Ontario's new Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA), which came into effect on November 1, 2004, prescribes comprehensive rules for the collection, use, and disclosure of personal health information in all types of health care settings, including hospitals, psychiatric facilities, laboratories, ambulance services, and nursing homes. It applies to all regulated health professionals and to non-regulated health professionals who provide health care for payment, such as acupuncturists, psychotherapists, and ultrasonographers.

The Guide to the Ontario Personal Health Information Protection Act is a comprehensive, practical resource for all health care providers about this complex new legislation. Written in plain language, it provides a detailed, well-organized explanation of the Act and regulations and how they apply to and affect all health care settings. It sets out the obligations of health information custodians under PHIPA; the application of the law to specific health sectors; the rules for disclosing personal health information outside Ontario; the right of access by patients to their own records of personal health information; the obligations of health information custodians to provide patient access and the duty to correct records; the role and powers of the Information and Privacy Commissioner; and remedies for breaches of the legislation and offences.

The book also includes a brief practical guide to the Quality of Care Information Protection Act, 2004, which was passed with PHIPA and comes into force at the same time. The Guide is written by the three counsel to the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care who were instrumental in developing the legislation and leading it through the legislative process. The full text of the Act and regulations are included as appendices.

Halyna Perun is counsel with the Legal Services Branch of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. In her seventeen years of practice with the Ministry's Legal Services Branch, Halyna has had responsibility for a variety of portfolios including regulated health professions, public hospitals, mental health, freedom of information, and protection of privacy. She has been involved in health privacy issues at the Ministry since 1996. She was instrumental in developing the Ministry's 1997 draft health information legislation, which became the model for health information legislation in Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and ultimately, Ontario. In the mid-1990s, Halyna was instrumental in the creation of the Health Care Consent Act.

Halyna N. Perun's profile page

Michael Orr has been counsel with the Legal Services Branch of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care since 2001, advising the Ministry on health sector information, privacy matters, and matters relating to long-term care and hospitals. He was also the principal lawyer advising the Ministry on the drafting of the Quality of Care Information Protection Act, 2004. In 2000–01 Michael was with the Legal Services Branch of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing. He served at Ombudsman Ontario as Counsel and Policy Advisor from 1991 to 2000.

Michael Orr's profile page

Fannie Dimitriadis began her legal career with the Legal Services Branch of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care in 2000. She has been counsel to the Ministry since her call to the Ontario Bar in 2001. Fannie has been involved in the development of Ontario`s health information privacy legislation since 2000 and provides the Ministry with legal advice on a wide range of privacy-related matters, including the impact of new information technology initiatives.

Fannie Dimitriadis' profile page

Mr. Justice Horace Krever was chair of the Royal Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada and served on the Ontario Court of Appeal until 1999.

Horace Krever's profile page