Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA)

A buyer of an Ontario clinic or health practice meets PHIPA where the seller is a health information custodian with patient records in its custody or control. Subject to s. 4(3) and (4), the Act defines personal health information as identifying information about an individual in oral or recorded form that meets listed descriptions, such as relating to the individual’s physical or mental health.

What the Act says about a successor

Section 42(1) lets a custodian disclose personal health information to a potential successor so the successor can assess and evaluate the custodian’s operations, if the potential successor first enters into an agreement with the custodian to keep the information confidential and secure and not to retain any of it longer than is necessary for the assessment or evaluation. Section 42(2) lets a custodian transfer records to its successor if it makes reasonable efforts to give the individual notice before the transfer or, if that is not reasonably possible, as soon as possible after it. The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario says a custodian’s obligations to protect the records and let individuals exercise access and correction rights do not end until a legally authorized successor has custody and control of the records.

What to ask

• Who the health information custodian is, and who will be the custodian after closing.
• Whether a confidentiality agreement meeting s. 42(1) is in place before any patient information is shown.
• How and when patients will be notified of the transfer of their records.

This entry covers Ontario only; check the rules where you are. See patient records, licensing and regulatory approval in a practice sale and substantially similar provincial privacy law.