This review of the Personal Health Information Act by the province’s Department of Health and Wellness finds N.S. lags behind other provinces when it comes to some aspects of protecting personal health information. It points out that the act requires the privacy commissioner be notified about minor or insignificant breaches "but not breaches where there is a real risk of significant harm." In N.B., the privacy office must be notified of any breach. About 80% of N.S. family doctors use electronic medical records. That number drops when it comes to specialists, of whom about 70% used EMRs in 2017. That’s the second-lowest user rate in the country, after N.B. The report recommends the creation of a digital health privacy working group led by the Department of Health and Wellness to develop a framework around information sharing, how personal health information would be organized in records, and access to those records by professionals and patients.
NBHC Care Experience