How doctors can help protect their information technology systems from cybersecurity threats and what they should do in the event of a cybersecurity incident.
(December 2021)
Actions physicians can take to mitigate potential risks of using patient portals to communicate clinical information with patents.
(July 2021)
Physicians may face a privacy breach when viewing personal health information that is not required for current clinical care and without the patient’s or information custodian’s consent.
(September 2020)
Documentation in clinical notes and reports to third parties should be factual, objective, and use a suitable tone of medical professionalism.
(March 2020)
Practising physicians, particularly those at the beginning of their career, should ensure they have enduring access to medical records after leaving a practice for medical-legal purposes.
(March 2020)
Responsibilities of physicians when planning to close or leave a practice due to retirement, illness, or other reasons.
(March 2020)
A review of CMPA member enquiries following the legalization of cannabis for recreational use reveals that the new regulatory regime has generally not had a significant medical-legal impact for our members.
(December 2019)
CMPA gives advice to physicians travelling across international borders and having border agents search mobile electronic devices, such as smartphones, that may contain confidential patient information.
(January 2019)
Strategies for managing the stress associated with transitioning to a new EMR system for managing patient records.
(December 2018)
Addressing privacy breaches has become more complex as the rules around notifying and reporting have recently changed or are about to change across the country.
(November 2018)
Physicians can be better prepared to transfer patient health information when they understand who has custody of and access to medical records.
(June 2018)
Individuals have a general right to access their personal information in independent medical examination files, but there are exceptions to what must be produced
(June 2018)
Physicians may release a patient’s medical records to lawyers only with patient authorization or where required by law.
(January 2018)
Physicians should try to accommodate patients’ requests to limit access to their personal health information.
(November 2017)
The practice of marking transcribed reports or entries “dictated but not read” gives rise to medical-legal risks and can create uncertainty for those relying on that information in providing patient care.
(June 2016)
An overview of information privacy considerations when using electronic medical records in practice.
(October 2013)
A discussion of the principles of access, the challenges with access, and managing the risks.
(October 2013)
To respond appropriately to a request to release patient information, physicians must understand the legal rules surrounding the ownership and handling of the information.
(October 2012)
The physician's role in providing a child's medical information to a parent.
(December 2005)
An overview of the principles of retention, sharing and transferring of medical records.
(March 2003)
DISCLAIMER: The information contained in this learning material is for general educational purposes only and is not intended to provide specific professional medical or legal advice, nor to constitute a "standard of care" for Canadian healthcare professionals. The use of CMPA learning resources is subject to the foregoing as well as the CMPA's Terms of Use.
