Privacy Policy

Queensway X-ray & Ultrasound Clinic recognizes the importance of privacy and the sensitivity of personal information, in particular, personal health information. Protecting the privacy of personal information is an important component in the provision of quality diagnostic imaging services to our patients. We are committed to collecting, using and disclosing your personal information in a responsible fashion and only to the extent of the services that we provide. QXU is responsible for the personal information we collect and hold. To ensure this accountability, we have developed this privacy policy which outlines how we manage and safeguard your privacy.

What is personal information:

Personal information is any information that identifies you or by which your identity could be deduced. Personal information includes any health-related information. Generally speaking, if we do not collect and use your personal information, we cannot provide you with our services.

QXU recognizes the importance of ten principles of privacy described in PIPEDA.

1. Accountability

Each employee associated with the QXU is responsible for the PHI under their control. Our employees are informed about the importance of privacy and receive information periodically to update them about our Privacy Policy and related issues.

In addition to establishing this Privacy Policy, we have appointed a Privacy Officer (Kishan Subramanian) as the contact for privacy matters.

2. Identifying Purposes

We ask for information to establish a relationship and to serve our patients' medical needs. We obtain most of our information directly from the patient, or from other health practitioners whom our patients have seen and have authorized to disclose to us. Our patients are entitled to know how we use their information, and this is described in the Statement of Information Practices and Privacy Statement posted on our website www.xray365.ca.

We will limit the information we collect to what we need for those purposes, and we will use it only for those purposes. We will obtain the patient’s consent if we wish to use their information for any other purpose.

3. Consent

The patient has the right to determine how their personal information is used and disclosed. For most health care purposes, the patient’s consent is implied as a result of their consent to the procedure. However, in some circumstances written consent may be required (refer to Patient Care Policy section on patient consent).

4. Limiting Collection

We collect information by fair and lawful means and collect only that information which may be necessary for purposes related to the provision of medical care.

5. Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention

The information we request from our patients is used for the purposes defined above. We will seek their consent before using the information for purposes beyond the scope of the posted Privacy Statement.

Under no circumstances will we share patient lists or other information to third parties. There are some types of disclosure of patients’ personal health information that may occur as part of this practice fulfilling its routine obligations and/or practice management. This includes consultants and suppliers (i.e Velox, OHIP, Blue Cross, WSIB) to the practice, on the understanding that they abide by our Privacy Policy, and only to the extent necessary to allow them to provide business services or support to this practice.

We will retain our patient’s information only for the time it is required for the purposes we describe and once their personal information is no longer required, it will be destroyed. We retain patient health information, at a minimum, for the period outlined in CPSO management of medical records policy.

6. Accuracy

We endeavor to ensure that all decisions involving our patients’ personal information are based upon accurate and timely information. While we will do our best to base our decisions on accurate information, we rely on our patients to disclose all material information and to inform us of any relevant changes.

7. Safeguards: Protecting Your Information

We protect our patient’s information with appropriate safeguards and security measures. QXU maintains personal information in a combination of paper and electronic files. Paper records with patient information are digitalized by the end of the day of the patient visit. Recent paper records concerning individuals’ personal information are stored in files kept onsite/secure storage for 3 months after which, it is disposed. We destroy our paper records in a way that protects patient privacy including shredding by authorized personal only.

8. Openness: Keeping You Informed

The QXU has prepared this plain-language privacy policy to keep you informed. We have made this available on our website www.xray365.ca. You may ask to receive a copy of this privacy policy from management.

Access & Correction:

If we hold personal information about you and you believe that it is not accurate, complete or up-to-date, you can require to have it amended. This applies to factual information and not to professional opinions we or other health care professionals may have formed. We will investigate and respond to your request. If we discover that the information is not accurate, complete, or up-to-date, we will take reasonable steps to correct it. We will also send in information that has been amendment, where appropriate, to any third parties that have access to the information. In Ontario, patients have the right to request corrections to inaccurate or incomplete information in their health records under PHIPA. The patient must submit a written request to the health information custodian (doctor, hospital, clinic), explaining the error and providing correct information, and facility must respond within 30 days; if refused, the patient can add a statement of disagreement or complain to the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

10. Challenging Compliance

We encourage staff to discuss any questions or concerns they might have about patient privacy or our Privacy Policy with the management or the QA. We will investigate and respond to staff concerns about any aspect of our handling of patient information. In most cases, an issue is resolved simply by telling us about it and discussing it.

Uses and Disclosures of Personal Health Information

We use and disclose your personal health information to:

  • Treat and care for you
  • Get payment for your treatment and care (from OHIP, WSIB, your private insurer or others)
  • Plan, administer and manage our internal operations
  • Conduct risk management and quality improvement activities
  • Teach
  • Compile statistics
  • Comply with legal and regulatory requirements
  • Fulfill other purposes permitted or required by law

Important Information

  • We take steps to protect your personal health information from theft, loss and unauthorized access, copying, modification, use, disclosure and disposal.
  • Audit trails and logs are enabled on our RIS & PACS vendor to assist in any investigations.
    • We take steps to ensure that everyone who performs services for us protects your privacy and only uses your personal health information required to perform duties.

Request for Access

If you have any questions or concerns, or wish to access your personal information, please contact our privacy information officer at:
21 Queensway West, Suite 107
Mississauga, ON L5B1B6

We take your concern seriously and will do everything necessary to respond to you without undue delay. Request to access personal health information form can be found at: https://www.ipc.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/Resources/up-phipa_accfrm_e.pdf

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Privacy Commissioner of Ontario at:
2 Bloor Street East,
Suite 1400
Toronto, ON
M4W 1A8