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The Ottawa Hospital collects, uses, shares, and keeps personal health information consistent with our legal obligations:

As well, we disclose your contact information to The Ottawa Hospital Foundation, so that they may conduct fundraising to improve our health-care facilities, services, and programs.

Access and corrections to your personal health information

The Ottawa Hospital uses an electronic health record. Other health-care providers outside of The Ottawa Hospital may access your electronic health record, but they or their team must be involved in your care and sign an agreement with The Ottawa Hospital.

The Ottawa Hospital and its health-care partners use the Epic digital health network to collect and share your personal health information with other partners. This helps ensure that you get the best care possible, no matter where you get your care within our partner network. We share the information safely, using privacy and security controls to help keep your personal health information safe, meet health-care best practices and ensure your care is a top priority.

Health-care providers who have access to your Personal Health Information include:

  • Health-care organization members of the Atlas Alliance
  • Billing agents, and
  • Community health-care partners

Your personal information is shared with:

  • The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
  • Health Canada
  • Ottawa Public Health
  • Canadian Institute for Health Information
  • Cancer Care Ontario, and
  • As required by law.

To access your health record:

  • Log in to MyChart, Epic’s patient portal, or
  • Contact the Health Records Department of the campus where you usually receive care.

To request a correction to your health record:

  • Talk to your health-care provider at your next visit, or
  • Contact the Health Records Department at the campus where you usually receive care.

Safeguards

The Information and Privacy Office at The Ottawa Hospital takes steps to protect your personal health information from theft, loss and unauthorized access, copying, modification, use, disclosure, and disposal. We conduct audits and complete investigations to monitor and manage  privacy compliance at The Ottawa Hospital. We take steps to ensure that everyone who performs services for us protects your privacy and only uses your personal health information for the purposes for which you have consented.

The Epic digital health network is an American-based software, but patient information is not sent to the United States. The personal health information that is collected remains in Canada.

Consent

In addition to the steps The Ottawa Hospital takes to protect your privacy, you also have the right to withdraw access to your personal health information in Epic and/or provincial electronic health record programs.  You can do so by placing a consent directive or lockbox on part or all your personal health information.

Please discuss with a member of your health team the risks and benefits of placing a consent directive on your health record. A consent directive may be overridden with your express consent, or in other circumstances permitted by law.

Privacy Level Code

We use different privacy level codes to restrict or minimize who knows you are at the hospital. Unless you tell us differently, we may let visitors or callers know where you are in the hospital and your general health status. If you do not want anyone to know that you are in hospital, you, or your substitute decision-maker on your behalf, may request that a Privacy Level Code be placed in our patient registration system.

Contact Information

For more information about our privacy practices see our patient brochure or contact:

Information and Privacy Office, The Ottawa Hospital
Phone: 613-739-6668
Fax: 613-761-4740
E-mail: infoprivacyoffice@toh.ca

Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1400
Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8
416-326-3333 or 1-800-387-0073

Last updated on: October 31st, 2023