By Deborah Shawcross

Sask. government taking steps to protect medical records

Nov 27, 2014 | 6:13 AM

The provincial government is making big changes to protect medical records from being misused or misplaced. 
 
On Wednesday, Health Minister Dustin Duncan introduced amendments to the Health Information Protection Act at the legislature.
 
People who are found snooping medical records will now face a fine up to $50,000 or a year in jail. Privacy Commissioner Ron Kryzeniski is happy to see the new rules as snooping can be a serious problem.
 
“We’ve had cases where an individual has snooped 153 times and another one where they snooped individual records 504 times,” said Kryzeniski. 
 
The amendments will also give the Ministry of Health the power to act fast when abandoned medical files are discovered.
 
Kryzeniski says,”if you have a situation where a medical practitioner leaves 400 records and they’re unsecured, then they’re abandoned records. What this amendment does is it gives the minister the ability to appoint somebody to take charge of the records.”
 
Changes to the act are based on recommendations that were made after a large number of records were found abandoned in a Regina dumpster in 2012.
 
The government could make even more amendments as they consider the remaining recommendations. That includes ensuring doctors have a policy in place for how they deal with records. 
 
“How long are you going to keep them and what is your practice to destroy them? One of the safest things to do with personal health information is to shred it or burn it,” said Kryzeniski. 
 
Also being considered is clarifying the definition of trustee in the Health Information Protection Act. A trustee could be a doctor, corporation or the owner of a building where records are kept. Kryzeniski says right now there are gaps in determining who really is the trustee and ultimately responsible for the records.

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