, sharing and transferring of medical records.
The circumstances under which physicians can treat themselves, family and friends are limited.
Protecting the privacy of patient information when using digital communication channels, including email, portals, and social media platforms.
How doctors can help protect their information technology systems from cybersecurity threats and what they should do in the event of a cybersecurity incident.
Professional and ethical obligations to keep in mind when considering offering medical services through online virtual clinics.
DISCLAIMER: This content is for general informational purposes and is not intended to provide specific professional medical or legal advice, nor to constitute a "standard of care" for Canadian healthcare professionals. Your use of CMPA learning resources is subject to the foregoing as well as CMPA's Terms of Use.
