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An Important Notice Regarding Your Personal Health Information

This notice is being issued to help people with diabetes or at risk of having diabetes decide whether or not they want to consent to having their personal health information shared in the Diabetes Registry and the Diabetes Testing Report.

The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) is working to help individuals better manage their diabetes and their diabetes care. As part of this effort, eHealth Ontario is creating and will be operating a Diabetes Registry to give health care providers the ability to easily check patient records, access diagnostic information, receive patient alerts, and track the care a patient with diabetes receives. The implementation of the Diabetes Registry is a first step towards achieving a province-wide Electronic Health Record for eligible Ontarians.

The MOHLTC currently uses the paper-based Diabetes Testing Report to keep your primary care provider (physician or nurse practitioner in a Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinic) informed of when you last had the following three key tests that people living with diabetes should receive on a regular basis:

• the HbA1C blood glucose control test, which patients should receive at least every six months
• the LDL-C cholesterol test, which patients should receive approximately every year
• a retinal eye exam, which patients should receive at least every two years

In order to create the Diabetes Testing Report, your primary care provider shares personal health information, including your name, OHIP number, and date of birth with the MOHLTC. He or she will also confirm whether you have diabetes. In response, the MOHLTC will share the most recent date for each of the three key tests with your primary care provider.

Starting in Fall 2011, eHealth Ontario will begin operating the Diabetes Registry and other Electronic Health Record applications to permit health care providers to access your name, OHIP number, date of birth, and clinical information such as procedure dates and test results, in real time, when they are providing you with health care. The MOHLTC will continue to send Diabetes Testing Reports to primary care providers until they transition to the Diabetes Registry.

Protecting Your Privacy

The MOHLTC will share your personal health information through eHealth Ontario and the Diabetes Registry with health care providers when they are providing you with health care. The collection, use, and disclosure of your personal health information by the MOHLTC and health care providers, are subject to the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA). eHealth Ontario is also subject to PHIPA.

Your privacy is important. You may decide that you do not want your primary care provider to disclose your name, OHIP number, and date of birth, and confirm that you are a patient with diabetes, to the MOHLTC, and that you do not want the MOHLTC to include the dates of your last HbA1C, LDL-C, and retinal eye exam in your provider’s Diabetes Testing Reports.

You may also withhold or withdraw your consent so that your personal health information will not be shared with health care providers through the Diabetes Registry without your express consent.

If you do not want your personal health information shared through the Diabetes Registry and/or the Diabetes
Testing Report, this will in no way affect your relationship with your health care providers, who will continue to provide health care to you.

If you previously withheld or withdrew your consent from having your personal health information included in Diabetes Testing Reports, your consent will also be withdrawn from the Diabetes Registry. However, if you previously withheld or withdrew your consent from the Diabetes Testing Report, but would like your information to be accessible by health care providers through the Diabetes Registry, you will need to reinstate your consent by following the instructions set out below.

Deciding Not to Share Your Information

If you wish to withhold or withdraw your consent to having your information disclosed between your primary care provider and the MOHLTC for Diabetes Testing Reports and/or if you wish to withhold or withdraw your consent to having your personal health information accessed by health care providers through the Diabetes Registry, you may call 1-800-291-1405 (TTY: 1-800-387-5559).

If you have previously withheld or withdrawn your consent to have your information included on the Diabetes Testing Report and you do not want to participate in the Diabetes Testing Report or the Diabetes Registry, you do not need to withhold or withdraw your consent again.

If you have previously withheld or withdrawn your consent and wish to reinstate your consent to participate in the Diabetes Testing Report and/or the Diabetes Registry, you can do so by calling the number above.

More information about diabetes and the Diabetes Registry can be found at www.ontario.ca/diabetes.