The College of Medical Radiation Technologists of Ontario

PRIVACY CODE
COLLEGE OF MEDICAL RADIATION TECHNOLOGISTS OF ONTARIO
(Approved March 3, 2005, as amended December 3, 2007 and October 4, 2011)

Preamble
Medical radiation technology is a self-governing health profession in Ontario under the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 (RHPA). The College of Medical Radiation Technologists of Ontario (College) was established by the Medical Radiation Technology Act, 1991. The legal powers and duties of the College are set out in the RHPA, the RHPA Procedural Code, the Medical Radiation Technology Act and the regulations and by-laws made under the foregoing (together the Legislation).

The College has the following objects as set out in the Health Professions Procedural Code, being Schedule 2 to the RHPA (RHPA Procedural Code):

1. To regulate the practice of the profession and to govern the members in accordance with the health profession Act, this Code and the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 and the regulations and by-laws.
2. To develop, establish and maintain standards of qualification for persons to be issued certificates of registration.
3. To develop, establish and maintain programs and standards of practice to assure the quality of the practice of the profession.
4. To develop, establish and maintain standards of knowledge and skill and programs to promote continuing evaluation, competence and improvement among the members.
4.1 To develop, in collaboration and consultation with other Colleges, standards of knowledge, skill and judgment relating to the performance of controlled acts common among health professions to enhance interprofessional collaboration, while respecting the unique character of individual health professions and their members.
5. To develop, establish and maintain standards of professional ethics for the members.
6. To develop, establish and maintain programs to assist individuals to exercise their rights under this Code and the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991.
7. To administer the health profession Act, this Code and the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 as it relates to the profession and to perform the other duties and exercise the other powers that are imposed or conferred on the College.
8. To promote and enhance relations between the College and its members, other health profession colleges, key stakeholders, and the public.
9. To promote inter-professional collaboration with other health profession colleges.
10. To develop, establish, and maintain standards and programs to promote the ability of members to respond to changes in practice environments, advances in technology and other emerging issues.
11. Any other objects relating to human health care that the Council considers desirable.

In carrying out its objects, the College has a duty to serve and protect the public interest.

In the course of fulfilling its mandate, the College may collect, use and disclose personal information regarding applicants for membership, members, persons holding themselves out as members, members' patients, persons who may have received services from a person holding himself or herself as a member, and persons employed, retained, elected or appointed for the purpose of the administration of the Legislation. The College's collection, use and disclosure of personal information in the course of carrying out its regulatory activities is done for the purpose of regulating the profession in the public interest.

Persons who are employed, retained or appointed by the College, as well as every member of College Council or a College Committee, are required by section 36 of the RHPA to keep confidential all information that comes to their knowledge, subject to certain limited exceptions. Breach of this provision by an individual can lead to the imposition of a fine of up to $25,000.00 for a first offence and up to $50,000.00 for a second or subsequent offence. Breach of this provision by a corporation can lead to the imposition of a fine of up to $50,000.00 for a first offence and up to $200,000.00 for a second or subsequent offence. (A copy of section 36 of the RHPA, current to the date referred to therein, is attached as Schedule 1 to this Privacy Code.)

The College has voluntarily adopted this Privacy Code to provide a voluntary mechanism through which the College can provide appropriate privacy rights to individuals involved in the College's activities while still enabling the College to meet its statutory mandate under the Legislation.

Principle 1 - Accountability
The Registrar is accountable for compliance with these policies and procedures. Complaints or questions regarding the manner in which personal information is being handled by the College should be directed to the Registrar at the College of Medical Radiation Technologists of Ontario, 375 University Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto ON M5G 2J5, or by phone at 1-800-563-5847 or 416-975-4353 or by fax at 416-975-4355.

The College will provide orientation and training to all new employees and appointees, as well as all members of Council and committees regarding their obligations pursuant to section 36 of the RHPA and this Privacy Code.

The College's policies regarding privacy and information management are available on the College's website at www.cmrto.org and on request by phone at 1-800-563-5847 or 416-975-4353 or by mail at the College of Medical Radiation Technologists of Ontario, 375 University Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto ON M5G 2J5.

Principle 2 - Identifying Purposes
The purpose for which the College collects, uses and discloses personal information is to administer and enforce the Legislation.

