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ONTARIO: Hospital Warns Bill Will Hurt Donations Proposed privacy law tightens consent rules Health network head fears huge funding loss THERESA BOYLE QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU Jan. 27, 2004. 01:00 AM Proposed health privacy legislation would severely hamper hospitals in their ability to hit up former patients for financial donations, the president of the University Health Network says. "I think it has the potential to cripple the efforts of the (fundraising) foundations," Tom Closson said in an interview yesterday after a presentation to a legislative committee studying the bill. Under the proposed law, hospitals would first need the consent of patients before they could ask them for money. Currently, institutions such as the University Health Network ask all former patients for donations — either by letter or over the phone. Closson noted his institution raised $62 million last year through its fundraising — three-quarters of which goes into research and the remainder into the purchase of equipment or reconstruction of buildings. The province pays for only half of capital costs. Researchers at the hospital have made major advancements against cancer, malaria, eating disorders, heart disease and Parkinson's disease. Closson warned the committee up to $50 million in annual donations to the University Health Network is at stake under the Health Protection Privacy Act. "If that money dried up, I tell you the foundations would be just ground to a halt in this province," he said. Closson said that while he sees the need for legislation protecting patient privacy, the current bill needs amendments allowing former patients to "opt out" of fundraising efforts only after they have first been solicited. That's the way the hospital's fundraising system currently works and there have been few complaints, he said. The University Health Network's privacy office receives only 10 complaints a year about privacy and fundraising, representing one out of every 20,000 patients. He noted that Mount Sinai Hospital got dismal results after testing out the proposed law. Only 10 per cent of patients responded in the affirmative after getting letters from the hospital seeking their consent to be solicited for cash. The proposed legislation would alternatively permit staff, including doctors and nurses, to outright ask patients for their consent to hit them up for donations, but that could also create problems, Closson said. "It creates an impression that the care people are receiving is dependent upon them being solicited. There's a conflict of interest there," he said, adding that staff can't spare the time for fundraising. Health-care providers have been calling for privacy legislation for years. "Information about our health is extremely sensitive. It's highly personal. It's something people have the right to be protective of," Health Minister George Smitherman told the committee. The proposed law sets strict limits on how personal health information can be collected, used and disclosed. SOURCE: Toronto Star, Canada http://tinyurl.com/367mu * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn