Privacy Policy

Our Commitment

Radiant Care is committed to protecting the privacy of our clients, residents, tenants, staff, volunteers, donors, and investors, and we have always been concerned with treating personal information carefully and with appropriate confidentiality.

Radiant Care embraces the principles of the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA), 2004 for the protection of personal health information (PHI) and other personal information to ensure that all personal information is properly collected, used only for the purposes for which it is collected, and disposed of in a safe and timely manner when no longer required.

Radiant Care carries a narrow focus of activities at multiple sites within the Niagara Region, including the operation of Long-Term Care, housing, Supportive Housing, and a variety of other programs that are supportive of the independence and well-being of seniors who live on site or who visit our properties (ie. Falls Prevention and Exercise Classes). We could not do what we do without the support of hundreds of volunteers, our investors, and generous supporters.

We value our clients, residents, tenants, staff, volunteers, donors, and investors’ trust and recognize that maintaining this trust requires that we be open and accountable in our treatment of the personal information that is shared with us. We do not trade, rent, or sell the names of our supporters.

Contacting Radiant Care

Radiant Care has a Privacy Officer who is responsible for overseeing our privacy program and ensuring that all requirements are met. If you have questions, comments, or concerns regarding the handling of personal information or if you wish to limit or opt out of future contact by Radiant Care, please contact the Privacy Officer at:

Privacy Officer, Radiant Care

1 Tabor Drive

St. Catharines, ON L2N 1V9

privacyofficer@radiantcare.net

Guiding Principles

The following principles reflect our pledge to safeguard our clients, residents, tenants, staff, volunteers, donors, and investors’ personal information:

1. We are accountable for your personal information.

   We are responsible for all personal client, resident, tenant, staff, volunteer, donor, and investor information in our possession.

   Personal information is any information that serves to distinguish, identify, or contact a specific individual. Information that is publicly accessible is not considered personal information (ie. information found in a telephone directory) and, therefore, is not subject to privacy laws or Radiant Care policies regarding personal information.

   Personal Health Information (PHI) is any data that a health service provider collects, uses, or discloses that can be used to identify a resident or client. PHI is a defined term under PHIPA s4 and includes all information in Radiant Care’s medical records and the PHI viewed in the Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. PHI is personal information.

   We keep our clients, residents, tenants, staff, volunteers, donors, and investors’ personal information in strict confidence.

   Personal information is only used for specifically identified or reasonable purposes, and only authorized individuals within Radiant Care who have valid reasons, have access to personal information. All contracted staff with access to clients, residents, tenants, staff, volunteers, donors, and investors’ personal information are required to sign a confidentiality agreement and to abide by Radiant Care’s privacy and confidentiality policies at all times.

   Where we choose to have certain services, such as data processing or record destruction, provided by third party providers, we select the service providers carefully. We take all reasonable precautions to ensure that the service provider protects your personal information.

2. We collect, use, and disclose personal information only for certain purposes that we identify to you.

   Radiant Care captures, uses, or discloses personal information only to:

   • Radiant Care captures, uses, or discloses personal information only to:
   • Administer donations
   • Administer investment program
   • Ask you to renew your support for our mission
   • Respond to your information requests
   • Provide care
   • Share with health care providers when required for the care of residents and tenants
   • Know who our clients, residents, tenants, staff, volunteers, donors, and investors are
   • Send you information about Radiant Care programs and initiatives
   • Invite you to recognition and information sessions
   • Comply with any legal and/or regulatory requirements
   • Thank you for your support
   • Process applications to Radiant Care

   We obtain personal information about you lawfully and fairly.  We collect personal information about you directly from you or the person acting on your behalf. Occasionally, we also collect PHI about you from other sources if we have obtained your consent to do so or if the law permits. Personal information collected will be limited to that required for the purposes identified.

   Electronic Health Record (EHR)

   Radiant Care uses ClinicalConnect to view residents’ Electronic Health Records (EHR) through a secure, web-based portal. ClinicalConnect is supported by eHealth Ontario.

   For further policies and practices pertaining to EHR and PHI, please refer to our Personal Health Information Policy. For all enquiries related to EHR, please contact the Privacy Officer.

3. We obtain your consent.

   We collect, use, or disclose your personal information with your permission.

   Your permission may be expressed orally, electronically, or in writing, or it may be implied. Radiant Care may disclose personal information when we believe in good faith that the law requires it.

   You may withdraw your consent for some of the above uses and disclosures (subject to legal obligations) by contacting the Privacy Officer.

   Regularly, you will be given opportunities to opt out of receiving communication materials from us or you may choose to do so by contacting the Privacy Officer.

4. We limit the collection of your personal information.

   Radiant Care will limit its collection of personal information to what is required for the purposes identified by us. We obtain personal information about you lawfully and fairly.

5. We limit the use, disclosure, and retention of personal information.

   Personal information will not be used or disclosed for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with your consent or as required by law. Personal information will be retained only as long as necessary for fulfillment of those purposes. When we destroy personal information, we will use safeguards to prevent unauthorized parties from gaining access to that information during the process.

   Radiant Care does not trade, rent, or sell any personal information to third parties.

   The Radiant Care website contains an online form that allows visitors to make a donation. Online donations to Radiant Care are processed through a third party. The personal information provided on this form is provided to Radiant Care to acknowledge receipt of the donation and for other explicitly stated purposes. The credit card information provided on this form is not received nor is it accessible to Radiant Care; it is only used by the third party to process the donation. The security and privacy policies of this third party are available by clicking on the “Stripe’s Privacy Policy” link on the online donation form web page.

6. We value the accuracy of your personal information.

   Radiant Care is committed to maintaining accurate, complete, and up-to-date personal information as is necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used.

   We rely on our clients, residents, tenants, staff, volunteers, donors, and investors to provide us with accurate personal information. Changes or modifications to any personal information previously provided to Radiant Care, may be made by contacting the administration office or by emailing the Privacy Officer.

7. We safeguard your personal information.

   Your personal information is protected with security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.

   Access to your personal information is restricted to authorized individuals within Radiant Care who have valid reasons to access personal information.

   We maintain appropriate technical and organizational safeguards to protect your personal information against loss, theft, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification.

   We use password protocols and secure websites to protect the personal information we receive when an online donation is made. Our software is routinely updated to maximize protection of such information.

   For more information related to Radiant Care’s information security practices, please refer to our Information Security Policy, located in the Operations Manual.

8. We will be open about our privacy practices.

   Radiant Care will make readily available to you specific information about our policies and practices relating to the management of personal information. You may request a print version of our Privacy Policy, Personal Health Information Policy, or Information Security Policy by contacting the Privacy Officer.

9. We will allow you to access your personal information.

   You may ask us whether we hold any personal information about you. You can see that information and ensure its accuracy by emailing the Privacy Officer. A reasonable fee may be charged to cover administrative costs related to printing the requested records.

10. You may register a complaint.

    You may register a privacy-related complaint by contacting the Privacy Officer. We will investigate all complaints. If a complaint identifies a gap in compliance, we will take appropriate steps to remedy the situation, including changing our policies and practices if necessary.

References

• Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA), 2009

Cross Reference

• Confidentiality Policy, located in the Operations Manual
• Information Security Policy, located in Operations Manual
• Personal Health Information Policy, located in the Operations Manual
• Records Retention and Disposal Policy, located in the Operations Manual

Privacy & PERSONAL HEALTH INFORMATION BROCHURE