The Protection of Personnal Information at the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec

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Description

he files of the Régie de l’assu- Does the Régie hold the medical Do all employees of the Régie How do insured persons obtain record of insured persons? have access to personal access to information concerning rance maladie du Québec con-information? them? tain information on the identity No. The Régie does not have any medical records as T such, only administrative records. Medical are No. Since this information is confidential, only those To access personal information concerning them, of the persons insured under the kept by the facilities in the health and social services employees who need it as part of their work have insured persons can call, write or go directly to the Health Insurance Plan. This informa- network as well as the health professionals. access to it. In addition, Régie employees have Régie’s client service desk. Measures have also been access only to the specific information required. taken to allow persons with a disability to exercise tion includes the persons’ first and last In other words, the only information in the Régie’s the right to access provided to them by law. possession regarding the health services received names, address, heath insurance and by insured persons is the information needed to pay Insured persons may also apply in writing to the social insurance numbers, date of birth, health professionals. It should be noted that health person in charge of access to documents and the Can insured persons access professionals who ...

Informations

• Publié par: Erni
• Nombre de lectures: 49
• Langue: English

Extrait

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he files of the Régie de l’assu-

rance maladie du Québec con-

tain information on the identity

of the persons insured under the

Health Insurance Plan. This informa-

tion includes the persons’ first and last

names, address, heath insurance and

social insurance numbers, date of birth,

gender, marital status, language of

correspondence, name of spouse and

dependants, if any, along with their

health insurance number. The Régie

also holds information on the health

services received by these persons.

All this information is confidential, that

is to say, it can be disclosed only to the

persons concerned or to someone duly

authorized by them or acting on their

behalf according to law. However, in

very specific cases provided for by law,

certain information may be released to

public bodies without the consent of the

persons concerned.

What is the information kept by

the Régie used for?

The information in the Régie’s possession is used

to issue Health Insurance Cards and check persons’

eligibility for the Health Insurance Plan. This

information is also used to validate the payment

requests filed by the health professionals who

provided services and requests for reimbursement

submitted by insured persons.

Finally, this information serves to document

investigation files, contact insured persons, carry out

analyses and prepare statistics.

Does the Régie hold the medical

record of insured persons?

No. The Régie does not have any medical records as

such, only administrative records. Medical records are

kept by the facilities in the health and social services

network as well as the health professionals.

In other words, the only information in the Régie’s

possession regarding the health services received

by insured persons is the information needed to pay

health professionals. It should be noted that health

professionals who are paid on other than a fee-for-

service basis (salary, remuneration for fixed-duty

periods or lump-sum fees) are not required to indicate

the name of their patients.

Does it cost anything to access

personal information?

No. Insured persons may access the information

concerning them free of charge. Nevertheless, a fee

may be charged for the transcription, reproduction

or transmittal of information.

Can insured persons access

information concerning them?

Yes. According to the

Act respecting access to

documents held by public bodies and the protection

of personal information

, persons registered with the

Régie may access personal information concerning

them. However, access to information on insured

services is restricted by the

Health Insurance Act

to

the following:

• date the service was received

• name and address of the person who provided the

service

• amounts paid by the Régie for the service

• name of the person to whom the amounts were

paid

How do insured persons obtain

access to information concerning

them?

To access personal information concerning them,

insured persons can call, write or go directly to the

Régie’s client service desk. Measures have also been

taken to allow persons with a disability to exercise

the right to access provided to them by law.

Insured persons may also apply in writing to the

person in charge of access to documents and the

protection of personal information. The application

must be sufficiently clear so that the desired

information can be retrieved. Furthermore, given

that health professionals have 90 days to file their

payment requests with the Régie, information

searches related to a service obtained cannot be

performed earlier than four months after the date on

which the service was provided.

Requests for information must be sent to the

following address:

Le responsable de l’accès aux documents et de la

protection des renseignements personnels

Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec

1125, Grande Allée Ouest

Québec (Québec)

G1S 1E7

Do all employees of the Régie

have access to personal

information?

No. Since this information is confidential, only those

employees who need it as part of their work have

access to it. In addition, Régie employees have

access only to the specific information required.

The Protection of

Personal Information

at the Régie

de l’assurance maladie

du Québec

Ce document est aussi disponible en français.

The information in this pamphlet is neither

exhaustive nor applicable in all cases,

and does not have force of law.

Direction des communications

March 2008

To whom and to which

organizations does the Régie

release the personal information

in its possession?

Here are examples of disclosures authorized by the

persons concerned:

• To authorized insurance companies, the Régie

discloses the Health Insurance Number of insured

persons who received health services outside

Québec

• To the Société de l’assurance automobile du

Québec (SAAQ), the Régie provides certain

information on the insured persons involved in

a motor vehicle accident outside Québec. This

allows the SAAQ to pay for those costs not

covered by the Health Insurance Plan.

The Régie also discloses, without the consent of the

insured persons concerned and subject to certain

terms and conditions, personal information to other

persons and organizations such as:

• the Chief Electoral Officer of Québec, for example,

information pertaining to a change of name,

address, date of birth or gender that applies to

insured persons on the permanent electoral list

• the Ministère de l’Éducation, du Loisir et du Sport,

for instance, the address of ex-student debtors

of the loans and bursaries program who do not

comply with the repayment terms and conditions

of government guaranteed loans

• the Commission de la santé de la sécurité du

travail (CSST) so that the Régie can recover the

fees paid to health professionals for services

rendered as part of the

Act respecting industrial

accidents and occupational diseases

• persons authorized by the Commission d’accès à

l’information to carry out research in the field of

health and social services

Can insured persons be denied

access to personal information?

Yes. The Régie may deny access to personal

information it holds by availing itself of the restrictions

to access rights provided by law. This is the case,

for example, with personal information concerning

third parties. The Régie can also deny applications

for access if they are obviously abusive due to their

number, or their recurring or systematic character. In

the latter case, the Régie must obtain authorization

from the Commission d’accès à l’information.

Can personal information held by

the Régie be corrected?

Yes. When insured persons notice that the

information in the Régie’s possession regarding

them is inaccurate, incomplete or ambiguous,

they can request that it be corrected. The same is

true if they notice that the gathering, disclosure or

consultation an item of information concerning them

is not authorized by law.