The purposes for which the College collects and uses personal information include the following:

to assess whether an applicant meets the standards of qualification to be issued a certificate of registration;
to assess whether a member continues to meet the standards of qualification for a certificate of registration;
to investigate complaints regarding the conduct or actions of a member of the College;
to investigate whether a member has committed an act of professional misconduct or is incompetent and to resolve such matters including through the imposition of a specified continuing education and remediation program and through undertakings;
to inquire into whether a member is incapacitated;
to negotiate and implement informal resolutions, including acknowledgements and undertakings and specified continuing education and remediation programs;
to hold a hearing of allegations of a member's professional misconduct or incompetence or of allegations that a member is incapacitated;
to monitor a member's practice in accordance with an order issued by a committee of the College or an undertaking or agreement with the College;
to carry out the quality assurance program of the College, including an assessment of the records and practice of its members;
to administer the program established by the College to provide funding for therapy and counselling for persons who, while patients, were sexually abused by members of the College;
to investigate reports filed about members of the College under the RHPA Procedural Code;
to assess whether a former member's certificate of registration should be reinstated;
to investigate whether an individual is practising the profession, using protected titles or holding himself/herself out as qualified to practise the profession, without legal authority;
to carry out reviews and audits of its practices and processes;
to develop and provide statistical information for the purpose of human resource planning and demographic, research and other studies including providing that information to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and other appropriate agencies;
to maintain a register containing information about members and to post the information designated as public on the College's website;
to maintain records for the proper functioning of the College and to communicate with persons;
to review prospective candidates for individuals to be retained, elected or appointed to administer the Legislation and retain or appoint such persons;
to maintain records to ensure accurate remuneration and payment of expenses, and all documentation required by law and by the various levels of government in accordance with sound accounting practices;
to administer or enforce the Legislation.

The College may collect personal information for these purposes from applicants, potential members, members, patients and other persons, such as employers and colleagues. Personal information is collected by the College from time to time and at regular intervals.

The College discloses personal information only as permitted by section 36 of the RHPA or as required by law. For example, the College is required under the RHPA Procedural Code to maintain a register containing information about its members. The RHPA Procedural Code requires the College to post the information designated as public on the College's website and to provide access to designated information to a person who requests it. Another example of disclosure of personal information is that hearings of the Discipline Committee are required, subject to certain exceptions, to be open to the public. Evidence at a hearing of the Discipline Committee may include personal information regarding the member of the College who is the subject of the allegation of professional misconduct or incompetence, as well as personal information regarding the member's patients related to the allegations of professional misconduct or incompetence.

Where personal information is collected for one purpose, the College has the right to use and disclose the information for another regulatory purpose.

Principle 3 - Consent
The College collects personal information for purposes related to its objects (see Preamble) including for the purpose of the proper administration and enforcement of the Legislation and for other related regulatory purposes. In carrying out its objects, the College has a duty to serve and protect the public interest. Obtaining consent of the individuals would, in many cases, defeat the purposes of the College's collecting, using and disclosing the personal information. Personal information will only be collected, used and disclosed without the knowledge and consent of the individual for the purpose of the administration or enforcement of the Legislation and in accordance with any applicable provisions of the Legislation.

Principle 4 - Limiting Collection
The College collects only the personal information that is required for the purposes identified in Principle 2 of this Privacy Code. The College collects personal information using procedures that are fair and lawful.

Personal information regarding patients must be collected as part of the College's regulatory function. This information is typically obtained by the College as part of an investigation or quality assurance program. The focus of these inquiries is the conduct, competence or capacity of the member and the protection of the public. The College only collects personal information regarding patients in connection with this regulatory purpose.

Principle 5 - Limiting Use, Disclosure or Retention
The College uses personal information only for the purposes identified in Principle 2 and in accordance with the provisions of the Legislation. Personal information is only disclosed in accordance with the provisions of section 36 of the RHPA or as required by law. (See Principle 2 for specific examples.)

The College has a record retention policy in place to ensure that personal information that is no longer required to be kept is destroyed, erased or made anonymous. Specific information regarding the record retention policy can be obtained by contacting the Registrar at the College.

Principle 6 - Accuracy
It is in the best interest of the public that the College collect, use and disclose only accurate personal information in regulating the profession. The College therefore uses reasonable efforts to ensure that the information it collects, uses and discloses is accurate.

