Some people are not too happy about some of the recent changes to PHIA that would give charitable and research foundations your information so they could solicit funds from you.
A change to medical privacy laws designed to help patients and families get better access to medical records will also help hospital foundations get better access to your pocketbook.
Starting May 1, changes to the Personal Health Information Act (PHIA) will mean when a patient requests their medical records the province’s hospitals will have to respond within 24 hours instead of 30 days. The same request by people in personal care homes or by outpatients will have to be provided within 72 hours.
As well, patients will also be told how to authorize another person to access their personal health information.
But the changes also include “the disclosure of patient information… to health-facility fundraising foundations for charitable purposes.”
The only exceptions are if the patient is a child — or if the patient dies while in hospital.
Read more in the Winnipeg Free Press. You can opt out, but again, why should people have to opt-out instead of opting in?
Thanks to the reader who sent in this link.