Department Privacy Statement
Saskatchewan Health recognizes that you may have questions about what we do
with your personal information. With this in mind, the following outlines the
Department's approach to protecting your personal information and keeping it confidential
.
Our Privacy Commitment to You
What is Personal Information?
Why We Collect Your Personal Information
Safeguarding Your Personal Information
Using and Disclosing Your Personal Information
Your Rights to Access or Amend Your Personal Information
Questions about the Privacy of Your Personal Information?
Our Privacy Commitment to You
Saskatchewan Health takes your privacy seriously. We are committed to safeguarding
the privacy and confidentiality of the personal information we collect about you.
Each time your personal information is collected, used or disclosed by the
Department it is done so for a specific purpose. Only those employees who have
a need to know a specific piece of your personal information have access to that
information. The Department has also established policies and/or practices which
further ensure your information is kept private and confidential.
Any personal information you provide to the Department, or the Department receives
from one of its health partners, is collected, used or disclosed in accordance
with The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and/or
The Health Information Protection Act.
What is Personal Information?
Personal information is any recorded information about an identifiable person.
This can be as simple as your name and address. As a rule of thumb, if the information
identifies you, is not otherwise publicly available and identifies something about
you, it is likely personal information.
Personal health information is a subset of personal information that relates
to information provided or generated in the delivery of a health service. It includes
information about your physical or mental health, any health services provided
to you, your health services number and any other information about you collected
incidentally to a health service provided to you.
Both privacy statutes provide exemptions to the above general definitions of
personal information and personal health information. For a complete list of what
is included or excluded in the definition for these terms, please see section
24 of The
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and clause
2(m) of The
Health Information Protection Act. For the purposes of this web page,
the term “personal information” includes both personal information and personal
health information.
Why We Collect Your Personal Information?
Saskatchewan Health collects the personal information you give us so that
we can provide you with a benefit, such as those provided through the Provincial
Drug Plan or a service, such as registering you as a beneficiary for publicly-funded
hospital and medical services. The Department also collects personal information
from its health partners, such as regional health authorities and physicians,
in order to pay for any medical or hospital service you may have received or for
any other publicly-funded program or service.
Our health partners also provide us with personal information about users of
their programs and services to assist the Department in planning, delivering,
evaluating and monitoring these same programs and services. In most cases your
name, address and health services number will be a part of this information.
Safeguarding Your Personal Information
Ensuring that your personal information in our custody and control is protected
and kept confidential is a top priority for the Department. As part of this commitment,
Saskatchewan Health utilizes a number of controls to protect your personal information
from being accessed by staff who do not have a need to know the information or
by unauthorized users. These controls include:
- limiting staff access to your personal information to those people who have
a need to use this information to perform their job duties;
- requiring passwords when accessing our electronic applications and databases;
- utilizing firewalls and industry standard encryption methods to prevent unauthorized
uses; and
- utilizing a data access review committee before releasing information to
researchers.
Using and Disclosing Your Personal Information
Your confidentiality is important to us. As a condition of employment, all
Provincial Government staff must sign an Oath of Office. By taking this oath,
staff are affirming that any information and/or documents they are privy to during
their employment with the Government of Saskatchewan will be kept confidential.
Saskatchewan Health also takes additional steps to educate its staff regarding
privacy rules and practices associated with handling personal information.
Saskatchewan Health will use and disclose your personal information in accordance
with the purpose for which we collected it. Unless authorized by law, your personal
information is not disclosed without your consent. However, circumstances may
arise where the Department may disclose your information without your consent.
This can only be done in limited circumstances and only pursuant to section 29
of The
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and section 27 of
The
Health Information Protection Act. Saskatchewan Health is committed to
protecting your privacy and therefore seriously considers each circumstance where
your information may be disclosed without your consent before proceeding to release
any personal information about you.
Your Rights to Access or Amend Your Personal Information
Both The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and
The Health Information Protection Act provide you with certain rights
regarding the information the Department holds about you. You have a right to
request access to any of your personal information held by Saskatchewan Health
and you have the right to inform the Department of any errors or omissions.
In limited situations, we may have to deny some or all of your request to see,
or receive copies of your records. In such a case we will tell you in writing
why we are denying access to some or all of your records and explain your right
to appeal this decision. Depending upon the nature of your request, a fee may
be charged. The Department will contact you in advance to notify you of any charges
in advance of satisfying your request.
If you believe there is a mistake in the information we hold about you or that
important information is missing, you may request that we correct or add to your
record. If we approve your request, we will make the correction or addition to
our records. If we deny your request, we will tell you why and explain how you
may appeal this decision.
Questions About the Privacy of Your Personal Information
If you have questions about how your personal information is collected, used
or disclosed for a particular program or service, or if you wish to get access
to the personal information the Department has about you, it is best to first
contact the Department Branch that collects and/or uses your personal information.
If you are not sure whom to contact, please call our general inquiry line at 1-800-667-7766.
You can also find a direct phone number by checking our Toll
Free Number Directory.
If you still have questions about how your personal information is collected,
used or disclosed by the Department, you may contact Saskatchewan Health’s
Privacy Officer at:
Saskatchewan Health
Privacy Officer
3475 Albert Street
Regina SK S4S 6X6
telephone: 787-0769
fax: 787-2974
e-mail: HIPAFOIhelp@health.gov.sk.ca
Should you continue to have questions or concerns about how the Department
is handling your personal information, you may contact the Saskatchewan Information
and Privacy Commissioner to request a review.
Mr. Gary Dickson
Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner
503-1801 Hamilton St
Regina SK S4P 4B4
telephone: 787-8350
toll free telephone: 1-877-748-2298
fax: 798-1603
e-mail: webmaster@oipc.sk.ca
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