CONSENT TO THE USE AND STORAGE OF PERSONAL HEALTH INFORMATION
At Centre Dentaire St-Luc, we are committed to providing a professional, safe, and trustworthy working environment. To provide you with optimized oral health care and excellent service, we collect, store, and analyze certain personal health information that we (a) collect from you, (b) generate through diagnostic tests and treatment planning, or (c) receive from your other healthcare providers.
We will never collect, disclose, or use your information without your knowledge or consent. Only individuals with a clinical need (or related administrative need) to know the information will be authorized to access it. Similarly, we adhere to the principle that only the minimum amount of information necessary for a task or function should be disclosed. Our staff has received training on the importance of ensuring the security and confidentiality of your information.
We have appointed Julian Perez as the Data and Privacy Officer. If you have any questions or concerns, you can contact Julian Perez at julian.perez@dentalcorp.ca. We appreciate your feedback.
WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?
We typically collect several categories of information. The first category includes personal information such as name, address, contact details, insurance information, and financial and billing information, which may include credit card numbers and similar information. If we collect credit card information, we do so in accordance with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS).
We also collect and generate personal health information, including:
- Medical history
- Medications
- Dental history
- History of dental visits, recall exams, and appointments
- Diagnostic and test results
- Study models, odontograms, and impressions
- Treatment recommendations, treatment plans, and progress notes
- Records of consent conversations and, if applicable, signed consent forms
- Referral reports and recommendations to specialists
HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION?
We believe it is important for you to know how we use your information. First, we collect, use, and disclose information about you solely for the following purposes:
- Providing safe and effective patient care
- Ensuring high-quality service
- Assessing your healthcare needs
- Advising you on treatment options
- Establishing and maintaining communication with you, including scheduling and reminding you of appointments
- Allowing us to communicate with other healthcare providers, including specialists and general dentists involved in your care
- Enabling effective follow-up of treatments, care, and billing
- Providing teaching and demonstrations on an anonymous basis
- Completing and submitting dental expense claims and treatment estimates for assessment and payment by a third party
- Complying with legal and regulatory requirements, including communication with the provincial dental regulatory body, the Privacy Commissioner, or any legislative review board, as required by law
- Complying with a court order in the event of legal proceedings
- Billing for goods and services
- Processing payments by credit card, cash, and personal check
- Recovering unpaid accounts
- Sending surveys related to our activities and services
- Internal management purposes, such as resource planning, policy development, quality assurance, and human resources management
- Complying with regulatory requirements and the law in general
- If a decision to sell the clinic is made:
- Allowing potential buyers to evaluate the dental clinic
- Allowing potential buyers to conduct due diligence for a sale
Although the above list is rather long, we believe it is best to be comprehensive. However, it is highly likely that many of the items listed above will not be relevant to you.
Before using or disclosing personal information for a purpose other than those identified above, we will inform you of the new purpose and proceed only with your consent.
HOW ARE YOUR INFORMATION STORED AND WHO HAS ACCESS?
Your information may be stored in physical form (files, models, etc.). In such cases, they are either kept by staff or stored in a locked and secure filing cabinet or safe. Digital information may be stored on encrypted file servers in secure locations or controlled access areas. Digital information is password-protected and stored on systems that record audit trails in the event of unauthorized access requiring investigation. Our systems are protected by hardware and software security measures that comply with industry standards.
We may enter into agreements with specialized third-party providers for data storage and protection. Sometimes, this data is securely stored in the cloud, which may include locations outside of Canada. In these cases, only individuals contractually obligated to secure and protect your data will have access to that data. We will only enter into contractual agreements with providers that meet Canadian legal standards and requirements for the storage and protection of personal health information.
We may also share aggregated and non-identifiable data with research institutions or third-party providers to advance oral healthcare. This practice is explicitly permitted by law as it presents minimal or no risk to patients but can significantly improve the effectiveness of healthcare. We will only share such data with individuals or providers who enter into necessary agreements to safeguard the confidentiality of the information and to backup and protect that data.
WE WORK WITH EXPERTS TO BETTER PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION
In order to meet the complex and ever-evolving requirements of dentistry practice and dental clinic administration, we collaborate with experts to improve the healthcare services we provide and make the administration of our dental clinics more efficient.
In addition to the independent obligation of each healthcare provider to respect and protect your privacy rights, our dentists and healthcare providers partner with SERVICES DENTAIRES S. SGRO INC., which, among other things, acts as our designated custodian of patient health information. Services de santé DCC (Québec) Inc. provides information management, administration, and technical services to our clinic.
As an information manager, SSD uses industry-leading standards and technologies, as well as a robust cybersecurity program, to protect patient privacy and ensure compliance with all local and federal laws.