Health Information Privacy Committee

The Health Information Privacy Committee has been established in accordance with The Personal Health Information Act of Manitoba.  The Committee is responsible for approving health research projects that use personal health information held by a government department or agency.

• Purpose and Jurisdiction of the Committee
• Committee Membership
• Submission Information
• For further information about the Committee
• Links
• The Personal Health Information Act - A Brief Summary for Researchers (PDF)

 

Purpose and Jurisdiction of Committee

COMMITTEE TERMS OF REFERENCE

1. Purpose:

   Committee to Assess and Give Approval

   The Committee will review requests for access to personal health information for research purposes to determine whether the importance of the research outweighs the intrusion into privacy and whether adequate safeguards are in place to protect the confidentiality of the information.

   Individuals have the right of protection against unauthorized use, disclosure, or destruction of personal health information by trustees. Authorized use by a health researcher requires that this Committee has determined that the researcher has met all conditions required to be given approval. (PHIA sec 2(d), 24(1), 24(3))  

2. Authority:

• Sec. 22(2): A trustee may disclose personal health information without the consent of the individual if the disclosure is 
  (f) in accordance with section 23 (disclosure to patient’s family), 24 (disclosure for health research) or 25 (disclosure to an information manager).
• Sec. 24(1): A trustee may disclose personal health information to a person conducting a health research project only if the project has been approved under this section.
• Sec. 24(2): An approval may be given by
  (a) the health information privacy committee established under section 59, if the personal health information is maintained by the government or a government agency.
• Sec. 59(1): For the purpose of approving health research projects under section 24, the minister shall establish a health information privacy committee in accordance with the regulations.

3. The Committee Membership:

• The health information privacy committee is to consist of not less than eight and not more than twelve members appointed by the minister.
• At least one quarter of the persons appointed must be public representatives (sec. 59(2))
• The minister shall appoint at least one representative from nominations received from each of the following:
• (a) the Council of Chairs of the Regional Health Authorities;
• (b) the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba;
• (c) the Manitoba Association of Registered Nurses;
• (d) the Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association;
• (e) the Manitoba Health Records Association;
• (f) the University of Manitoba;
• Each committee member shall be appointed for a term of three years and may sit for a period of no more than two consecutive terms or six years.
• The committee shall elect a chairperson from among its members.

4. The Committee shall:

   (a) Review all requests from researchers to obtain and use personal health information maintained by any government department or government agency in order to determine that:

   • the research has to be important enough to outweigh any invasion of privacy involved (sec. 24(3)(a));
   • the research cannot be done without using identifiable personal health care information (sec. 24(3)(b));
   • it is impossible or impractical to get consent from the people the personal health information is about (sec. 24(3)(c));
   • the project ensures the security of the personal health information and its destruction when finished (sec. 24(3)(d)); and
   • the information is the minimum necessary to accomplish the purpose (sec. 20(2)).

(b) Ensure that required agreements are in place between the researcher and the Trustee.

(c) Ensure that the disclosure of personal health information does not occur without the consent of the individual, in situations where the research requires direct contact with individuals, with the exception of names and addresses. (sec. 24(5))

(d) In addition to its responsibilities under section 24, the Health Information Privacy Committee may perform any other functions assigned to it by the Minister. (sec. 59(3))

(e) Ensure that each request for approval of a health research project under section 24 includes the required information.

(f) After making a decision to grant or refuse to grant an approval, the committee shall advise the research applicant in writing of its decision.

(g) The committee shall provide the minister with an annual report of its activities.

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Membership

The health information privacy committee is to consist of not less than eight and not more than twelve members appointed by the minister.  At least one quarter of the persons appointed must be public representatives.

The minister shall appoint at least one representative from nominations received from each of the following:

(a) the Council of Chairs of the Regional Health Authorities;

(b) the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba;

(c) the Manitoba Association of Registered Nurses;

(d) the Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association;

(e) the Manitoba Health Records Association;

(f)  the University of Manitoba

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Submission Information

Access to personal health information held by the Government of Manitoba and its agencies for research purposes is obtained through the Health Information Privacy Committee.

All submissions to HIPC must be made on the Committee submission form. This document is provided in MS Word (.doc) format and is a form-fill application. Also provided is the Guidelines for Completing a Request for Access to Health Information. This document will aid the researcher in answering certain questions on the submission form. 

Please note:  In addition to HIPC approval, you may also be required to enter into a research agreement with Manitoba Health and Healthy Living before receiving data.

Submission Form:

MS-Word format 

Guidelines for Completing A Request for Access to Information:

MS-Word format   |  Adobe Acrobat format

The next scheduled HIPC meetings are:

• December 8, 2009 (submission deadline: November 24, 2009)
• January 12, 2010 (submission deadline: December 29, 2009)

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For more information about the Committee

To send a submission, or for further information about the Committee, please contact:

Lisa LaBine
Manitoba Health and Healthy Living
4045 - 300 Carlton Street
Winnipeg MB  R3B 3M9

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Links

• Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs
• University of Manitoba - Bannatyne Campus Research Ethics Board