Members are required to provide the College with current name, contact and employment information and to advise the College of changes within seven (7) days of any change. This information is updated annually when members renew their registration with the College.

Principle 7 - Safeguards
The College ensures that personal information it holds is secure.

The College ensures that personal information is stored in electronic and physical files that are secure. Security measures are in place to safeguard this information which include restricting access to personal information, ensuring that physical files are under lock and key and ensuring that electronic files are password protected. The College reviews its security measures periodically to ensure that all personal information is secure.

Employees of the College receive an orientation and ongoing training regarding the information safeguards required for personal information and their importance.

The College ensures that personal information that is no longer required to be retained is disposed of in a confidential and secure fashion (i.e. shredding).

Principle 8 - Openness
The College's personal information management policies and procedures are available to the public and its members via the College's website at www.cmrto.org or can be requested by phone at 1-800-563-5847 or 416-975-4353 or by mail at the College of Medical Radiation Technologists of Ontario, 375 University Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto ON M5G 2J5. Inquiries concerning the College's policies and practices for collecting, using and disclosing personal information may be directed to the Registrar at 1-800-563-5847 or 416-975-4353 or by fax at 416-975-4355.

Principle 9 - Individual Access
Access
Where the College holds personal information about an individual that forms part of a record created by another organization, the College will refer the individual to the organization that created the record (unless it is inappropriate to do so) so that the individual may obtain access to the personal information from that organization rather than the College. In all other cases, where the College holds a record of personal information about an individual, upon written request, the College shall allow access to the record to that individual, unless providing access could reasonably be expected to interfere with the administration or enforcement of the Legislation or it is impracticable or impossible for the College to retrieve the record.

Examples of situations where access may be denied include:

The record contains references to another individual(s) that cannot be severed.
Disclosure may result in significant risk of harm to the requestor or a third party.
Information in the record was collected or created in the course of an inspection, investigation, inquiry, assessment or similar procedure authorized by law.
Disclosure may defeat the purposes for which the information in the record was collected.
Information in the record cannot be disclosed for legal, security or commercial proprietary reasons.
Information in the record is subject to solicitor-client or other privilege.
Information in the record was generated in the course of a dispute or resolution process.
The request is frivolous, vexatious, made in bad faith or otherwise an abuse of process.

While the College's response will typically be provided at no cost or minimal cost to the individual, depending on the nature of the request and the amount of information involved, the College reserves the right to impose a cost recovery fee. In these circumstances, the College will inform the individual of the approximate cost to provide the response and proceed upon payment by the individual of the cost.

The College will make reasonable efforts to respond to the request within thirty days and to assist the individual in understanding the information.

Individuals should send their written request for access, with contact information and sufficient information about themselves to identify them, to the Registrar at the College of Medical Radiation Technologists of Ontario, 375 University Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto ON M5G 2J5.

In the event the College refuses to provide access to a record of personal information it holds, then the College will provide reasons for denying access. The individual may then choose to file a complaint with the Registrar.

Challenging accuracy and completeness of personal information
If the College has granted an individual access to a record of his or her personal information, the individual has the right to request a correction of what, in his or her view, is erroneous information in the record. Where an individual is able to successfully demonstrate that personal information of a factual nature (not, for example, the expression of an opinion) is inaccurate or incomplete, the College will amend the information in the record (i.e., correct, or add information).

When amending the information, the College will not generally obliterate the original information. Where the record consists of an opinion or observation that has been made in good faith about the individual, the College may refuse to correct the information in the record. In some cases, a correction may be inappropriate (e.g., where the fact that a person made or recorded a statement is the primary focus of the record rather than whether the statement is, in fact, accurate) and the College may refuse to correct the information in the record.

In addition, where appropriate, the College will notify any third parties to whom the College has disclosed the record containing the erroneous information.

Where there is a dispute between the individual and the College as to the accuracy or completeness of the information in the record, then the College will document the details of the disagreement, will permit the individual to prepare a concise statement of disagreement for attachment to the record, and, where appropriate, will make reasonable efforts to advise any third party who received the record containing the contested information from the College, of the unresolved disagreement.

Principle 10 - Challenging compliance
Complaints or questions regarding the College's compliance with this Privacy Code should be directed to the Registrar who can be reached at the College of Medical Radiation Technologists of Ontario, 375 University Avenue, Suite 300, Toronto ON M5G 2J5 or by phone at 1-800-563-5847 or 416-975-4353 or by fax at 416-975-4355.

