Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50883
INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT By Geoff Kirbyson Instant E-health records allow for quick and easy access to patient files, but who is looking? When Microsoft, Google, and Apple latch on to a trend, you can be sure it's going to be a monster. That's why in-house counsel at gov- ernments and health agencies across the country are ratcheting up their efforts to ensure the proper security and storage systems are in place to protect against electronic health and medical data of Canadians from getting into the wrong hands. Even though it's still in its infancy, the so-called "e-health" sector is already a multi-billion-dollar industry. With paper records increasingly being phased out and electronic versions quickly replacing them, nobody really knows how big it will ultimately become. Several Canadian provinces have launched e-health programs with var- ied levels of success. Ontario's program has been bereft with challenges, includ- ing allegations of mismanagement and cost overruns since the program was launched last September. Despite Ontario's challenges, Mark Johnson, legal counsel at eHealth Ontario, a Crown corporation of the access Ontario provincial government, says electronic health records are the "wave of the future." "The adoption of [e-health] by doc- tors is growing. Even big companies are getting into it," he says. "Apple has certain applications for e-health on its iPhone. You can e-mail your health data to your doctor from your [mobile device]. That's the wave of the future. Pretty soon you'll be able to access health data online in the same way you access banking infor- mation today." The ease of access to information INHOUSE OCTOBER 2009 • 33