Preface

• Author: Halyna N. Perun; Michael Orr; Fannie Dimitriadis
• Pages: 37-41

Preface

This book is intended as a guide that will help those who are affected by the

Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA) to understand their

obligations under the Act and how to comply in the easiest and most effective

manner. This book also addresses the essential elements of the Quality of Care

Information Protection Act, 2004 (QCIPA) and the rights and obligations creat-

ed by that Act. Explaining complex legislation in a manner that will be proper-

ly understood by all those affected, most of whom are not lawyers or privacy

experts, has been a considerable challenge. Where the goals of accuracy and

brevity pulled in opposite directions, we have given priority to accuracy. At the

same time, as much as possible, we have tried to explain PHIPA in a manner

that is as accessible and helpful as possible to everyone who needs to comply

with this complex new legislation.

We generally make a point of explaining in detail any specialized terminol-

ogy as it comes up in the Guide. As an additional resource, a glossary explain-

ing terminology essential to understanding PHIPA is included in Appendix 1.

The chapters that follow explain PHIPA step-by-step in a sequence that

generally follows the structure of PHIPA itself.

Chapter 1 introduces PHIPA by explaining the integral link between pri-

vacy and health care, and provides a short history of the development of health

privacy legislation in Ontario.

Chapter 2 discusses who is covered by PHIPA and in respect of what they

are covered. Since the Act applies primarily to “health information custodians”

(or “custodians”) as they collect, use, and disclose “personal health informa-

tion,” this chapter focuses on the definitions and nuances of these terms to set

the foundation for understanding every aspect of PHIPA. This chapter also

xxxvii