Privacy Policy

Our commitment to your privacy

Effective January 1, 2004, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act came into effect. The Act recognizes that Canadians have a right to privacy with respect to their personal information. Privacy of your personal information is important to us, and we are committed to collecting, using and disclosing your personal information in a responsible manner. This page describes our privacy policy.

What is Personal Information

Personal information is information about an individual. It includes information that relates to his/her personal characteristics (i.e. gender, age, income, home address, home phone number, ethnic background, family status), his/her health (i.e. health history, health conditions, health services received), or his/her activities or views (i.e. religion, politics, opinions expressed by an individual, an opinion or evaluation of an individual), and his/her animal’s health. Business information, when used for business contact purposes (i.e. address, phone number, etc.), is not considered personal information and therefore is not protected by privacy legislation.

Collection & Use

Personal information collected from you by the Blue Cross Animal Hospital will be for the following purposes:

to provide high quality veterinary services for pets, and ensure that you are fully aware of our actions

to advise you of your pet’s health care needs

to determine and recommend appropriate treatment or referral

to process payment and pursue collection of accounts receivable for services or products received from our hospital

to communicate with others (i.e. other pet health care providers, lawyers, third party insurers, etc.) about your pet’s health status

Disclosure

In the course of providing services to you, your personal information may be disclosed to:

other veterinary hospitals, laboratories and consulting specialists

governmental authorities (i.e. Agriculture Canada, CCRA, Privacy Commissioner, etc.)

our hospital’s lawyers, accountants, and consultants contracted to provide advice or counsel regarding the administration or management of the hospital

regulatory authorities, where such information may assist in the investigation of a complaint or a review of standards of care

insurers or other third-party payers you have identified

on termination of sale of the hospital to a purchasing veterinarian or file storage facility that agrees to serve as trustee of your personal information, and to only access this information for the purpose of confirming their custody of your file

The vaccination status, only, of a pet(s) will be released to boarding kennels and groomers with no other written authorization than that previously signed. However, a “Consent for Release of Information” form must be signed by the client or authorized guardian(s) prior to the release of information to pet care providers for any other reason. Authorized guardian(s) must be specified by the client, in advance, and their name(s) recorded in our files. In addition, authorized guardians will be allowed to make medical decisions regarding the pet’s care at the Blue Cross Animal Hospital.

Use of AI Documentation Tools

To provide the highest standard of care and maintain comprehensive medical histories, our veterinarians may utilize automated AI clinical scribing technology, during consultations and examinations.

Purpose and Benefits: The AI captures and transcribes audio during appointments to assist in generating precise, complete, and highly detailed medical records. This technology significantly reduces manual administrative time, allowing our veterinary team to focus their full, uninterrupted attention on you and your pet.

Privacy and Security: Audio recordings and generated transcriptions are processed securely, used strictly for internal medical record generation, and handled in full compliance with our privacy standards and applicable legislation.

Protecting Personal Information

We understand the importance of protecting information so we are taking the following steps:

paper information is under supervision

electronic hardware is under supervision

paper information is transmitted through sealed, addressed envelopes or boxes, by reputable companies

staff are trained to collect, use and disclose personal information only as necessary to fulfill their duties, and in accordance with our privacy policy

the hospital building is monitored by a security company after hours

Our privacy officer is Dr. Jatin Bajwa.

Should you have any questions or concerns about our privacy policy, please contact him at:

9103 – 111 Avenue Edmonton, AB T5B 0C3

Phone: (780) 424-0025

Fax: (780) 424-0026 Email: info@bluecrossvet.ca

General inquiries should be directed to: The Alberta Government Privacy Help Desk – privacyhelpdesk@gov.ab.ca

Access & Destruction of Personal Information

You have the right to access your personal information at any reasonable time (i.e. during regular office hours) and you have the right to request corrections to your personal information. This applies to factual information and not professional opinions we may have recorded. Corrections are recorded on your client file (paper and computer). We are required to keep our client’ files for five years after the last visit after which time they will be destroyed.

Reasonable safeguards will be taken whenever paper and electronic records are destroyed or deleted. Every reasonable effort will be made to ensure that no record remains after destruction.