White Paper on Information Governance
Released in March 2007, this paper focuses on information governance in a pan-Canadian interoperable EHR (iEHR) environment. It raises for discussion the issues surrounding rules, requirements (legal, ethical, practical) and mechanisms involved in handling personal health information collected and used in an iEHR in a secure and privacy-protective manner.
This paper has provided the basis for discussion by many stakeholders to deal with their jurisdictional approaches to information governance. As well, it has spurred the development of working groups or teams, such as the Privacy Forum on EHR Information Governance and the Health Information Privacy (HIP) Group to consider information governance solutions for an iEHR.
The key objectives for the paper were to:
- Describe information governance topics with privacy and security implications for personal health information in an iEHR;
- Describe information governance mechanisms currently in use in health care in Canada and elsewhere;
- Raise awareness, foster discussion and stimulate action on information governance topics associated with an iEHR.
In all, the paper identifies 21 information governance topics that are categorized in four groups:
- Trust and accountability
- Privacy rights of patients
- Assessment and compliance
- Quality in health care
This paper is intended as a reference document contributing to the understanding of such questions as:
- Who controls or has custody of the data in a pan-Canadian iEHR?
- Who is responsible for determining the extent of personal health information that end-users may access?
- Who resolves complaints about the handling in one jurisdiction of personal health information obtained from another?
- What are the permissible secondary uses of personal health information?
- What information-governance rules support the flow of personal health information and who is ultimately accountable for ensuring compliance with these rules?
To read the full White Paper on Information Governance.