Under section 37 of PHIPA several purposes have been laid down under which a health information custodian may use personal health information of an individual and those purposes are permitted ones and they are mentioned below-
- The purpose for which the information was collected or created and all the functions necessary for carrying out that purpose. However if the information is collected indirectly as per section 36 (1) (b) and an individual has expressly instructed for the same;
- Purposes required or permitted by PHIPA or another act or act of Canada to disclose it to the custodian;
- Purposes of planning or delivering programs or services that custodian provides or custodian has funded (partially or wholly), allocating resources to any of them, evaluating /monitoring /detecting /preventing fraud/ unauthorized receipt of services of benefits related to any of them;
- Purpose of risk/error management or activities to improve or maintain the quality of care or to improve or maintain the quality of or any related program or services of the custodian;
- For the purpose of educating agents to provide health care;
- Purpose of disposing of the information or modifying the information for concealing the identity of an individual (manner should be consistent with part II- Practices to Protect Personal Health Information);
- Purpose of seeking individual /substitute decision maker’s consent when the personal health information used by the custodian for the purpose is limited to the name and contact information of individual or substitute decision maker;
- Purpose of proceeding or contemplated proceeding wherein custodian or agent/former agent is or is expected to be party or witness, if the information relates to or is a matter in issue in the proceeding or contemplated proceeding;
- Purpose of obtaining payment or processing, monitoring, verifying, or reimbursing claims for payment for health care or related goods and services;
- Purpose of research conducted by the custodian (Custodian may use personal health information only if the custodian prepares a research plan and has a research ethics board approve it for for that purpose subsection 44(2) to (4) and subclause 44 (6) (a) to (f) apply to the use if it were a disclosure;
However, these use of the personal health information for the purposes are subject to the requirements/restrictions, if permitted or or required by law/treaty/agreement/arrangement under an act or act of Canada.
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