Protecting Your Privacy & Personal Information

 

 

Privacy in the hospital

If you are a patient in the hospital or residential care, it is standard practice to give people who phone and ask about you, information confirming your admission. If you do not wish us to give out this information, please tell the Admitting clerk or someone in your care area.

If you are expecting visitors we ask that you have them contact you directly to find out about your exact location in the hospital as we will not disclose that information.

Protecting your health information

​We take all reasonable steps to make sure that your personal information is treated confidentially, is only used for these specific purposes and is securely stored as directed by the BC Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA). 

Collecting, using and sharing your personal information 

When you receive care, treatment and services at any of our hospitals, we collect personal information from you. We may also request information about you from other health care providers and organizations. (e.g. copies of records, medications, test results). 

Your information may be put into our electronic health system to assist doctors or other healthcare providers to quickly access your information wherever you receive care or services. 

We collect your personal information only as authorized under section 26(c) of the BC Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (“FIPPA”). We collect, use and share your personal information for these reasons: 

  • To confirm your identity (e.g. Ministry of Health Services)
  • To provide ongoing care and support 
  • To help us plan, maintain and improve our care and services 
  • To keep in contact with you about your health care 
  • For education and training (e.g. medical students) 
  • To do research with consent or as permitted by law 
  • To see if you are eligible for benefits and services and to arrange billing 
  • To help measure and fund healthcare (e.g. Canadian Institute of Health Information) 
  • To study and control disease outbreaks and monitor the overall health of people 
  • As required by law (e.g. court order or for some reportable conditions) and as authorized by FIPPA

Your health information will be provided to the doctor who referred you and to authorized health care providers involved in your care to ensure your care is consistent and continuous. In some cases, these health care providers may look up your information in our electronic health systems. 

eHealth and your information 

eHealth is a provincial initiative that allows certain aspects of your health information to be accessed by authorized health care professionals throughout the province and not just within a particular region. Each Health Authority sends specific health information to a province-wide electronic information system where it is stored with strict protections and used for limited and authorized purposes. For more information about eHealth, please visit the government eHealth website at http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/ehealth.

Accessing your health info

Request your health records or access to a patient's file

To request information from your medical file, you can submit the request using this online form. You can also fill out this PDF Authorization for the Release of Health Records form and submit by email, mail, fax or in person. To request information from your baby's medical file, the PDF form must be used.

To request yours or your baby's health records from BC Women's Hospital, direct your request to:

BC Children's & Women's Hospitals
Room C114A
4500 Oak Street
Vancouver, BC V6H 3N1
Phone: 604-875-2915
Fax: 604-875-2292
Email: CWROI@cw.bc.ca

Need assistance?

Access health records online

Your health records may be available online through a number of virtual platforms. Health Gateway is British Columbia's provincial patient portal. It provides access to:

  • Lab results
  • Imaging reports
  • Medications
  • Immunization history
  • Health visits
  • Hospital visits
  • Special Authority requests
  • COVID-19 proof of vaccination
  • Organ donor registry information
  • BC Cancer screening letters

To access your health records, visit the Health Gateway online portal.

AccessMyHealth 

AccessMyHealth is an online service that shows some of your electronic health record information from our system. Available to residents of B.C. with a BC Services Card account, you can view:

  • Upcoming appointments
  • Lab, medical imaging and other diagnostic results
  • Allergies
  • Procedure history
  • Messages from care teams
  • Select clinical documents (including discharge summaries, clinic notes, and patient handouts)​​

AccessMyHealth also supports proxy access​, which allows authorized family members, caregivers or other trusted supports to view a patient's health record information. To set up proxy access, you'll need to complete the authorization form by going to accessmyhealth.ca/proxy. To access your record information and learn more, visit the AccessMyHealth website.

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