Legislation paving the way for the collection and sharing of electronic health records will lead to potential patient privacy breaches, say groups opposed to the Bill which will soon get second reading in the B.C. legislature.
The B.C. government has made a $150 million commitment to electronic health records and has already spent three years planning the implementation which will not take full effect for about four years.
Read more: Canada: New BC health law could lead to privacy abuse
Nevertheless, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Saskatchewan has decided doctors who counsel or diagnose Saskatchewan patients through video, telephone or the Internet are technically practising medicine in the province -- and should be licensed here.
On the weekend, the college's council passed a bylaw spelling out new rules governing the practice of so-called telemedicine in Saskatchewan, college lawyer and associate registrar Bryan Salte said.
Read more: Canada: Saskatchewan moves to regulate practice of telemedicine
British Columbia became the first province in Canada to create a legislative framework with specific provisions to address access and protection of electronic health information.
Read more: Canada: B.C. introduces law governing access, privacy of electronic health records
As the Internet has enabled consumers to manage important aspects of their personal lives from the relative comfort of their home, it is no surprise that Canadians are becoming increasingly intrigued by the prospect of being able to view and manage their health information using emerging personal health records (PHR) technologies.
Read more: Canada: Empowering consumers with their health records
Canada's health-care system needs to embrace the idea that people can get personal health information from Facebook, text messages and Wikipedia-like sites, so they won't block up hospital ERs and doctors' offices with their questions, says a Toronto doctor and information technologies expert.
The health system today is unsustainable, and will get worse as a wave of aging baby boomers, burned-out caregivers and obese children start knocking on hospital doors, says Dr. Alejandro Jadad, founder of the Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, who is speaking Thursday night at a public lecture in Edmonton.
Read more: Canada: Online resources equal better informed patients