Definitions
1(1) In this Regulation, “Act” means the Health Information Act.
(2) For
the purposes of section 59 of the Act, “electronic means” means a computer
system that facilitates access by authorized persons to electronic or digital
information that is stored in a computer database by a custodian.
Custodians designated
2 The following panels, committees, boards
and individuals are designated as custodians for the purposes of section
1(1)(f)(xiv) of the Act:
(a) repealed
AR 14/2007 s2;
(b) Billing
Practice Advisory Committee;
(c) Hospital
Privileges Appeal Board;
(d) Mental
Health Patient Advocate;
(e) Mental
Health Review Panel (Calgary);
(f) Mental
Health Review Panel (Edmonton);
(g) Mental
Health Review Panel (Ponoka);
(h) MS
Drug Review Panel;
(i) Out‑of‑Country
Health Services Appeal Panel;
(j) Out‑of‑Country Health Services
Committee.
AR 70/2001 s2;14/2007
Registration
information
3 The following information, where applicable,
relating to an individual is registration information for the purposes of
section 1(1)(u) of the Act:
(a) demographic
information, including the following:
(i) name, in any form;
(ii) signature;
(iii) photograph or electronic image of the individual’s face for
identification purposes;
(iv) personal health number or any other unique identification number
that is used to identify the individual as eligible for, or a recipient of, a
health service;
(v) gender;
(vi) date of birth;
(vii) birth information, including
(A) the birth facility, and
(B) birth order, in the case of a multiple
birth;
(viii) marital status;
(ix) date of death;
(x) treaty status, including band number;
(xi) whether the individual is a registrant or a dependant of a registrant
under the Health Insurance Premiums Act;
(b) location,
residency and telecommunications information, including the following:
(i) home, business and mailing addresses, electronic address and
telecommunications numbers;
(ii) health regions, as established under the Regional Health Authorities Act, in which the individual resides
and previously resided;
(iii) citizenship or immigration status, including the date on which
the individual’s current immigration status expires if the individual is not a
Canadian citizen or landed immigrant;
(iv) date of entry into Canada and into Alberta;
(v) province or country of birth or of last residence;
(vi) date on which the individual became or expects to become a
permanent resident of Canada;
(vii) in the event the individual is registered as a registrant or
dependant under the Health Insurance
Premiums Act and the individual intends to be temporarily or permanently
absent from Alberta,
(A) date of departure;
(B) destination and intended date of arrival at
the destination;
(C) forwarding address;
(D) intended date of return, where the
individual intends to be temporarily absent;
(E) purpose of absence;
(c) health
service eligibility information, including the following:
(i) whether the individual is registered as a registrant or dependant
under the Health Insurance Premiums Act;
(ii) whether the individual is eligible to receive health services
that are directly or indirectly paid for by the Government of Alberta, in full
or in part;
(iii) whether the individual has elected to opt out of the Alberta
Health Care Insurance Plan and the Hospitalization Benefits Plan;
(iv) whether the individual is exempt from the requirement to register
under the Health Insurance Premiums Act;
(v) whether the individual is exempt from the requirement to pay
premiums under the Health Insurance
Premiums Act;
(vi) whether the individual is eligible to receive a reduction or
waiver of premiums or charges payable in respect of health services and the
level or amount, or both, of that reduction or waiver;
(vii) information about any program of a custodian that is related to
the information described in subclauses (i) to (vi), including the effective
and termination dates of the program and, if applicable, the program name;
(d) billing
information, including the following:
(i) information about amounts owed by the individual to the
custodian;
(ii) method of payment;
(iii) the individual’s account number;
(iv) if another person is liable for or will be billed for the amount
owed by the individual, that person’s name and account number.
Child, Youth and
Family Enhancement Act
4 Section 4 of the Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act
prevails despite the Act.
AR 70/2001
s4;251/2001;8/2005
Collection of
personal health number
5(1) In this section, “insurer” means
(a) an
insurer licensed under the Insurance Act,
and
(b) the
ABC Benefits Corporation.
(2) The
following persons are authorized for the following purposes to require an
individual to provide the individual’s personal health number:
(a) the
Students Finance Board for the purpose of administering student health benefits
programs;
(b) lawyers
and insurers for the purpose of enforcing the Crown’s right of recovery under
Part 5 of the Hospitals Act;
(c) insurers
for the purpose of facilitating the handling, assessing and payment of claims
for benefits;
(d) The
Workers’ Compensation Board for the purpose of facilitating the handling,
assessing and payment of claims for benefits;
(e) ambulance
attendants and operators under the Ambulance
Services Act for the purpose of providing treatment and care to individuals
and seeking reimbursement for providing those services from the Alberta Blue
Cross Plan;
(f) the
Solicitor General for the purpose of providing health services to an inmate
outside of a correctional institution;
(g) the
Minister of Seniors and Community Supports for the purpose of administering the
Seniors Benefit Act;
(g.1) the
Minister of Seniors and Community Supports for the purpose of administering the
Aids to Daily Living Program;
(h) the
Minister of Employment, Immigration and Industry for the purpose of
administering the income and employment programs of the Department of
Employment, Immigration and Industry;
(i) persons, other than custodians, who provide
health services to individuals for the purpose of seeking reimbursement for
providing those services from the Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan.
AR 70/2001
s5;105/2005;212/2005;14/2007;35/2007
Electronic consent
6(1) In this section, “electronic consent” means a
consent provided electronically.
