Thursday, June 24, 2004

Presentation: PIPEDA for Physicians

I just attended Insight Information Co.'s Health Privacy conference in Halifax. The content was fantastic and the presenters were really top-notch. It was a bit disappointing that there were no healthpractitioners in attendance, but with a $1300 price tag it is hard to manage unless you have a hospital or other organization paying your way.

Without a doubt, I found that the best speaker was Karen Rose, who is the new Info and Privacy Commissioner for PEI. She spoke about the challenges and advantages of privacy compliance. I've asked her for her speaking notes, which I'll also ask her if I can post here. Suellen Murray, from the Nova Scotia Department of Health discussed the process that is underway to harmonize the health information laws from coast to coast (minus Quebec). She wasn't able to discuss the substance since there are some minor revisions underway, but the process is promising.

I was asked to present on PIPEDA in private practices. Since everyone in attendance came from public institutions (read: non-commercial, and therefore beyond PIPEDA's hooks), the interest was largely academic. I tried to emphasise that many of the doctors who are present in hospitals are going to be grappling with this development, so they'd better be sensitive to it. My presentation, PIPEDA for Physicians, is available here.

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