Medical Arts Centre Accession Portal Privacy Policy

Last Updated: November 18th 2013

 

This policy is specific to Medical Arts Centre Accession Portal and supplements the Medical Arts Centre Privacy Policy found at this link. 

What is the Accession Portal?

The Medical Arts Centre’s Accession Portal is the patient web based tool utilized by The Medical Arts Centre.  It allows patients to:

• create, check, cancel and change clinic appointments;
• view the name of the referring physician, date when referred and the status of the referral;
• make entries into the medical record such as progress notes or details of response to treatment;
• communicate securely with the clinic to ask questions on administrative matters, general questions about services provided or to submit feedback, suggestions for improvement or testimonials on the care provided;
• view a log of individuals who have accessed their medical record by date and time;
• view, edit or update personal contact information.

What is Intrahealth?

Intrahealth is a company that was established in 1997 to develop a new generation of software for community-based health practitioners.  Intrahealth provides products and services to health practitioners in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.  The company’s founder and CEO is Dr Mark Matthews. 

The Medical Arts Centre uses Intrahealth software for electronic health records, practice management and for the Accession Portal.  Software products used are:

 Profile is the Electronic medical records and practice management software used by The Medical Arts Centre,

 Accession is the Patient web portal software used by Medical Arts Centre’s Accession Portal

Is there any cost to me to use Accession Portal?

There is no cost to you for use of the Medical Arts Centre’s Accession Portal. There may be an annual cost for more advanced services in the future.

Access

Accession recognizes and respects your privacy when you use the Accession Portal. 

We will use your personal information only for the purposes for which it is collected. By providing your personal information to us, you agree that we may use it for these purposes only. You may withdraw your consent to these uses, but if you do, we will not be able to continue providing the services.

Why We Collect Personal Information

We only collect and use your personal information (e.g. name, date of birth, Personal Health Number, email address, etc.) for the following purposes:

• To confirm your identity when you register for the Accession Portal
• To deliver the services that you have requested
• To manage your account and provide you with customer support
  

Your e-mail address will only be used to send important service messages, information about new services or changes to the services.

Disclosure of Your Personal Information

We do not disclose your personal information to anyone; except if in accordance with a legal obligation under a warrant, court order or subpoena.

Your Accession Portal personal information is not stored or sent outside Canada.

Who has access to my personal health information?

Access is restricted to the Medical Arts Centre, its staff and medical associates.  Everyone with access is bound to a confidentiality agreement and may only access information in the course of their work associated with The Medical Arts Centre.

The Accession Portal provides a log of anyone accessing your medical record by remote means.

What personal health information is shared?

Any information shared for research purposes beyond those with access is first depersonalized (i.e. any information that uniquely identifies you is removed or scrambled) so it cannot be traced to you.  Shared information may include health history, metrics (e.g. pain surveys) and results entered by you.

How long do you retain records?

The Medical Arts Centre retains electronic medical records for 10 years as recommended by the Canadian Protective Medical Association.  

Control of Your User Name and Password

You are responsible for protecting your User Name and Password and any actions taken with them. Do not share your User Name and Password with anyone. For your protection, Accession Portal may require a change of your Password periodically. If you suspect that your Password has been compromised, for any reason, you should change it immediately.

Select a Password that is meaningful to you but not obvious or easy to guess.  Unsecure passwords would include your birth date, phone number, social insurance number or similar information about your family. Do not write down your User Name and Password, store it in a file on your computer or permit anyone to observe you entering your User Name and Password. 

You can change your Password at any time.

How can my personal information be corrected?

Personal contact information can be modified directly by you.  If you notice other errors on your medical record, please inform staff at the Medical Arts Centre by telephone on 250 753 3431, if the information pertains to clinical information on your medical record, please make an appointment with your physician to discuss this. 

Security of Your Personal Information

Accession uses safeguards to protect your personal information against loss or theft and unauthorized access; including when transferred between your computer and our server. Your access to the Accession Portal website is a secure connection. For additional protection, after 3 unsuccessful login attempts a user will be locked out and the website will automatically log out after 10 minutes of inactivity. 

Cookies

Cookies, small files placed on your hard drive, are used by the Accession Portal but do not contain any personal information and we remove them when you end your session on the Accession Portal website.

Changes to the Accession Portal Privacy Policy

From time to time we may update the Accession Portal Privacy Policy. We recommend you routinely check the Accession Portal website for changes.

Questions, Concerns and Complaints

For additional information about the Accession Portal’s privacy policies and practices please see The Medical Arts Centre Privacy Policy online at www.medicalartscentre.com/accession and the Intrahealth Privacy policy at www.intrahealthcanada.com/privacy-policy.htm.

