Registrar's Report December 2020 Registrar's message
Dear Colleagues,
The Government of Alberta recently introduced new measures to combat the rise in COVID-19 cases. The good news that came from this was that chiropractors, along with other regulated health professionals, are able to continue to treat patients in-person.
As we progress into winter, the pandemic continues to pose a significant challenge and risk to the lives of all Albertans. We do not know what the next few weeks will hold in terms of Government announcements and restrictions. It is a fair assessment that as a society, and as individuals, we are fatigued with the COVID-19 pandemic and all that accompanies it. However, as regulated health professionals, chiropractors have a responsibility to uphold the mandates of public health and adhere to the ACAC COVID-19 Pandemic Practice Directive.
With the recent announcement of a COVID-19 vaccine and the eagerness of governments to introduce those vaccines to the public, you may receive questions from patients. Remember that discussing vaccines as a chiropractor is outside of your Scope of Practice. The ACAC directs members who receive questions on vaccines to refer those patients to public health. For your reference, this information is in the ACAC vaccine position statement.
It is vital that we continue to be responsible to the requirements of the practice directive. Thank you for your enduring leadership during these unprecedented times.
Regards,
Dr. Todd Halowski Registrar
Employing electronic health records without a PIA is a violation of the HIA The ACAC has recently become aware that some members have not upheld their responsibility to be informed of the privacy requirements of the Health Information Act (HIA).
For clarity, all chiropractors are custodians, and the HIA, which is the governing legislation, requires that custodian’s prepare and file a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC).
Excerpt from Section 64 of the Health Information Act: Duty to prepare privacy impact assessment
64(1) Each custodian must prepare a privacy impact assessment that describes how proposed administrative practices and information systems relating to the collection, use and disclosure of individually identifying health information may affect the privacy of the individual who is the subject of the information.
(2) The custodian must submit the privacy impact assessment to the Commissioner for review and comment before implementing any proposed new practice or system described in subsection (1) or any proposed change to existing practices and systems described in subsection (1).
Multi-practitioner clinics only need one PIA for the clinic. You will need to assign one practitioner to be both the contact for the OIPC and the Privacy Officer (the person responsible for the PIA).
What is a PIA? A PIA is a document that outlines your clinic’s policies and procedures for handling patient information in compliance with the HIA.
Members that would like to access Netcare will be required to complete a PIA. For reference, the diagnostic imaging and radiology reports will soon only be available via Netcare. It is in your best interest to complete a PIA and Netcare application as soon as possible.
Any member who is using electronic health records, online scheduling by the patient or employees or has changed from one EMR system to another that does not have a PIA reflective of their current information capture and management practices represented by a PIA filed with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, is in violation of the HIA and at risk of having fines imposed by the OIPC.
Compliance Corner: advertising modalities With the growing use of social media, third party service providers and the positive testimonials many patients provide, it is necessary to review your marketing material to ensure you are compliant with the Advertising Directive.
When reviewing your digital content, keep in mind that the Advertising Directive applies to all modalities used, not just adjustments. As an example, nutritional recommendations and the use of supplements are examples of a modality used by chiropractors. This means that you cannot make claims linking modalities and their potential impact on the conditions (or their likeness) listed in the Advertising Directive.
To ensure compliance of the Advertising Directive, avoid:
When advertising the use of nutritional supplements, vitamins, diet, etc., it is acceptable to indicate that these are part of a healthy lifestyle but that they are not connected to any of the conditions in the Advertising Directive.
When content that would be considered non-compliant is posted by professionals not regulated by the ACAC, it must be clearly stated in the title of the post who is sharing the information. Any postings without identification or made by a chiropractor will be viewed to be an advertisement by a member of the ACAC.
Ensure that you are regularly reviewing your digital materials in order to avoid penalties.
Holiday office closure: 12 p.m. on December 24 - 8 a.m. on January 4 The ACAC office will be closed for the holidays from noon on December 24 - January 1. We will resume regular business hours when we re-open on Monday, January 4, 2021.
With consideration of the rapidly-changing COVID-19 environment, the ACAC has arranged to respond to COVID-19 emergencies while the office is closed.
If you experience a COVID-19 emergency and you cannot obtain guidance from public health, you can email registrar@albertachiro.com and the regulatory team will aim to get back to you within 24 hours.
We wish you all a safe and healthy holiday and a happy new year.
Seven months until CC credit requirements must be met As you are aware, the 2020/2021 CC credit reporting period has been extended and a total of 48 CC credits are now due by June 30, 2021. Remember that certificates must be submitted by June 20, 2021, to allow time for processing.
Broken down over a 12-month period, this equates to an average of 4 credits that must be obtained each month. To put this in perspective, if you started accruing credits on July 1, 2020, and achieve 24 CC credits by the end of 2020, you are 50 per cent complete. That only leaves you six months to complete the remaining 50 per cent of requirements. If you have not yet started working towards meeting the CC credit requirement, we encourage you to start today so you can easily meet the June 30, 2021 deadline. Visit our website for full renewal requirements.
Update your contact information in your members' centre The ACAC has developed more tutorials for navigating your member profile, including how to update your contact information, view membership dues and more.
Protect your patients from violence by learning the Signal for Help As a health-care practitioner, your impact on the public goes beyond the patient visit.
Responding to office emergencies Written by Dr. Katy Pedden, Clinical Advisor
Everyday, chiropractors see their patients improve their health, increase their mobility and decrease their pain. We strive to keep complete, concise and legible chart notes that align with our Standards of Practice consisting of a complete history, physical examination, written (working) diagnosis, written treatment plan, SOAP notes and updated informed consent.
However, on occasion, we may encounter patient emergencies. This could be an injury sustained during treatment, a patient arriving ill or even a patient slipping and falling in our parking lot.
What do we need to chart when it comes to situations that are beyond our Scope of Practice? What we capture in our clinical record is vital for our patients’ protection as well as our own.
Although emergencies are rare, when they do happen, the office should have a plan in place on how to respond, such as who calls 911, who leads EMS to the patient and who stays with the patient.
Charting accurate details of an emergency are essential. Here is some key information to include:
Emergencies in practice may not be common, but might occur at some point. It is important to trust your clinical education and ensure your charting is complete, legible, detailed and accurate.
Dr. Katy Pedden has been a regulated member of the ACAC since 2005.
Highlights: Return to Practice feedback survey We want to hear how implementation of the Return to Practice plan is going in your clinic. Please submit your feedback to us using this survey. Email for CC submissions If you have earned a certificate of completion from an eligible CC seminar or from mandatory training such as Standard First Aid with CPR-C/AED or trauma-informed training, we strongly encourage you to forward it to the ACAC office now. Fax: 780-425-6583
Certificates are normally processed within 10 business days. CC credits will appear in your profile once processing is complete. Diagnostic image viewing AHS will stop providing CDs of diagnostic images. In order to view these images, you will need Netcare access.
If you already have Netcare access, please stop requisitions for CDs and start to use the Netcare portal to view all diagnostic images.
MVA and DTPR: Diagnostic and treatment protocols Now is a good time to brush up on your knowledge in the processing and handling of MVA. In light of COVID-19, please remember vaccination and immunization are not within the chiropractic scope of practice.
The ACAC directs members to refer all patient questions, consultation and education regarding immunization and vaccination to the appropriate public health authorities and/or health professional whose scope of practice includes vaccination.
We continue to screen members’ web and social media for compliance with the Advertising Directive.
Please ensure you are regularly reviewing your website and social media accounts and removing any content in contravention. |