(2) For
the purposes of sections 34 and 59 of the Act, an electronic consent or a
revocation of an electronic consent is valid only if the level of
authentication is sufficient to identify the individual who is granting the
consent or revoking the consent, as the case may be.
Disclosure of
registration information
7 For the purposes of section 36(c) of the
Act, a custodian may disclose individually identifying registration information
about an individual without the consent of the individual
(a) to
an ambulance attendant or operator under the Ambulance Services Act, or
(b) to
the Minister of Seniors and Community Supports for the purpose of administering
(i) the Aids to Daily Living Program, or
(ii) the Seniors Benefit Act.
AR 70/2001 s7;14/2007
Disclosure of
information
7.1 For the purposes of section 46(1)(b) of
the Act and health system management, program planning and resource allocation,
the Minister or the Department may request a health service provider that
dispenses drugs to a patient to provide the following information to the
Minister or the Department, as the case may be:
(a) the
name of the patient;
(b) the
gender of the patient;
(c) the
personal health number of the patient;
(d) the
date of birth of the patient;
(e) the
unique product identifier of the drug dispensed;
(f) the
dosage details of the drug dispensed;
(g) the
dispensing details of the drug dispensed;
(h) the
prescription details of the drug dispensed;
(i) the
identification number of the health services provider who prescribed the drug;
(j) the identification number of the health
services provider who dispensed the drug.
AR 14/2007 s4
Security of health
information
8(1) A custodian must identify, and maintain a
written record of, all of its administrative, technical and physical safeguards
in respect of health information.
(2) A
custodian must designate an individual who is responsible for the overall
security and protection of health information in the custody or under the
control of the custodian.
(3) A
custodian must periodically assess its administrative, technical and physical
safeguards in respect of
(a) the
confidentiality of health information that is in its custody or under its
control and the privacy of the individuals who are the subjects of that
information,
(b) any
reasonably anticipated threat or hazard to the security or integrity of the
health information or to the loss of the health information, and
(c) any
unauthorized use, disclosure or modification of the health information or
unauthorized access to the health information.
(4) In
order to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of health information that is
to be stored or used by a person in a jurisdiction outside Alberta or that is to
be disclosed to a person in a jurisdiction outside Alberta, the custodian must,
prior to the storage, use or disclosure of the information, enter into a
written agreement with the person that
(a) provides
for the custodian to retain control over the health information,
(b) adequately
addresses the risks associated with the storage, use or disclosure of the
health information,
(c) requires
the person to implement and maintain adequate safeguards for the security and
protection of the health information,
(d) allows
the custodian to monitor compliance with the terms and conditions of the
agreement, and
(e) contains
remedies to address any non‑compliance with or breach of the terms and
conditions of the agreement by the other person.
(5) Subsection
(4) does not apply to health information about an individual that is used in a
jurisdiction outside Alberta solely for the purpose of providing continuing
treatment and care to the individual.
(6) A
custodian must ensure that its affiliates are aware of and adhere to all of the
custodian’s administrative, technical and physical safeguards in respect of
health information.
(7) A
custodian must establish sanctions that may be imposed against affiliates who breach, or attempt to
breach, the custodian’s administrative, technical and physical safeguards in
respect of health information.
Fees
9 Where an applicant is required to pay a
fee for services provided under Part 2 of the Act, the fee is payable in
accordance with sections 10, 11 and 12.
Fees for health information
10(1) An applicant who makes a request for access to
a record containing health information may be required to pay a basic fee of
$25 for performing one or more of the following steps to produce a copy of the
information:
(a) receiving
and clarifying the request;
(b) obtaining
consent if necessary;
(c) locating
and retrieving the records;
(d) preparing
the record for copying, including removing staples and paper clips;
(e) preparing
a response letter;
(f) packaging
copies for shipping or faxing, or both;
(g) postage
and faxing costs;
(h) photocopying
a record.
(2) Processing
of a request will not commence until the basic fee has been paid, if
applicable.
(3) In
addition to the basic fee, additional fees in accordance with the Schedule may
be charged for producing a copy of a record.
Estimate of fees
11(1) An estimate provided under section 67(3) of the
Act must set out
(a) the
time and cost required
(i) to prepare the record for disclosure, including severing time,
and
(ii) to retrieve records from another location;
(b) the
cost of copying the record;
(c) the
cost of computer time involved in locating and copying a record or, if
necessary, re‑programming to create a new record;
(d) the
cost of supervising an applicant who wishes to examine the original record,
when applicable;
(e) the
cost of shipping the record or a copy of the record, other than by mail or fax.
(2) An
applicant has up to 20 days to indicate if the fee estimate is accepted or to
modify the request to change the amount of fees assessed.
Payment of fees
12(1) Processing of a request ceases once a notice of
estimate has been forwarded to an applicant and recommences immediately on the
receipt of an agreement to pay the fee, and on the receipt of at least 50% of
any estimated fee.
(2) The
balance of any fee owing is payable at the time the information is delivered to
the applicant.
(3) Fees
or any part of those fees will be refunded if the amount paid is higher than
the actual cost of the service.
Applicant excused
from paying fee
13 For the purposes of section 67(4) of the
Act, a custodian may excuse an applicant from paying all or part of a fee if in
the opinion of the custodian it is fair to excuse payment.
Expiry
14 For the purpose of ensuring
that this Regulation is reviewed for ongoing relevancy and necessity, with the
option that it may be repassed in its present or an amended form following a
review, this Regulation expires on November 30, 2012.
AR 70/2001 s14;354/2003
Coming into force
15 This Regulation comes into force on the
coming into force of the Health
Information Act.
