Privacy

How does the Personal Health Information Act, 2004 (PHIPA) impact a health-care professional's ability to provide the Ontario Poison Centre with a patient's personal health information for the purpose of receiving treatment management?

The Ontario Poison Centre's physicians, pharmacists and nurses are considered within the "circle of care" and PHIPA should not interfere with the exchange of information between health-care professionals and the Ontario Poison Centre.

In the event of a call from a hospital, the Ontario Poison Centre needs personal health information to be able to provide accurate consultation specific to that patient. This includes name, age, history, vitals, physical condition, laboratory results from completed tests and laboratory results from tests we may have requested in offering advice for care.

For more information about PHIPA, health-care professionals can:

Contact the Privacy Officer in their organization
Access the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario's website: www.ipc.on.ca
Obtain a copy of a fact sheet regarding privacy and poison centre services
Access the College of Nurses of Ontario's website: www.cno.org
Access privacy information on the Ontario Hospital Association's website: www.oha.com