CDA Essentials 2019 • Volume 6 • Issue 7

9 Issue 7 | 2019 | CDA at W ork I n Winnipeg, where I live and practise, personal health information data breaches have been in the news lately. Patient information has been stolen out of cars. Medical records related to a research study found on an unencrypted laptop had to be destroyed. Thousands of emergency room records were viewed by a hospital employee who wasn’t supposed to see them. These breaches contravene the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), federal legislation that sets rules for how personal information, including medical and dental records, should be handled. Reading about these events made me aware of the frequency and consequences of data breaches, and I’ve grown more concerned about data security and a data breach. It no longer seems like a matter of “if” but “when.” In Manitoba, our provincial dental association conducts office assessments to confirm that dentists are doing things, such as reprocessing dental instruments, according to provincial standards. But these office assessments also include an evaluation of patient record storage, privacy protocols and policies to adhere to PIPEDA. Dentists need to be just as well- versed in patient data protection as infection prevention and control. In this environment of heightened privacy concerns, dentists also need to think about how to communicate safely with colleagues and patients. There was a time when many dentists used email to send referrals and other private patient information to colleagues. However, email does not meet the current security requirements of the PIPEDA legislation. CDA Secure Send is an online service that was created to help dentists protect patient data (p. 14 ) . It allows dentists to securely transfer referrals, radiographs or other patient information to dentists, specialists, dental office personnel, labs, and even to patients themselves. It’s easy to use and at the same time helps offices comply with federal legislation. The service is free with your membership to your provincial or territorial dental association or affiliate membership with CDA. I’ve been fortunate to attend many dental conventions recently and have met dentists from across Canada. Many of you already use CDA Secure Send and have spoken with me about your experiences using the service. Some worried about how to send a referral to a dental group instead of an individual colleague. There’s a solution for that: you can use CDA Secure Send to send materials to office staff or even the front desk. You can also authorize staff to use CDA Secure Send on behalf of your dental office. A few specialist colleagues were concerned that their practice management software wouldn’t support CDA Secure Send. Luckily, this is a misconception. Office staff can easily log in to CDA Secure Send and send and receive files without any changes to your current computer systems. CDA Secure Send can be accessed by any computer with an Internet connection. Its functionality may be similar to email, but it is privacy compliant and secure. Like all practice support services we offer at CDA, it’s been designed to serve your needs. So please, if you haven’t already done so, sign up for CDA Secure Send and start sending your patient health information securely. Don’t let you or your practice be in the next data breach headline. From the President Alexander (Sandy)Mutchmor, dmd president@cda-adc.ca CDA Secure Send Helps Protect PatientData