Personal Health Information Protection: What injury claimants need-to-know

After a car accident in BC, some people choose to deal with ICBC themselves.  If they are claiming for compensation for injuries sustained in the accident, it will be necessary for medical information to be provided to ICBC.  ICBC provides an authorization form it expects self-represented claimants to sign that allows adjusters to deal directly with the claimant’s medical providers and to obtain information about the claimant.  However, doing so provides ICBC a disturbing amount of access to a claimant’s personal health information.  The medical authorization form that self-represented people are required to sign gives ICBC the complete freedom to acquire all of a claimants personal medical records, going back as far in time as ICBC chooses and gives ICBC permission to store those records indefinitely.  A typical authorization says the following:

To whom it may concern:

I, (name of claimant), authorize every medical practitioner, chiropractor, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, dentist, medical insurer, ambulance owner (including British Columbia ambulance service and emergency health services commission) and the employees of every hospital is defined in the hospital act, to provide any representative the insurance Corporation British Colombia upon presentation of this authorization or photocopy thereof:

• Any and all records, ex-rays and other medical imaging, information and evidence in their possession and/or,
• a reporter’s certificate, including but not limited to the diagnosis, treatment, current conditions, and prognosis, in any format specified by the Corporation including verbal, written and electronic formats,

Relating to issues raised by my claim for injuries incurred on or about (date of accident), including medical history and physical condition both prior and subsequent to the above date, regardless of elapsed time.

At the bottom of the ICBC form provided to self-represented claimants, it also says the following:

…. There is also a possibility information will be referenced on future claims you may have.

In contrast, when a claimant is working with a personal injury lawyer – they work with their personal injury lawyer to determine what medical information is relevant and material to the claim. ICBC is then only provided with the information that is relevant and material to the claim at the appropriate time in the claims process. For most people, there is nothing more personal than their private health history and their personal health information. Signing blanket forms that provide ICBC employees with the right to not only access a person’s entire medical history but to use it on future claims is not appropriate and should be guarded against – something that is best done with the representation of experienced personal injury lawyers.

At League and Williams, our experienced and trusted personal injury lawyers have the knowledge and expertise to work with you on your ICBC claim and will endeavour to keep your personal health information protected by providing only the information that is necessary to process your claim to ICBC.  We are happy to provide you with a free consultation, offer evening and weekend appointments – and are always focused on helping you recover from your injuries, physically and financially.  We may be contacted at (250) 888-0002 or via email at info@leaguelaw.com.