(Quebec) The main organization responsible for scrutinizing the performance of the health network believes that the bill aimed at increasing access to health data does not give it the freedom to fully exercise its mandate.
Health and Welfare Commissioner Joanne Castonguay argued Tuesday that Bill 3 on health and social services information lacks clarity, which could affect her work and the exercise of its responsibilities independently. She demands that the piece of legislation be clarified in such a way as to limit the interpretation of the future law.
“It’s the interpretation that worries us because so far it has not been favorable to us,” said Ms.me Castonguay during his appearance before parliamentarians, on the first day of consultations on Bill 3 in Quebec.
The commissioner made startling revelations when she indicated that it took her “at least a year” to obtain the data she needed to “be able to carry out” her special mandate on care and services for seniors during the first wave of the pandemic. The Commissioner for Health and Welfare (CSBE) had to use orders, under his investigative powers, to gain access to the information.
” [Il a fallu] two years to be able to react to the first mandate”, she underlined. “There are so many issues that are pressing [dans le réseau de la santé] that if we spend half our energy obtaining information, we lose precious time reacting to system issues,” added the Commissioner.
The “pathway” to issue a prescription to access the data was determined in collaboration with the Régie de l’assurance maladie and the Ministry of Health and Social Services, she said. They cooperated while protecting information and respecting their own law, Ms.me Castonguay. It is in this sense that she feels that Bill 3 should give her a free hand.
Clarification requests
“How can we believe that the CSBE can carry out such a mission in complete independence and in complete legitimacy if an organization whose performance it must assess has the power to refuse it access to essential data to fulfill its mandate? “, indicated the Commissioner in her brief.
She asks that the piece of legislation be amended to take into account the particular nature of the mandate of certain organizations, such as hers, to ensure that the data is transmitted. We are also calling for the establishment of an appeal mechanism in the event that a request is refused. The CSBE would also like the current obligation to destroy data obtained under a mandate to be revised.
Mme Castonguay nevertheless stressed that Bill 3 will “remove a major obstacle” and will constitute “an important step towards the modernization of the Quebec state”.
The Federation of General Practitioners of Quebec (FMOQ) also welcomed the government’s intention to increase access to data, but warned that it would not accept “in any way that personal information relating to doctors can allow the Minister to identify them individually in order, possibly, to subject them to coercive measures”.
Bill 3 – which essentially incorporates the elements of Bill 19, tabled by the Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, and died on the order paper – is now led by the Minister of Cybersecurity and Digital, Éric Caire. Consultations continue Wednesday and Thursday.