Confidentiality and Privacy Flashcards
Confidentiality
The expectation that information will not be disclosed to anyone unless the client decides so; rooted in a client’s right to privacy
Privilege
The right of an individual to withhold information from court or legal proceedings. Privilege belongs to the client!
Privacy
The right of an individual to control their personal information which is guaranteed in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
What are some of the limits to confidentiality?
- Child and Family Services Act
- Legal proceedings
- Sharing personal health information within circle of care (implied consent assumed)
What do we mean by autonomy and discretion?
All persons have the right to decide who has access to their private information!
Third party access that might require release of information (with or without clients’ consent)
- Workers’ compensation cases
- Claims to insurance companies
Are client’s allowed to have access to their own records?
Generally clients should be able to view the records professionals retain about them. Exceptions may be made when doing so may result in harm to client or a third party!
Mandatory reporting of child maltreatment
Everyone in Ontario, including members of the public and professionals who work closely with children, is required BY LAW, to report suspected child abuse or neglect. If you have reasonable grounds to suspect that a child is, or may be, in need of protection, you must immediately report the suspicion and the information on which it is based directly to a children’s aid society.
The Child, Youth and Family Services Act, 2017
Provides protection for children who may be at risk, suffer abuse and/or neglect in their own homes
The duty to protect from dangerous acts of violent clients involves professional liability when practitioners neglect this duty by:
- Inadequate assessment of client dangerousness
- Failing to warn
- Failure to commit dangerous individuals
- Prematurely discharging dangerous clients from a hospital
PHIPA
PHIPA (Provincial Law) is the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004. It is Ontario legislation and provides a consistent set of rules for the collection, use, disclosure and security of personal health information for custodians of health care information in Ontario.
