Data protection for healthcare professionals

This lens tackles data protection from the perspective (or through the lens) of a healthcare professional. Data protection provisions have been included in healthcare laws for many years and therefore this is not a new issue.

Data protection has a big impact on the healthcare industry and on healthcare professionals working with the personal data of patients. Data protection laws treat information about the health, well-being, and the sex lives of individuals as especially sensitive and lays down strict rules about how this information must be handled. At the same time, technology has made it much easier to lose, copy, steal, delete, or misuse large databases of sensitive information.

It is very important for you as a healthcare practitioner, including your staff and operators (or processors) that process health information, to understand the impact of privacy and data protection laws and how it impacts existing health-related legislation. The possibility of suffering a data breach for the health-related personal information you process has, therefore, increased dramatically. And the risks of reputational damage associated with data breaches are also higher than in the past

What laws apply to your processing?

The healthcare industry is impacted by multiple healthcare and data protection laws. It is challenging to list what laws prevail and to apply them practically because there are many factors to consider.

Will joining this lens help my organisation comply?

Yes. We understand that you may be working with limited resources and budgets. We want to help you in the most efficient and cost-effective way.  Our data protection for healthcare professionals lens specifically answers these questions for you. This practical lens takes you through the key actions healthcare providers must take to protect personal data and privacy.

If you’ve joined one of our core programmes then you get complimentary access to this lens. This lens is for professionals in the healthcare industry and includes:

• medical professionals (like doctors, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, chiropractors);
• healthcare institutions or facilities or social services (like hospitals, GP practices, clinics);
• insurance companies, medical schemes, medical scheme administrators and managed healthcare organisations;
• schools that provide special support for pupils or schools that make special arrangements in connection with their health or sex life;
• any public or private body managing the care of a child;
• administrative bodies, pension funds, employers or institutions working for them; and
• researchers.

Data protection laws will also affect anyone who collects, stores, reads, communicates, administers, analyses or in any other way handles personal medical information on behalf of the health and related sectors, including employees (secretaries, assistants, technicians), database administrators, and certain other specialised service providers (including those in ‘the cloud’) and operators (or processors) such as loyalty scheme providers.

You’ll achieve the following results as a consequence of participating in our data protection for healthcare lens:

• Ensure the safety and privacy of your patients’ special personal information.
• Raise your awareness by learning about the multiple data protection laws that apply to your practice.
• Protect minors and vulnerable data subjects from potentially harmful data breaches.
• Empower yourself with the tools to process special personal information safely and in line with the law.
• Reduce your overall costs of compliance by doing it yourself with our assistance.
• Avoid damage to your practice’s reputation by complying with the law.

• We believe in using the law as a tool to prevent harm from coming to people.
• We have significant practical experience dealing with data protection law.
• We cover only those areas of data protection law that are most relevant to you, saving you time and money.
• We provide insight and simplify the issues, empowering you to work through the obligations yourself.

You can work through this lens at your own pace and go as fast or slow as you like. Depending on the data protection processes you already have in place, it could take you a few hours or a few weeks to work through this lens.

A lens is a complimentary programme that you get access to by joining the data protection programme. It contextualises data protection for a particular audience, such as community schemes, non-profits, or schools.

These lenses serve as an additional guide as you work through the core programme.

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We will refund you if you do not think you received value.