Patient Privacy Notice

Athens District Family Health Organization is governed by the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA), which specifies our legal requirements as a health information custodian for the appropriate management and protection of your personal health information (PHI).  Athens District Family Health Organization is committed to ensuring that your PHI is treated with the utmost respect, dignity and sensitivity.  

Collection of Personal Health Information

To provide you with effective and timely health care, our staff need to collect personal health information about you, either directly from you, or from other health care providers who have also provided you with health care. We collect personal health information about you either with your consent, or as the law permits.
Personal health information includes information such as your name, date of birth, address, as well as information about your health status, health history, and information about your visits to other health care providers and the care that you received during those visits.

How We Use and Share Your Personal Health Information

Athens District Family Health Organization uses and shares your personal health information to:
  • Provide you with health care (which may include sharing your personal health information with other health care providers who are also, or will be, providing you with health care, such as your family doctor, a pharmacist, a specialist, community care providers, etc.);
  • Support our participation in regional and provincial health information sharing programs that employ shared databases of PHI (such as the South East Health Integrated Information Portal (SHiiP), or Connecting Ontario);
  • Plan and deliver our health care programs and services;
  • Maintain and improve the quality of health care that we deliver to you;
  • Monitor the delivery of our program and services to detect and prevent unauthorized management of patient information;
  • Conduct risk or error management activities;
  • Educate our health care providers to provide health care;
  • Obtain payment for or to process, verify or reimburse claims for health care (e.g. from OHIP, WSIB);
  • Support approved health care research;
  • Comply with legal and contractual requirements.  

Your Privacy Rights

You may withdraw your consent for Athens District Family Health Organization to share your personal health information with a health care provider for the purpose providing you with health care, or with providers participating in regional and provincial health information sharing initiatives.
If you choose to withdraw your consent for this sharing of your information, our Privacy Officer will explain to you the potential implications of your withdrawal, after which Athens District Family Health Organization will implement your withdrawal of consent request to the best of our abilities. Withdrawal of consent is not retroactive, and must be requested by you in writing, through our Privacy Officer.
You have the right to request access to the personal health information that we have collected about you, and to request a correction to health information that you believe is inaccurate. You must submit access or corrections requests in writing to our Privacy Officer – Heather Giff.   

How We Protect Your Personal Health Information

Athens District Family Health Organization has put safeguards in place to protect your personal health information from theft, loss and unauthorized access, copying, modification, use, disclosure and disposal.
We have created policies and training to ensure that everyone who performs services for us has received guidance on how to protect your privacy, and using your personal health information only for authorized purposes.
We also conduct audits and complete investigations to monitor and manage our compliance with our privacy obligations.

How to Contact Us or Make a Complaint

If you have any questions or concerns regarding how Athens District Family Health Organization manages your health information and protects your privacy, please contact our Privacy Officer, Heather Giff at:
  • 9 Wellington Street, P. O. Box 99, Athens, ON K0E 1B0
  • Phone: (613)924-2623 (Ext 227)
  • Email:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • Fax: (613)924-2276
You have the right to complain to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario if you think we have violated your privacy rights. The Commissioner can be reached at:
  • 1400 – 2 Bloor Street East, Toronto, ON M4W 1A8
  • Phone: (416) 326-3333 or 1-800-387-0073    
  • Fax: (416) 325-9195
  • Web: www.ipc.on.ca