OTN and Your Privacy
OTN takes the privacy of health and other information it may have access to very seriously and is committed to protect it in ways that meet privacy law and industry standards. Regular privacy and security assessments are completed to ensure that OTN products and services protect personal health information.
Patients
What is the Personal Health Information Protection Act?
The Personal Health Information Protection Act, or PHIPA is a provincial law that sets out the rules for health care providers to collect, use and share your personal health information. This law also gives you the right to ask to see and ask for changes to your personal health information if the information is inaccurate or incomplete.
What is “personal health information”?
“Personal health information” or PHI, is any information that can identify you and link you to health care services you receive. This can include your name, address, telephone number, health card number, health professional’s name, reason for seeing a health professional, lab or examination results.
Who sees my personal health information?
OTN uses your personal health information to arrange for your virtual care appointment and to share those details with you. This means that OTN must provide your personal health information to hospitals and/or doctors involved in that appointment.
If you call OTN, your call will be recorded for quality purposes, securely retained and erased after it is no longer needed. You have the ability to opt out if you do not want your call recorded.
Your personal health information is also used to pay doctors for the services they provide to you through OTN.
Sometimes, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care may ask OTN for data to help plan and manage the health care system. When OTN provides this kind of information to the Ministry, it does so in a way that prevents individuals from being identified.
OTN Members may also ask to use information generated by OTN for conducting evaluation or research projects. If your personal health information was involved in this project, you would be notified and asked for your consent. You do not have to participate and may refuse to do so if asked.
How does OTN protect my personal health information?
OTN uses a variety of physical, administrative and technical methods to protect your personal health information from unauthorized access, use, copying, modification or disclosure. Some of these include locked drawers, to a private network over which data and images flow between sites. OTN continually monitors, reviews and updates its practices to ensure the privacy and security of confidential information on the network.
Can I access my personal health information?
You have the right to see your personal health information. OTN will typically refer you to your healthcare provider or organization to access your personal health information. Should OTN have personal information about you that you would like to access, please complete the Access Request form and mail the completed form to the OTN Privacy Officer at the address provided on the form. OTN will confirm your identity and provide you with your record or a notice indicating why the record cannot be made available to you within 30 days of receiving your request.
What if some of my personal health information is incorrect?
If you think that your personal health information includes inaccurate or incomplete information, please complete the Request for Correction form and mail the completed form to the OTN Privacy Officer at the address provided on the form. The Privacy Officer will investigate the complaint upon receipt and OTN will respond to you within 30 days of receiving your request.
How do I make a complaint about how OTN has handled my personal health information?
If you feel that OTN has not handled your personal health information properly and wish to complain, please complete the Privacy Complaint form and mail the completed form to the OTN Privacy Officer at the address provided on the form.
Consumers
OTN has introduced a series of important consumer-based health services for Ontarians that do not require a health card and which can be self-accessed or self-registered. Some of the services like Big White Wall are managed by OTN while others like Bounce Back or CanImmunize are delivered by other organizations or third-parties. The information collected, used and disclosed in the course of providing services directly to Ontarians, is used to connect consumers to OTN services or to connect consumers to external services.
Privacy Resources for Consumers and Patients
Providers
Today, health care professionals across Ontario are using technology to deliver virtual care across many therapeutic areas of care. You can connect quickly with your patients, and when necessary, with specialists, to deliver high quality care when and where your patients need it.
Privacy is more than legislation at OTN; it is a Service that builds trust, breeds innovation and contributes to a positive user experience. OTN is committed to protecting your information and the information of your patients or that third-parties may access or handle to deliver OTN programs and services.
Read the OTN Privacy Notice.
For more information about how OTN handles and protects your information and the information of your patients please see:
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA)
Ontario Health / Ontario Telemedicine Network division (“OH/OTN”) is subject to Ontario’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). FIPPA provides the public with a right to access information we hold, with limited exemptions. To learn about the process or to make a formal request, please visit our FIPPA Information page.
OTN Privacy Office
More information about OTN’s privacy policy is available through the OTN Privacy Office:
Email: OH-OTN-Privacy@ontariohealth.ca
Phone: 1-855-654-0888
Mail:
Privacy Officer
Ontario Telemedicine Network
438 University Avenue, Suite 200
Toronto, ON M5G 2K8
If you require immediate assistance, please call 1-855-654-0888 and ask to speak with a member of OTN’s Privacy Team.
If you have any questions or concerns about OTN’s privacy practices, you can contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario:
Phone: 1-800-387-0073
Mail:
Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1400 Toronto, ON M4W 1A8