Running Head: A Reflection on the Personal Health Information Protection Act 2004

A Reflection on the Personal Health Information Protection Act 2004

Michael Ayeni
Humber College
Practical Nursing Diploma
1st of October, 2014.

A Reflection on the Personal Health Information Protection Act 2004

Introduction
The Personal Health Information Protection Act 2004 is a legal document that determines how
patient information is collected and shared within the health care system. The sole purpose of
the legislation is to ensure that the privacy rights of individual patients are protected while also
ensuring that the health care team (HCT) taking care of such individual have adequate access
to information needed to provide optimal care. It also ensures that access to such information
would be available only to members of the patients health care team and that the information
is used only for the sole purpose for which it was collected. According to the CNO (2004, p.
3), The Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA) governs health care
information privacy in Ontario. The document defines health care privacy as the clients right
to control how his/her personal health information is collected, used and disclosed, (CNO,
2004, p. 3). According to the legislation nurses who are members of an individual patients
HCT are required to keep the patient information confidential and secured. Privacy and
confidentiality is one of the ethical values required from nurses under the CNOs Ethics
Practice Standard Document, (CNO, 2002, p. 6). Patients are more likely to disclose all the
required information to the health care provider (HCP) taking care of them if they are confident
that such an individual will keep their personal health information confidential and secured.

The Effects of the Personal Health Information Protection Act 2004 Nursing Practice
The legislation has set boundaries for nurses by defining what patient information entails, how
it can be collected and shared and also who has the ultimate decision concerning the collection
and sharing of such information. According CNO (2004, p. 6), The legislation recognizes that
personal health information belongs to clients and is simply being housed in health care
facilities. However, it should be noted that according to CNO (2004, p. 5) the legislation
does not change nurses responsibilities to protect their clients confidentiality and privacy.

A Reflection on the Personal Health Information Protection Act 2004

Nor does it greatly affect their ability to collect and use personal health information to deliver
care. Information collected during the course of therapeutic nurse-client relationship either
verbally, written or in electronic form are all regarded as personal health information and nurses
are only allowed to release such information to an authorized person as agreed to by the patient.
The legislation clearly states that any information that can be used to identify a patient and not
just the patients name is considered personal health information. Although the act was
established to protect individual patients, but by clearly defining what personal information
entails, the act has enabled the nurse and the entire HCT understand what is required of them
regarding the use of the patients personal information. This therefore, will help both the nurses
and the entire HCT to avoid unnecessary litigations and it will enable them uphold the ethical
standard required by their different professions. This will also help the nurses to gain the trust
of individual patient which will eventually facilitate better therapeutic communication.

Ethical Nursing Care

The Nursing profession like every other profession have ethical standards for all practising
members and keeping patients information safe and confidential is one of the ethical values
required of nurses as highlighted in the CNO Professional Standards document, Revised 2002.
The CNO Professional Standards document (2002, p. 6), defined Ethical nursing care as a
means of promoting the values of client well-being, respecting client choice, assuring privacy
and confidentiality, respecting the sanctity and quality of life, maintaining commitments,
respecting truthfulness and ensuring fairness in the use of resources. Patient trust nurses and
they are usually forthcoming with very personal information during the course of therapeutic
nurse-client relationship. Disclosing such information to an unauthorized person would not
only violate the PHIPA, it would also be regarded as unethical by the College of Nurses of
Ontario (CNO). According CNO (2004, p. 7), the Nursing Act, 1991, states that giving

A Reflection on the Personal Health Information Protection Act 2004

information about a client to a person other than the client or his or her authorized
representative, except with the consent of the client or his or her representative, or as required
or allowed by law, is regarded as a professional misconduct. Giving out information without
the patients formal consent would affect the level of trust the patient have in the HCT and it
can discourage patients from disclosing necessary personal information which the HCT require
to help the clients achieve optimal care.

Protecting the public

The primary reason for the enactment of the PHIPA was to protect the public and to ensure that
individuals right to privacy is not violated by HCPs who are privileged to have access to such
information. In the case of violation, the clients can file for litigation under the act and
necessary legal actions can be pursued. Since the healthcare team understand the consequences
of violating the act, the tendency to disclose patient health information would be very minimal
and nurses would be particularly careful with how they handle individual client information.

Conclusion
Personal Health Information are very important information that should be adequately kept
secured and confidential. Only authorised personnel should have access to such information
and consent must formal consent must be obtained from the patient before using or sharing
such information. Whenever patient personal health information is obtained either verbally,
written or in electronic form, adequate steps must be taken to ensure that the information
obtained is used only for the purpose for which it was obtained.

A Reflection on the Personal Health Information Protection Act 2004

References
College of Nurses of Ontario. (2002). Professional standards for registered nurses and
registered practical nurses in Ontario (2013 ed.). Toronto, Canada: Author.
College of Nurses of Ontario. (2004). Confidentiality and privacy: Personal health
information (2009 ed.). Toronto, Canada: Author.