Primary care clinics contain sensitive personal health information patients entrust to others for their personal health and well-being. Protecting this personal health information through appropriate office systems is critical to support business continuity. Safeguards must be in place to ensure that primary care clinics comply with the following:
- Section 34 of the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA)
- Orders and recommendations from the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (OIPC) for protecting information.
- And other regulatory bodies, such as practice standards guidelines of the CPSBC
The Office IT Security Guide, developed by Doctors Technology Office (DTO), draws from the above resources, focusing on key elements and best practices to enhance privacy and security at the clinic level, including administrative, physical, and technological safeguards and practices. The guide aims to help primary care providers, clinic managers, staff, and IT support start on the path to achieving best practices for protecting clinics from information security risks.
Additionally, the DTO’s IT Best Practices Checklist for Clinics is intended for clinic IT staff, vendors, or self-supporting clinic owners with IT experience to help identify potential security or functionality gaps in their current local clinic IT infrastructure. Areas covered in the checklist include data (including private patient and staff information), hardware, network, backups, and disaster recovery.
It is important to note that best practices for IT security depend on the sensitivity of the data and the individual situation and change regularly as new technology and methods become available. Clinic owners must determine the degree to which each best practice applies to their situation.
Resources and Supporting Services
Technology onboarding can be multifaceted and at times challenging, but its impact on workflows, provider satisfaction and patient outcomes will likely outweigh the initial hurdles. There are resources and supporting services you can turn to in your technology onboarding.
The Mobile Skills Program from NNPBC enables all Primary Care NPs to expand and enhance clinical skills with in-person sessions designed to elevate delivery of care. As part of the program, experts who are identified and approved by NP Provincial Initiatives and Programs (NP-PIP), deliver on-site training to primary care clinics where NPS work. Training and support are available in several areas including EMR Optimization and Charting Efficiency, Clinic Workflow and Efficiency, Document Review and Support, Telehealth, and many more.
If you are interested to learn more or connect with the program, reach out to your NP-PIP regional lead or respective NP expert to get support.
JustPractice works with healthcare providers such as Nurse Practitioners (NPs), Family Physicians (FPs), and specialists to optimize their practice through their EMR. The group understand how to clean up and optimize EMR panels. This ensures primary care providers have a clean EMR that demonstrates an accurate attachment roster and up to date chronic disease patient lists. This is critical in demonstrating current practice workload and QI initiatives such as addressing care gaps.
If you are interested in utilizing JustPractice’s support to perform EMR empanelment for you, please contact Jorden Lo jorden.lo@justpractice.ca