 If you have any questions or concerns regarding the handling of your personal information please contact us 250 753 3431.   You may also forward your privacy concerns directly to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia at www.oipc.bc.ca.

Safe Computing Practices

It is important that you take steps to protect your information on your personal computer. The Medical Arts Centre’s Accession Portal is a protected environment which meets the highest Internet security standards. While they take strong measures to ensure the confidentiality of your information, it is extremely important that you also take the following precautions to ensure that your information remains safe and secure. 

1.         Protect Your Privacy:

• Beware of emails asking you for personal information – you will never be asked to provide personal information via email.Please note that you may enter personal health information within the Accession Portal.
• Report any suspicious email requests related to the Accession Portal immediately to The Medical Arts Centre…
• Protect your Accession Portal password. Your password is confidential and must never be shared with any outside person or company, including software that records your password so that you don’t need to enter it the next time you access a website.
• Pick a password that is difficult to guess by using a combination of letters and numbers (nothing obvious).
• Memorize your password and keep it secret. If you suspect your password has been compromised, please change your password immediately.Do not write your password down on a sticky note.
• Always keep your secret question and answer confidential – do not share them with anyone.
• Never send confidential information (such as passwords or personal health information) via non-secure email.
• Avoid using software that records your passwords so that you don’t need to enter them the next time you access a website from the same computer. This type of software could give other users of your computer access to your accounts.
• Avoid accidentally agreeing to have your Internet activity monitored by other parties by carefully reading the terms of any software you download and free services you accept online before you download them.
• Always type in the website address or use your bookmarks to access the portal.
• Do not leave your computer unattended while logged on to the Accession Portal.
• Avoid using public computers (e.g., Internet cafés or libraries) to access mydoctor.ca because they could have viruses or malicious programs that record every keystroke, or capture usernames and passwords.
• Always log off when you’re finished your Accession Portal session.
• Clear your browser’s cache after each Accession Portal session.

2. Use Anti-Virus Software:

Whenever you use your personal computer and the Internet, there is a potential risk of contracting a computer virus or the possibility of infiltration by intrusion software commonly known as “Trojan Horses”. Computer viruses can modify programs, delete files and erase the contents of hard drives. “Trojan Horses” can have similar effects and may be able to capture keystrokes, including passwords or other secret information. Spyware and other deceptive software can also conduct certain activities on your computer without your knowledge or consent.

The potential consequences of any of these threats could include damage to your personal computer, compromise your personal information and the inability to use Accession Portal.

For these reasons, you should follow these practices:

• Install and frequently update a proven anti-virus product, such as McAfee Virus Scan, Norton Antivirus or AVG. Most popular anti-virus products include some spyware scanning capabilities. 
• Only accept or download software from a source that you believe to be trusted. 
• Never accept files or attachments when accessing websites, newsgroups and chat rooms unless you are very sure of their authenticity. 
• Ensure you are using a legally licensed operating system. 
  

Warning about ‘free’ services and software offering faster web surfing and email virus scanning: You should carefully read the terms of any free services you accept or software you download online before you accept them. They are known to sometimes include your consent to having all of your Internet browsing activity, including secure transactions monitored. In consenting to such terms, you may allow the service provider to collect highly personal. Your Accession Portal password is confidential and must never be shared with any outside person or company.  

3. Protect Your Internet Connection

There are additional vulnerabilities associated with having a computer directly connected to the Internet for an extended period of time. This applies to all users but it is extremely important for users with cable modem or digital subscriber line (DSL) Internet access. These methods of connection do not require ‘dialling’ into the Internet and thus are sometimes described as ‘always on’ connections. Unfortunately, as long as the computer remains ‘on’ and connected to the Internet, malicious parties have a continuous window of opportunity for attacks on the user’s personal computer.

If you use a cable modem or DSL connection for Internet access, you can limit this security risk by disconnecting from the Internet when your session is complete, or by turning off the cable or DSL modem. However, if you want to continue to take advantage of the ‘always on’ feature of cable and DSL connections or if you run extended dial-up sessions on the Internet, we recommend the following security measures be taken:

• Disable File Sharing on your Personal Computer.
• Use a hardware router with Network Address Translation between your cable or DSL modem and your Personal Computer.
• Install and frequently update a Personal Firewall.
• Ensure security patches and fixes are regularly applied to your computer. 
  

If you have a wireless network, there are additional measures that should be taken to protect your Internet connection:

• Use the highest level of encryption possible.
• Change your default password.
• Change SSID (Service Set Identifier).
• Switch off SSID broadcasting to further secure the network.
  

For additional information on securing your computer please contact your hardware supplier, Internet Service Provider, or your technical support representative