UHWI CANS conference placing high priority on data collection, privacy in healthcare
Published:Wednesday | January 29, 2025 | 9:06 PM
While discussing all aspects of healthcare, the 2025 Conference of Caribbean Neurosciences Symposium (CANS) will also focus strongly on the drive to transition from paper-based record keeping to digital, and the critical importance of data collection, privacy and confidentiality of the data subjects.
Under the theme 'Global Health, Technology and Leadership in Health Care', the conference which started on Tuesday, coincided with Jamaica's observance of Data Privacy Day. It is placing heavy focus on the safety of patients data, and how the Data Protection Act of 2021 made doctors automatic data controllers, and patients, data subjects.
Legal Consultant for the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) and medical doctor, Dr Peter Glegg, told The Gleaner Wednesday that, as the healthcare industry worldwide, and in Jamaica in particular, moves into a fully digital space. Health institutions must also be equipped to keep and store patients' records on secure platforms, as failure to do so can put workers and institutions at risk.
“I think, I'm probably biased, but I think when I read the Data Protection Act, I think primarily, maybe when they were framing this legislation, they probably had medical practitioners in mind. Because patient information is such an important thing, not only in continuity of care, but if only for medical, legal reasons,” Glegg told The Gleaner.
He noted that with data collection comes confidentiality issues.
“Medical practitioners have very direct and confidential information about patients. And, therefore, you have to have a robust system where this data is properly recorded, stored and protected. Because the last thing anyone wants is their information getting out into the public sphere, when privacy is enshrined in the Constitution,” he stated.
“The issue is most critical as the world is moving to electronic health records. Dockets is so 20th century. The move now in medical practice globally is towards electronic medical records. Digital records are harder to lose, unlike a paper-based docket which can be lost to water fire, or ink quality over time… With electronic medical records x-rays, CT scans and MRIs can be viewed from five years prior, unlike film quality which can deteriorate,” he further explained.
UHWI, he said, has been spearheading the way into telemedicine and telecare which allow doctors to remotely consult and it will be the future of health here in Jamaica.
With the statute of limitations to bring an action in medical cases in Jamaica being six years, the issue of record keeping, proper documentation and patient confidentiality is key, even more so than ever before, he stressed.
Glegg also noted that continuity of proper care depends heavily on documentation as it saves time that may be critical to the survival of patients.
“And this is why documentation is so key. In my capacity as an attorney and as a medical legal consultant, documentation can make or break a legal case. There are many legal cases, both in Jamaica and globally, where the cases many times are turned on what was documented,” he explained.
He cited a case against one Regional Health Authority, where it turned on the issue of the consent form documentation.
“And therefore, with this change in the legal landscape in Jamaica, where documentation is so important, we, as medical practitioners, have to move to ensure that our graduates are properly educated in cases of proper documentation. We have to ensure that our student doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, and all who we train, in the relevant health field are up to date with the latest technology as it relates to documentation,” he stressed.
The scientific and academic conference has panellists, and special guests from Jamaica, the Caribbean region, United States and Canada. Other issues to be discussed include neurosurgery, technology, global health and collaboration, to financing and sustainability of the healthcare system.
The honoured guest will be Professor Michael Fehlings, of the Toronto Western Hospital. He will speak on the topic, Repair and Regeneration of the Injured Spinal Cord: From Molecule and Man. Professor Ronit Agid of the Toronto Western Hospital will speak on Anatomy and Nomenclature of the Medium Size Cerebral Arterial Tree.
The conference will end on February 1. The first two days were held at the University of the West Indies Hospital, and will conclude at the Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay.
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