Focuses on the training and development needs of admin professionals and features topics such as hard skills (software competencies, writing, communication, filing) and soft skills (teamwork, time management, leadership).
Issue link: https://digital.hrreporter.com/i/726027
SEPTEMBER 2016 4 cial leaders on health data privacy, earlier this year approved legislation to expand protection of patient health information, including a doubling of fines for individuals ($100,000 up from $50,000) and organizations ($500,000 from $250,000) for offences under the Personal Health Informa- tion Protection Act (which covers the health sector). The legislation now requires that all privacy breaches be reported to the Information and Pri- vacy Commission and, in some cases, to professional regulatory bodies. In organizations, admins and other office support staff are often the first line of defence to protect privacy. "I don't think that is too much to say," says Brian Beamish, Informa- tion and Privacy Commissioner for Ontario. "It is the assistants who are managing paper, emails and electronic records. If their practices are careless, then that is when accidents are going to happen." Some incidents are inadvertent, but Beamish sees a rise in snooping since the introduction of electronic health records. Employees with legitimate access to a data system have the po- tential to look improperly at records of patients not in their care. He is encouraged that, despite recent high profile cases, hospitals are working to prevent breaches. At St. Joseph's Health Care, in addition to training for new employees and regular updates for those on staff, the hospital has developed sophisticated internal audits to sniff out privacy breaches, says Bullas. The hospital conducts random checks to see if confidential data are mistakenly put in departmental and office garbage cans. The waste audit is paying off, with no improper handling of private data spotted in the most recent review. In addition, internal au - dits are used to identify employees who, with legitimate access to records, may overstep their authority and run checks on patients with the same surname or open an above-average number of charts. "We are doing those kinds of audits on an ongoing basis," she says. All employees are responsible for privacy, Bullas emphasizes, while acknowledging "the big role" of admins regarding patient records in hospitals, doctor offices and other medical settings. "The onus is on everyone, which includes the admin assistant," she says. "Everyone has the information and needs to work together to protect it." Tips to prevent privacy breaches By Staff When protecting privacy is part of the job description, admins can turn to a variety of strategies to prevent problems before they arise. "Focus on the simple things," advises Ruth Bullas, chief privacy and risk officer for St. Joseph's Health Care in London, Ont. "Where are you putting docu- ments and what [casual] conver- sations are you having? That's where I really see people aren't thinking." Her assessment is shared by Brian Beamish, Information and Privacy Commissioner for Ontario. "If you look at the kind of pri- vacy breaches that happen, many of them are careless practices," he says. "It tends to be neglect or carelessness rather than mali- ciousness." Here are top tips they offer to prevent problems: • Use a confidential document shredder for sensitive material. • Encrypt mobile devices to limit a breach if a USB or computer is lost or stolen. • Avoid engaging in casual conver- sations about a patient's medical history. • Lock a computer when leaving a room so unauthorized staff can- not look at a patient's chart. • Pre-program faxes so documents reach the appropriate destination. • Avoid using personal devices to send organization-related infor- mation. (No matter the device, it is subject to freedom of informa- tion requests.) AAs key to protecting privacy Continued from page 1 Brian Beamish