(Quebec) The Federation of Medical Specialists of Quebec (FMSQ) and the College of Physicians fear that the Legault government’s bill aimed at increasing access to data will cause the “deterioration” of the doctor-patient relationship.
The FMSQ and the College warn the Legault government of the perverse effects that the piece of legislation, in its current form, might have on the doctor-patient relationship and on professional secrecy.
The two organizations are sounding the alarm in their respective briefs, consulted by The Press, and ask to tighten the guidelines governing the sharing and protection of patient data.
“It’s extremely intimate what a patient shares with a doctor”, illustrates the president of the FMSQ, Dr.r Vincent Oliva, in interview. “It needs to be more framed. Examples are given of patients who have suffered sexual assault, abortion or extremely sensitive events. Do we want this information circulating on the pretext that we want to better manage the network? “, he laments.
The FMSQ assures us that the government’s objective of increasing the circulation of health data is “laudable”, but that Bill 3 does not put in place the necessary rules to ensure that patient data is protected.
The Dr Oliva points out, moreover, the obsolescence of computer systems in the health network, recalling that there are still places where information is transmitted by fax.
“First, to manage this efficiently and confidentially, it requires a fairly complex IT architecture that we don’t currently have. It takes guidelines that people will respect. We are a bit in the stone age in computer science in the health network, he underlines. We have to move forward, we agree, but the question we are asking is for whom and why. »
In its brief, the Federation expressed concern “regarding the powers that the State has given itself in matters of health information, which appear to have no limits”. According to her, the principle that should guide the bill is accessible data for “the benefit of the patient”.
The passage of the Dr Oliva in parliamentary committee on Wednesday gave rise to full-bodied exchanges with Minister Éric Caire, who is piloting Bill 3.
The Minister evoked a “diametrically opposed vision” when the FMSQ wondered if it was up to the State to manage health information. Mr. Caire reiterated that the data would be made available only to agencies or groups that need the information in the performance of their duties, such as the Health and Welfare Commissioner.
A lack of balance
The FMSQ considers that the new legislative text “does not make it possible to maintain a healthy balance between the forces present”, asks to provide for a “general principle on the prevalence of professional secrecy” and to put a “specific regime for the application for sensitive health information.
The College of Physicians of Quebec (CMQ) asks for its part that an article be added to the bill to indicate more specifically the provisions that would apply subject to professional secrecy.
The professional order was not invited to participate in the consultations on Bill 3 and therefore sent a brief to the parliamentary committee. The CMQ also deplores “the relative silence of the bill regarding the roles and responsibilities of professional orders”.
