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→Medical records that a hospital keeps
==Medical records that a hospital keeps==
To see your hospital records, contact the medical or health records department of the hospital and ask for their information and privacy office or the person in charge of giving out information. If you make a written request, the hospital has 30 days to respond. Usually, you can see your hospital records and get a copy. The ''Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act '' covers hospital records. Check script 235, called “Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy”, for more on this law.
Accuracy and privacy—the law requires hospitals to make sure the information in your medical records is accurate and to keep it private. The law also gives you the right to ask the hospital to correct any errors or omissions in your records. The hospital has to make a note of your request. But once medical information is recorded, it is not supposed to be destroyed or changed based on a patient’s request.
Lastly, you can see a lawyer for legal advice on what to do.
==Are your medical records confidential?==
Yes, in most cases your medical records are confidential. Doctors and hospitals must not give them to anyone else, except in certain cases:
Section 18 of the Personal Information Protection Act, which applies to doctors, lists other reasons for giving out personal information—some of them could apply to medical records. Section 33 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which applies to hospitals, lists other reasons for giving out personal information—some of them could apply to medical records. Both laws are on the following website: www.bclaws.ca.
Doctors also have to release medical information to authorities in certain cases. For example, they must:
And if police have a search warrant, a doctor may have to release information to obey the warrant.