How Our Office Collects, Uses and Discloses Patients’ Personal Health Information

Our office understands the importance of protecting your personal health information. To help you understand how we are doing that, we have outlined here how our office is using and disclosing your information.

This office will collect, use and disclose personal health information about you for the following purposes:

• to deliver safe and efficient patient care
• to identify and to ensure continuous high quality service
• to assess your health needs
• to provide health care
• to advise you of treatment options
• to enable us to contact you
• to establish and maintain communication with you
• to offer and provide treatment, care and services in relationship to the oral and maxillofacial complex and dental care generally
• to communicate with other treating health care providers, including specialists and general dentists who are the referring dentists and/or peripheral dentists
• to allow us to maintain communication and contact with you to distribute health care information and to book and confirm appointments
• to allow us to efficiently follow-up for treatment, care and billing
• for teaching and demonstrating purposes on an anonymous basis
• to complete and submit dental claims for third party adjudication and payment
• to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including the delivery of patients’ charts and records to the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario in a timely fashion, when required, according to the provisions of the Regulated Health Professions Act
• to comply with agreements/undertakings entered into voluntarily by the member with the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario, including the delivery and/or review of patients’ charts and records to the College in a timely fashion for regulatory and monitoring purposes
• to permit potential purchasers, practice brokers or advisors to evaluate the dental practice
• to allow potential purchasers, practice brokers or advisors to conduct an audit in preparation for a practice sale
• to deliver your charts and records to the dentist’s insurance carrier to enable the insurance company to assess liability and quantify damages, if any
• prepare materials for the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board (HPARB)
• to invoice for goods and services
• to process credit card payments
• to collect unpaid accounts
• to assist this office to comply with all regulatory requirements
• to comply generally with the law

By signing the consent section of the Patient Registration Forms, you have agreed that you have given your informed consent to the collection, use and/or disclosure of your personal health information for the purposes that are listed. If a new purpose arises for the use and/or disclosure of your personal health information, we will seek your approval in advance.

Your personal health information may be accessed by regulatory authorities under the terms of the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA) for the purposes of the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario fulfilling its mandate under the RHPA.

You may withdraw your consent for use or disclosure of your personal health information at any time.