Clinic Policies

Accommodation for Medical Illness

The University of Western Ontario requires documentation from the medical community for students who require academic accommodation due to medical illness. Students are required to have their physician or health care provider fill out the Student Medical Certificate.  At Student Health Services the fee for having this form filled out is $20. Students seeking academic accommodation should request a UWO Student Medical Certificate to be filled out at the initial visit with the physician.  Medical certificates will only be considered for students seriously affected by illness, who can not reasonably be expected to meet his/her academic responsibilities.  Medical certificates may NOT be issued for minor illness like colds, non-acute vomiting or diarrhea, menstrual cramps, insomnia or for past illnesses not seen at student health services.  If the requested accommodation is related to a death in the family, please see your academic counsellor directly.

Clinic Consent Form

All students accessing our services are required to have a signed a Clinic Consent Form on file. To view a copy of the Consent Form, containing all of our clinic's policies, click here. An example of a policy outlined in our clinic consent form is the No-Show & Cancellation Policy below.

Privacy Policy

Health Services at Western is responsible for personal information under our control and has designated the Director of Health Services as the contact person for compliance with the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) under Ontario law based on 10 privacy principles. 

Principle 1 – Accountability for Personal Health Information

• Privacy Officer and Contact Person are the same – Director of Health Services;
• Compliant with PHIPA by ensuring procedures to protect personal health information;
• Responding to complaints and inquiries;
• Educating our staff and affiliates about privacy policies and practices including the inappropriate use of divulging personal health information outside the circle of care.

Principle 2 – Identifying Purposes for the Collection of Personal Health Information

• Health Services at Western will identify the purposes for health information by means of posters, brochures and web site;
• The primary purpose to collect, use and share personal health information is to deliver patient care.  We also use information for administrative purposes, research, teaching, statistics, fundraising, and to comply with our legal and regulatory requirements.

Principle 3 – Consent for the Collection, Use, and Disclosure of Personal Information

• We rely on implied consent for most patient care, but will seek your written consent for other purposes e.g. identifiable information used for research.
• Patients have the right to know why we are collecting their information and how it is being used; patients may also withdraw their consent at any time, unless the collection, use or sharing is required or permitted by law.

Principle 4 – Limiting Collection of Personal Health Information

• Only the information necessary for the purposes identified may be collected.

Principle 5 – Limiting Use, Disclosure, and Retention of Personal Information

• Personal health information may be used only for the purposes for which it was collected, except with patient consent or as required by law.  The information is retained only as long as necessary, and securely destroyed in accordance with legislation, guidelines and procedures.  HS staff and physicians are not allowed to download patient health information to USB keys, laptops or other personal devices.  

Principle 6 – Ensuring Accuracy of Personal Health Information

• Health Services at Western will make every effort to ensure the information we hold is accurate, complete and up-to-date.  Patients have the right to challenge the accuracy of the information.

Principle 7 – Ensuring Safeguards for Personal Information

• HS at Western applies security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of personal health information to aim to protect it against loss, theft, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification, regardless of its format.  Protection may include physical measures, organizational limitations, and technological measures  (use  of passwords, encryption and audits).  If any staff are aware of unauthorized disclosures of health information, the Director of HS is to be notified immediately.  Staff are not to download patient information or transfer information.  Procedures for remote access are to be strictly followed.
• Staff/physicians/work study students  are required to sign a confidentiality agreement and instructed to use the internal electronic medical record system for communication regarding patient information rather than email; hard copy redundant files are to be cross-shredded as approved by the Director; faxes are secure with information unavailable to unauthorized individuals.

Principle 8 – Openness About Personal Information Policies and Practices

• HS at Western posts their privacy policy at registration and other public clinic areas and their website.  The poster includes the contact person information for inquiries and a description of the type of personal health information held and how it is shared.

Principle 9 – Individual Access to Own Personal Information

• Upon request, within a reasonable time and at a reasonable cost, any patient can access their health information.  Exceptions to providing access will be limited and specific.  This may include information that is prohibitively costly to provide, refers to other individuals, cannot be disclosed for legal, security or proprietary reasons, and/or is subject to solicitor-client or litigation privilege.

Principle 10 – Challenging Compliance with Health Service’s Privacy Policy and Practices

• An individual will be able to challenge the clinic’s compliance with privacy practices to the Director of Health Services, on campus ext. 84730.  The Director will investigate all complaints.  If complaint is justified, HS at Western will take appropriate measured, including, if necessary, amending their policies and practices.  The Privacy Commissioner can be contacted at 1-800-378-0073.