Diabetes Registry (DR) and Privacy Update

The delivery of the Chronic Disease Management System (CDMS), starting with the Diabetes Registry (DR), is one of eHealth Ontario’s main priorities. The CDMS aligns with the government’s Ontario Diabetes Strategy (ODS), which is committed to improving the management of diabetes in the province. The DR is one of the tools required to handle diabetes care within the ODS. With one million Ontarians currently diagnosed with diabetes and an estimated one million more diagnoses expected by 2020, the reason to focus on DR is clear.

The DR is a tool that brings together data from multiple Health Information Custodians (HICs) and will allow health care providers to:

• easily check patient records,
• access diagnostic information,
• receive patient alerts and
• track patient care.

The implementation of the DR in the fall of 2011 is an important step toward achieving province-wide electronic health records (EHRs) for Ontarians.

eHealth Ontario has specific obligations under the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA) in its role as an Agent to HIC, including to the MOHLTC, and as an information manager under the amended section 6.2 of the Regulation to PHIPA.

A public notice was issued by the MOHTLC on Monday, August 22, 2011 providing detailed information about the DR, including what personal health information will be shared with authorized health care providers. The collection, use and disclosure of an individual’s personal health information by the MOHLTC and health care providers/HICs, is subject to PHIPA.

Your privacy is important to us. If you want to withhold, withdraw or reinstate your consent to having your personal health information accessed by health care providers through the DR call Service Ontario at 1-800-291-1406 (TTY: 1-800-387-5559).