{"id":1504844,"date":"2023-05-29T15:51:16","date_gmt":"2023-05-29T19:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/healthinfocanada.ca\/patient-access-to-their-health-information-how-far-have-we-come\/"},"modified":"2024-09-14T15:41:08","modified_gmt":"2024-09-14T19:41:08","slug":"patient-access-to-their-health-information-how-far-have-we-come","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthinfocanada.ca\/?p=1504844","title":{"rendered":"Patient access to their health information\u2014how far have we come?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Simon Hagens<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Doctor
Image copyright: Hero Images<\/a>\/Adobe Stock<\/a><\/small><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Imagine making a budget without access to your financial information. Or navigating an unfamiliar city without a map. Or baking a cake without measuring cups and spoons. For the many Canadians with limited or no access to their health information electronically, this is essentially how they must manage their health journeys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, 32 per cent of Canadians said that they had accessed their health information online<\/a>. While this is a significant increase from the four per cent<\/a> who reported they could do so in 2014, there remains more work to be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the backstory?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1993, the Supreme Court of Canada made it clear that the information in the medical record belongs to the patient. However, the physical record belongs to the person or organization responsible for its creation, that is, the hospital or a physician in private practice. A decade ago, despite eight in 10 Canadians expressing interest, there was considerable debate<\/a> about the merits of patient access to their health information. Since that time, an international consensus has emerged that patients deserve access<\/a>, and there has been a significant expansion of efforts to make more information available to patients online here in Canada. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canadian initiatives<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

These efforts fall into three main categories. Firstly, there are several provincial initiatives to establish a portal for all citizens in their jurisdictions. A few examples include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n