Rashid Latif Khan University Medical College has a legal and ethical responsibility to protect the privacy of patients/residents/clients, their families, and staff/hospital affiliates/other affiliates, and ensure confidentiality is maintained. The purpose of this policy is:
To outline the institution’s expectations and standards of behavior related to confidentiality.
To safeguard and protect the privacy of patients, staff and hospital affiliates, and students, according to legislative requirements.
To build upon the existing Position Statements/standards of confidentiality established by regulatory and professional bodies.
Rashid Latif Khan University Medical College considers the following types of information to be confidential:
Personal information and personal health information regarding patients/residents/clients (hereafter referred to as “patients”) and their families;
Personal information, personal health information, employment information, and compensation information regarding staff and hospital affiliates; and,
Information regarding the hospital’s operations, which is not publicly disclosed by the hospital (e.g., unpublished financial statements, legal matters).
Personal information, academic and disciplinary record of students.
This policy applies whether this information is verbal, written, electronic, or in any other format.
In addition to standards of confidentiality, which govern Regulated Health Professionals, staff and hospital affiliates and students are bound by the institution’s responsibility to maintain confidentiality. The institution expects staff/hospital affiliates, students to keep information, which they may learn or have access to because of their employment/affiliation, enrollment in the strictest confidence. It is the responsibility of every staff/hospital affiliate and student:
To collect, access, and use confidential information only as authorized and required to provide care or perform their assigned duties.
To divulge, copy, transmit, or release confidential information only as authorized and needed to provide care or perform their duties.
To safeguard passwords or any other users’ codes to access computer systems and programs and to assume full responsibility for activity undertaken using their security codes/passwords.
To identify confidential information as such when sending E-mails or fax transmissions and to provide direction to the recipient if they receive a transmission in error.
To discuss confidential information only with those who require this information to provide care or perform their duties and never within range of others who should not have access to this information.
To continue to respect and maintain the terms of the Confidentiality Agreement after an individual’s employment/affiliation with the hospital ends.
It is a condition of employment/privileging contract/association that staff and institution affiliates review this policy and sign the Confidentiality Agreement before receiving access to information or records, or performing any duties at the hospital, and on an annual basis thereafter.
Affiliation Agreements with educational institutions must contain confidentiality agreements to ensure that students and faculty abide by the institution’s standards of confidentiality
Misuse, failure to safeguard, or the disclosure of confidential information without appropriate approvals may be cause for disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment/contract or loss of privileges or affiliation with the hospital, reporting to an individual’s professional College, civil action/criminal prosecution and/or institutional and/or personal fines levied by the respected institution.
By applying for admission to Rashid Latif Khan University Medical College, students accept the Office of the Registrar's right to collect pertinent personal information. The information is needed to establish a record of their performance in the course, provide the basis for awards and to assist the College in the academic and financial administration of its affairs. Students also agree that all documentation that they submit to the College in support of an application for admission, residence accommodation or financial assistance, or any petition or appeal, becomes the property of the College.
RLKU Medical College is committed to taking every reasonable step to protect the confidentiality and privacy of the information contained in the records of students. Unless compelled to do so by law, or authorized by the student in writing, the Office of the Registrar will not normally disclose the confidential contents of student records to any party outside the College.
An electronic record of students' achievements at the College is preserved permanently, but all other documentation contained in students' files may be destroyed when no longer required.
It is the Office of the Registrar's practice to make a minimum of information freely available to all inquirers. This information includes the student's active registration status, current field of studies and degree(s) that have been conferred by the College and the date(s) of conferral.
Students have the right to inspect all documents contained in their own record, with the exception of evaluations and letters of reference supplied to the College with the understanding that they be kept confidential.
Students have the right to request that erroneous information contained in their records be corrected and that recipients of any information found to be in error be advised of the correction.
Students wishing to inspect their record must make an appointment with the senior staff member in the Office of the Registrar on their campus.
Employees of the Rashid Latif Khan University Medical College are permitted access to information contained in student records if they need to know the information in order to perform their official duties. As a general rule, only employees involved in some aspect of academic administration or student affairs are given access to the contents of student records.