|
© Copyright 2000 Rogers Media. The following article first appeared in the January 2000 edition of
BENEFITS CANADA magazine.
In confidence
Do your members have a right to private healthcare records?
Are your plan members worried about the privacy of their healthcare records?
If this isn't already under discussion in your organization, brace yourself for what is among the most
important issues of this new century. The right to privacy--of all manner of personal information,
healthcare-related and otherwise--is up for debate.
Privacy is considered a right by most every Canadian adult. With that perception comes truly great
expectations of how personal information is handled by those who come in contact with it. That includes
employers.
Privacy is a real source of concern right now. Canadians are worried about their personal health and
finance information. According to a study, conducted last fall by Angus Reid Group for the Canadian Medical
Association, 65% of Canadians regard "personal information such as medical records containing information
about your physical and mental history and status" as the most private and confidential. Personal finance
information was chosen by even more respondents--68%.
The healthcare side of the debate is of particular interest right now because of the trend toward a more
integrated, computer-based, system of healthcare in Canada. Andrea Davis's feature "The future of
healthcare" (page 20) is a must-read for anyone responsible for benefits plan management. Her piece
provides an extraordinary look at how technology is changing Canada's healthcare system.
But there is resistance. More than that, there is fear.
Too many Canadians see, in this trend toward automation, a loss of the privacy they guard so closely. They
worry about who has access to their health records. And they worry about what the various healthcare
players mean to do with that information.
Their concerns ought not to be discounted. This is a call to action for all healthcare
stakeholders--including employers--to communicate their intentions proactively. You have a job to do. Help
sell the benefits of integration to Canadians, because without mass buy-in, progress is at risk.
That said, I think this idea of a right to privacy deserves closer examination. Privacy is not a right in
the manner so many Canadians think it is. In fact privacy is a relatively recent concept. It is an
inherently late-20th century idea, one born of the societal privileges we have come to expect.
Consider my father-in-law. Donato is in his 60s. He grew up in Celle San Vito, a tiny village of less than
500 in the hills of southern Italy.
Did Donato have even a semblance of privacy back in Celle San Vito? No way. Everybody knew everybody's
business. Why? Because they lived in a tightly-knit community.
Looking back just one generation, it is clear that our ideas of privacy are novel at best.
The issue is not a right to privacy. It is a right to fair treatment in an emerging electronic community
where information is shared freely.
Once we are able to recognize that distinction, Canada will really be ready for the 21st century.
--Kevin Press
kpress@rmpublishing.com
|
News
News
