Proposed Canadian law pushes data-leak prevention for electronic medical records

Contributed by Roumiana Deltcheva (Thursday, September 16, 2010) | Category : Email security

A government authority in Ontario is pushing new regulations to data security encryption for electronic medical records to provide a safer environment for patients in the country.

According to the Canadian Press, former health minister David Caplan is moving forward with an initiative to bolster security on electronic medical records and reduce th service's cost to patients. Caplan was motivated to pursue the law after two instances of data loss revealed an apparent security flaw in the country's healthcare sector.

The developments in Canadian law imply a changing environment for health information management. As new laws are released to boost security on patients' medical information, investing in data-leak prevention can ensure regulatory compliance with government standards implemented to prevent medical data loss.

The law also covers fees for electronic medical records in Canada. Caplan said patients attempting to move their records to a new doctor faced "an enormous fee," the Canadian Press reports.

Data-leak prevention is becoming more important for healthcare providers in the U.S., as well. Last month, South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, Massachusetts was scrutinized after losing information pertaining to 800,000 patients.