Use and Disclosure of Personal Information
No personal information will be communicated, directly or indirectly, to a third party without your informed and written consent. Exceptions to this policy include the legal, and/or ethical obligations to:
- Inform a potential victim of violence of a client’s intention to harm.
- Inform an appropriate family member, health care professional or police if necessary of a client’s intention to end his or her life.
- Release a client’s file if there is a court order to do so.
- Inform Child and Family Services if there is suspicion of a child being at risk or in need of protection due to neglect, or physical, sexual or emotional abuse.
- Report a regulated health professional who has sexually abused a client to the professional’s regulatory body.
Dalton Associates Psychological Services is regulated by the College of Psychologists of Ontario who may inspect our records and interview our mental health practitioners and staff as part of their regulatory activities in the public interest. External regulators have their own strict privacy obligations. Sometimes these reports include personal information about our clients, or other individuals to support the concern (e.g., improper services).
Like all organizations, various government agencies (e.g., Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, Information and Privacy Commissioner, Human Rights Commission, etc.) have the authority to review our files and interview our mental health practitioners and staff as part of their mandates. In these circumstances, we may consult with professionals (e.g., lawyers, accountants) who will investigate the matter and report back to us.
The cost of some goods/services provided by our practice to clients is paid for by third parties (e.g., WSIB, private insurance, motor vehicle insurance, EAP Companies, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch). These third party payers often have your consent or legislative authority to direct us to collect and disclose to them certain information in order to demonstrate client entitlement to this funding.
It is the policy of Dalton Associates that clients have a legal and moral right to know what information is contained about them in their record. Clients or their legal designates shall have access to all information which can be identified as pertaining to them (and only them) and which is stored in the client record, with the exception of information that is believed to be harmful or that is confidential about or from third parties. We will need to confirm your identity and legal right to have access to the information. In some cases, this may include producing identification and or proof that you have legal authority to make decisions on behalf of the client. We reserve the right to charge a nominal fee for such requests.
We may ask you to put your request in writing. If we cannot give you access to your record, we will tell you within 30 days if at all possible and tell you the reason, as best we can, as to why we cannot give you access.
If you believe there is a mistake in the information, you have the right to ask for it to be corrected. This applies to factual information and not to any professional opinions we may have formed. We may ask you to provide documentation that our files are wrong. If changed, a statement of changed information is included in the record. If the request for a change is declined, the client may file a notice of disagreement in the record.