S. Plater et al., 2 ROUTES TO PRIVACY PROTECTION - A COMPARISON OF HEALTH INFORMATION LEGISLATION IN CANADA AND THE UNITED-STATES, Journal of women's health, 7(6), 1998, pp. 665-672
Citations number
5
Categorie Soggetti
Public, Environmental & Occupation Heath","Women s Studies","Medicine, General & Internal","Public, Environmental & Occupation Heath
The privacy of health information is a subject of great sensitivity in
both Canada and the United States, As a result of public demands for
more effective protection of such information as medical records, Cana
da and, particularly, its provincial governments, have implemented ext
ensive legislation. The United States, on the other hand, has largely
confined its efforts to private sector initiatives that are more refle
ctive of voluntary codes than legal statutes. Because new technologic
developments facilitate data sharing in the medical field, especially
in the face of a continual reduction of healthcare budgets, the concer
n for privacy protection in this domain has intensified. Corresponding
ly, there has been a gradual theoretical shift in protective health in
formation policies on both sides of the border, As Canada pushes to ex
tend its federal and provincial legislation to the private sector, the
United States is on the brink of approving a national bill that would
protect the privacy of personal medical records. It is becoming evide
nt that efforts to secure the privacy of health information in both co
untries are converging.