Privacy Policy

Emma Followes, RMT is committed to collecting, using and disclosing personal information responsibly and only to the extent necessary for the provision of safe and effective service. This document describes my privacy policies.

WHAT IS PERSONAL INFORMATION?

Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. Personal information includes information that relates to their personal characteristics (such as age, home address, phone number, family status), their health (such as health history, health conditions, health services received by them) or their activities and views (such as opinions expressed by an individual, an opinion or evaluation of an individual). Personal information is to be contrasted with business information (e.g., an individual’s business address and telephone number), which is not protected by privacy legislation.

WHO WE ARE

Emma Followes, RMT, at the time of writing, includes 1 registered massage therapist. Emma Followes, RMT uses an accountant who may, in the course of their duties, have limited access to personal information I hold. I restrict their access to any personal information I hold as much as is reasonably possible. I also have their assurance that they follow appropriate privacy principles.

COLLECTING PERSONAL INFORMATION: PRIMARY PURPOSES

Like all registered health professionals, I collect, use and disclose personal information in order to serve my clients and provide safe and effective treatment. For example, I collect information about a client’s health history, including their family history, physical condition and function and social situation in order to help me assess their health needs, to advise them of options and then to provide the health services with their informed consent.

THE COLLECTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION: RELATED AND SECONDARY PURPOSES

Like most organizations, I also collect, use and disclose information for purposes related to or secondary to our primary purposes. The most common examples of our related and secondary purposes are as follows:

• To invoice clients for goods or services, to process credit card payments.

• To advise clients and others of events or opportunities (e.g., the offering of a new service).

• Emma Followes, RMT is allowed or may be required to use and/or give out some of your personal information without your consent in situations as required by law. These situations include legal proceedings, criminal investigations, medical emergencies, and serious medical situations such as reporting certain types of abuse to the authorities.

• Emma Followes, RMT is also required to release private health information for the purposes of peer assessment. Peer assessments are done with all Massage Therapists in the province on a regular basis, to ensure we are providing quality care and following all regulations. The assessor is also an RMT and required to keep all information learned in the assessment confidential, except for required reporting to the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario.

• In addition, external consultants (e.g., auditors, lawyers, practice consultants, voluntary accreditation programs) may on my behalf do audits and continuing quality improvement reviews of our Clinic, including reviewing client files.

• In addition, as a professionals, I will report serious misconduct, incompetence or incapacity of other practitioners.

• Clients or other individuals I deal with may have questions about our goods or services after they have been received. We also provide ongoing services for many of our clients over a period of months or years for which our previous records are helpful. We retain our client information for a minimum of ten years after the last treatment in compliance with our regulatory standards.

• You can choose not to be part of some of these related or secondary purposes (e.g., by declining to receive notice of special events or new services). However there are certain disclosures of personal information which may not be avoidable (such as our clinic’s mandatory compliance with regulatory bodies, or in the case of legal proceedings).

PROTECTING PERSONAL INFORMATION

I understand the importance of protecting personal information. For that reason, I have taken the following steps:

• Electronic hardware is either under supervision or secured in a locked or restricted area at all times. In addition, passwords are used on computers.

• Electronic information is transmitted either through a direct line or is anonymized or encrypted.

• I am trained to collect, use and disclose personal information only as necessary to fulfill their duties and in accordance with our privacy policy.

• External consultants and agencies with access to personal information are expected to comply with our privacy standards.

RETENTION AND DESTRUCTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

I need to retain personal information for some time to ensure that I can answer any questions you might have about the services provided, and for my own accountability to external regulatory bodies. However, we do not want to keep personal information for longer than necessary. We keep our client files in compliance with the standards of the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario. We destroy electronic information by deleting it and, when the hardware is discarded, we ensure that the hard drive is physically destroyed.

YOU CAN LOOK AT YOUR INFORMATION

With only a few exceptions, you have the right to see what personal information I hold about you. I will also try to help you understand any information you do not understand (e.g., short forms, technical language, etc.). I may need to confirm your identity, before providing you with this access. I reserve the right to charge a nominal fee for such requests, including copying of files, when necessary. I may ask you to put your request in writing. Some exceptions may apply. For example, when the information relates to law enforcement, legal proceedings or another individual, you may not get to see the record. If you believe there is a mistake in the information, you have the right to ask for it to be corrected. This applies to factual information and not to any professional opinions I may have formed. I may ask you to provide documentation that our files are wrong. Where we agree that I made a mistake, I will make the correction and notify anyone to whom we sent this information. If we do not agree that I have made a mistake, I will include in our file a brief statement from you on the point and I will forward that statement to anyone else who received the earlier information.

FOR FURTHER INQUIRIES:

Emma Followes, RMT, can be reached at:

Tel: 647-462-7961

Email: emmafollowesrmt@gmail.com

I will attempt to answer any questions or concerns you might have. If you wish to make a formal complaint about my privacy practices, you may make it in writing to me and I will ensure that it is investigated promptly and that you are provided with a formal response in writing. If you have a concern about my professionalism or competence I would ask you to discuss those concerns with me. However, if I cannot address your concerns, you are entitled to direct a complaint to our regulatory body:

COLLEGE OF MASSAGE THERAPISTS OF ONTARIO

1867 Yonge Street, Suite 810, Toronto, ON M4S 1Y5

Tel: (416) 489-2626, (800) 465-1933

Fax: (416) 489-2625

Email: cmto@cmto.com

Website: www.cmto.com

This policy is made in compliance with the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA). The goals of PHIPA are to protect the privacy of individuals and to protect confidentiality and security of personal health information in a manner that facilitates the effective provision of health care.

For information contact:

Information and Privacy Commission Ontario

2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1400 Toronto, ON M4W 1A6

Tel: 416.326.3333

Fax: 416.325.9195

Website: www.ipc.on.ca