If the Registrar cannot satisfactorily resolve a complaint, the College has a formal privacy complaints procedure which includes:

acknowledging the complaint;
review of the complaint by the College's Privacy Committee;
providing a written decision and reasons to the complainant; and
taking appropriate measures where the complaint is found to be justified.

Please note that there is a different process for handling complaints about the conduct or actions of a member of the College. Please contact the Registrar if you wish to file a complaint about the conduct or actions of a member of the College.

SCHEDULE 1
Section 36 of the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991, as amended
(as of December 3, 2007)

Confidentiality
36. (1) Every person employed, retained or appointed for the purposes of the administration of this Act, a health profession Act or the Drug and Pharmacies Regulation Act and every member of a Council or committee of a College shall keep confidential all information that comes to his or her knowledge in the course of his or her duties and shall not communicate any information to any other person except,

to the extent that the information is available to the public under this Act, a health profession Act or the Drug and Pharmacies Regulation Act;
in connection with the administration of this Act, a health profession Act or the Drug and Pharmacies Regulation Act, including, without limiting the generality of this, in connection with anything relating to the registration of members, complaints about members, allegations of members' incapacity, incompetence or acts of professional misconduct or the governing of the profession;
to a body that governs a profession inside or outside of Ontario;
as may be required for the administration of the Drug Interchangeability and Dispensing Fee Act, the Healing Arts Radiation Protection Act, the Health Insurance Act, the Independent Health Facilities Act, the Laboratory and Specimen Collection Centre Licensing Act, the Ontario Drug Benefit Act, the Coroners Act, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (Canada) and the Food and Drugs Act (Canada);
to a police officer to aid an investigation undertaken with a view to a law enforcement proceeding or from which a law enforcement proceeding is likely to result;
to the counsel of the person who is required to keep the information confidential under this section;
to confirm whether the College is investigating a member, if there is a compelling public interest in the disclosure of that information;
where disclosure of the information is required by an Act of the Legislature or an Act of Parliament;
if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the disclosure is necessary for the purpose of eliminating or reducing a significant risk of serious bodily harm to a person or group of persons; or
with the written consent of the person to whom the information relates. 2007, c. 10, Sched. M, s. 7 (1).

Reports required under Code
    (1.1) Clauses (1) (c) and (d) do not apply with respect to reports required under section 85.1 or 85.2 of the Code. 1993, c. 37, s. 1. 1998, c. 18, Sched. G, s. 7 (2).

Definition
    (1.2) In clause (1) (e), "law enforcement proceeding" means a proceeding in a court or tribunal that could result in a penalty or sanction being imposed. 1998, c. 18, Sched. G, s. 7 (2); 2007, c. 10, Sched. M, s. 7 (2).

Limitation
    (1.3) No person or member described in subsection (1) shall disclose, under clause (1) (e), any information with respect to a person other than a member. 1998, c. 18, Sched. G, s. 7 (2); 2007, c. 10, Sched. M, s. 7 (3).

No requirement
    (1.4) Nothing in clause (1) (e) shall require a person described in subsection (1) to disclose information to a police officer unless the information is required to be produced under a warrant. 1998, c. 18, Sched. G, s. 7 (2); 2007, c. 10, Sched. M, s. 7 (4).

Confirmation of investigation
    (1.5) Information disclosed under clause (l) (g) shall be limited to the fact that an investigation is or is not underway and shall not include any other information. 2007, c. 10, Sched. M, s. 7 (5).

Not compellable
    (2) No person or member described in subsection (1) shall be compelled to give testimony in a civil proceeding with regard to matters that come to his or her knowledge in the course of his or her duties. 1991, c. 18, s. 36 (2).

Evidence in civil proceedings
    (3) No record of a proceeding under this Act, a health profession Act or the Drug and Pharmacies Regulation Act, no report, document or thing prepared for or statement given at such a proceeding and no order or decision made in such a proceeding is admissible in a civil proceeding other than a proceeding under this Act, a health profession Act or the Drug and Pharmacies Regulation Act or a proceeding relating to an order under section 11.1 or 11.2 of the Ontario Drug Benefit Act. 1991, c. 18, s. 36 (3); 1996, c. 1, Sched. G, s. 27 (2).