Recent amendments to Alberta's Health Information
Act, and related regulations, come into force
on September 1, 2010. The amendments touch on a range of issues
including the applicability of the statute, sharing of electronic
health records, the creation of health information repositories and
additional investigative powers for the Information and Privacy Commissioner of
Alberta.
On September 1, 2010, new legislation pertaining to health
information comes into force in Alberta. The Health Information
Act (Act), which provides "custodians" of health
information a framework within which to manage the collection, use
and disclosure of patients' health information, and associated regulations
will be amended in four significant ways. First, by reason of an
amendment to the definition of "custodian", the Act will
now apply to privately-funded health services. Previously, among
health care service providers, only those paid under the Alberta
Health Care Insurance Plan were
