Physical Therapy & Your Privacy
When you visit a physical therapist, he or she will ask you for information about you personally and about your health condition or concern.
Physical therapists take your personal information very seriously, and we have always worked hard to protect the privacy of this information.
On January 1, 2004, the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) came into effect in British Columbia. PIPA has rules about how physical therapists collect personal information from their patients, use it to provide care, and share it with others (such as labs, doctors, hospitals and so on).
British Columbia physical therapists will:
- Only collect information required for your care and treatment.
- Give you access to your own records (there may be a minimal fee for this, and there are exceptions).
- Only share your personal information with other health care professionals or institutions as necessary to provide you with appropriate health care.
- Ask your permission to share your personal information if required for other purposes (unless otherwise permitted by law).
- Keep your information safe and secure, and retain or destroy records as required by law.
- Keep accurate records.
You have the right to access the personal information in your health record; just ask your physical therapist.
For more information on how your privacy is protected, talk to your physical therapist. You can also download the following forms:
