Confidentiality & Privacy

You are a dietitian working in the area of weight management and a sales representative from a food distribution company calls you about marketing a new product. They offer to pay your organization $10 for each client address and telephone number that you provide, so the company can send information on the product and make follow up telephone calls.  Can you share the client’s information?

This scenario confirms the importance of having an organizational privacy policy that is clear about why client information is collected, how it will be used, and under what circumstances personal information will be disclosed to anyone.

In the process of obtaining consent from the client, the dietitian should refer to the organization’s privacy policy, with clear indications of why personal client information is collected, how it will be used and under which circumstances it might be disclosed to another party, if at all. A dietitian would need to ensure they have the client’s express written consent to disclose information to anyone else.

Please refer to these resources:

• Privacy of Personal Information Dietetic Practice Tool Kit for Registered Dietitians in Ontario
• Professional Practice Standard Consent to Treatment and for the Collection, Use and Disclosure of Personal Health Information.