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Privacy Impact Assessments and your EMR

March 21, 2011

A valid privacy impact assessment (PIA) is a legal requirement under the Alberta Health Information Act (HIA) for Alberta physicians and as such is a requirement to receive funding from the Physician Office System Program (POSP). Maintaining a valid PIA is the responsibility of the custodian.

Please be advised that when your clinic initially implemented your EMR solution, you may have received assistance with a PIA through POSP. Any subsequent changes that may have occurred to the clinic's administrative practices or information systems may necessitate an update to the clinic's PIA as per the HIA.

Contact POSP Privacy if you have any questions regarding your PIA.

Netcare

Not only is an accepted PIA a legal requirement but it is one of the prerequisites for a clinic to connect to Alberta Netcare via system to system (S2S). A provincial Organizational Readiness Assessment (pORA) is also required. Alberta Health and Wellness (AHW) Netcare Transition Coordinators conduct pORAs.

A clinic that has an accepted PIA, regardless of when it was submitted, meets the PIA requirements for Netcare connectivity. The clinic's PIA does not have to be updated for Netcare access.

A non-VCUR 2008 clinic that requires a PIA for access to Netcare should contact an AHW Transition Coordinator at:

Alberta Netcare EHR Enrolment Line
Toll-Free: 1.866.756.2647
Phone: 780.642.4082
Email