West Hill Pharmacy4410 Kingston Rd. - West Hill, Ontario (416) 284-4741
West Hill Pharmacy
4410 Kingston Rd. - West Hill,
Ontario (416) 284-4741
About
Your Privacy…
Did you know?
Pharmacists
play an important role in your health care.
We provide all of the services that are required to safely and
effectively dispense a prescription or other medication including: interviewing
you; counselling you about medications and any potential side effects, drug
interactions or allergies with other prescription drugs, medicines or herbal
products; and selecting, filling and appropriately labelling your medication.
In
addition to these services, the practice of pharmacy also involves primary care
services. Examples of pharmacy
primary care services are: detailed reviews of your medication profile with you
and your other healthcare providers, helping you choose over-the-counter and
herbal therapies, and monitoring your outcomes.
In
order to provide you with quality health care, we keep a record of the medicines
dispensed to you at our pharmacy. We
also include in our records any relevant health information that we require to
ensure that you are not dispensed or advised to take a medicine that is not
appropriate for you. Don’t
hesitate to ask questions, including questions about what is in your record. If it is more convenient for you, we will be happy to arrange
a time to speak to you.
What are the purposes for which
pharmacists collect and use your personal information?
Pharmacists
and pharmacy staff collect and use your personal information (information that
identifies you) to:
·
dispense prescription and other medicine to you in accordance with the
law;
·
monitor incoming orders for prescriptions and other medicine for
potentially harmful drug interactions;
·
contact your physician and other health professionals to provide them
with medical information about you that they may not have, but which could
affect the choice of medicine prescribed or recommended for you;
·
watch for medication errors including dosing errors;
·
alert you if a drug you have been dispensed has been recalled or
withdrawn;
·
counsel you about your medicine, medication program and health condition;
and
·
provide you with information, educational and other opportunities if you
chose to enrole in or participate in our pharmacy's programs or services.
To whom do pharmacists disclose your
personal information?
We
disclose your personal information to:
·
the government (Ministry of Health), where the law requires us to do so;
·
the provincial College of Pharmacists, where the law requires us to do
so;
·
other persons where the law requires us to do so.
For example, where the information is the subject of a warrant or court
order or required to respond to an emergency that threatens a person’s life or
well-being;
·
your health care providers, where we need to do so to provide you with
quality care and protect your health; and
·
your pharmacy benefits provider (i.e. drug plan) where you advise us you
participate in one or more benefits plans and authorize us to disclose your
information.
The Law on Privacy is Changing
Pharmacists
and pharmacy staff are required to observe laws, professional standards and
rules designed to preserve the confidentiality of your personal health
information. As mentioned,
pharmacists and pharmacy staff are required by law to disclose your information
in certain situations. To use
Ontario's law as an example, pharmacies in Ontario are required, on request, to
provide the Minister of Health any information in the records that they maintain
by law and to disclose their pharmacy records to inspectors appointed by the
Ontario College of Pharmacists.
Pharmacies
use a variety of different safeguards to protect your personal health
information including locked facilities, alarm systems, and secure computer
technology. We also restrict access
to your personal health information to pharmacists and pharmacy staff who need
the information to perform their part in dispensing your medication, keeping the
records required by law and ensuring that you are provided with quality care.
Why do pharmacists need your consent?
On
January 1, 2004, federal and provincial privacy laws came into effect which
require pharmacists and pharmacy staff to get your express permission to
collect, use and disclose your personal health information in a number of
circumstances. Some or all of the
information may be information we currently have on record and have always
collected, used and disclosed to provide you with pharmacy services.
Even though pharmacy practice may not be changing, all pharmacies will
now need your consent in order to meet some of the requirements established by
the new privacy laws.
You
have always had the option of giving us permission to provide your personal
health information to others for reasons ranging from investigating potential
harmful drug interactions to being able to have a friend or family member
collect your medicine and obtain instructions or other information on your
behalf. Whereas in the past, you
could give us your permission in an informal way, the change in the law requires
us to ask you to give us your permission to collect, use and disclose your
personal information in a more formal way and in writing.
What happens if you choose not to
consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your information?
If
you choose not to provide us with permission to collect and use the health
information that in our professional experience and judgement we believe we
require, we will still be obliged to comply with all the provincial laws that
require us to keep a record of the medicine that we dispense to you. However we may
not have sufficient health information in your record to provide you with the
full range of pharmacy services. Further,
we may have to ask you to contact
your health care provider or other pharmacies before we are able to dispense
your medication and, if you do not give us permission to communicate with your
pharmacy benefits provider, you will be required to pay for your medicine and
send the information required for reimbursement directly to your pharmacy
benefits plan (i.e. drug plan).
What else does the privacy law require
pharmacies to do?
The
laws that came into effect in January 2004 require us to advise you that you
may:
·
make a written request for access to your information in our custody and
control;
·
request us to amend the information if you believe it is incorrect or
incomplete; and
·
make an inquiry of us or complain to us if you have concerns about our
information management practices; and
You
also have the right to be provided with:
·
contact information for the person responsible for responding to
inquiries and complaints about our pharmacy's information management practices;
·
information about our policies and procedures, including our complaints
process; and
·
information about external agencies, such as the provincial College of
Pharmacists and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (112 Kent Street, Ottawa,
Ontario, K1A 1H3, telephone (613) 995-8210 or 1-800-282-1376), that investigate
complaints about the personal information management practices of pharmacies.
Remember,
you can always speak to the pharmacist or pharmacy staff about your medicine,
medication program, health and your pharmacy record.