Some fear it could compromise patient privacy and treatment.
Physiotherapists are concerned that a new ICBC policy introduced in December puts their clients’ privacy at risk.
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There was little effort by the Crown corporation to consult with the health-care providers involved, said Neil Nijjar, a physiotherapist with River District Physio in Vancouver and the chairman of the private practice committee with the Physiotherapy Association of B.C.
“The current wording allows ICBC broad access to computer systems, raising privacy concerns,” Nijjar said. “There’s a lot of language in there that’s a little concerning, be it around privacy concerns, auditing concerns, a few other pieces of legalese.”
Besides physio, health-care services affected are massage therapy, acupuncture, chiropractic treatment, clinical counselling, kinesiology, and psychology.
Practitioners also worry about wording in the new ICBC terms of service that might allow the company to access personal computers. The terms state: “(Practioners) agree to allow ICBC or ICBC’s representatives to enter your business premises and access any computer systems (during regular business hours) for the purposes of performance management.”
“If you look at the way that the terms are written, it just broadly says they can access any computer system,” Nijjar said. “They’ve stated, ‘Hey, we would only look at the files that are pertinent to ICBC,’ which from a from a realistic standpoint is probably what they would do.
“But until that wording is updated in the contract … from a privacy standpoint, that does create some concerns.”
ICBC said the company would never enter a clinic or premise without a reasonable reason to do so.
“An on-site inspection would only occur in the rare circumstance where verbal and written communication is not sufficient and there is a substantive reason to do so,” their statement read.
The Crown corp. said it has been meeting with 3,500 clinics representing 11,000 practitioners on how best to transition.
Practitioners may opt out of the direct-billing system but then must collect their clients’ bills upfront themselves.
So far, 197 clinics representing more 1,700 health-care providers — including 500 physiotherapists — have signed up to the new network, ICBC said.
“We’re not changing any policies on what treatments we fund, or how we fund those treatments, and we don’t determine who can treat ICBC customers,” the company’s statement read. “ICBC defers to the applicable colleges to regulate health-care professionals. The health-care services terms and program guides are not a replacement for, or intended to interfere with, standards of practice or regulatory framework legislated for health professionals in British Columbia.
“Compliance with college requirements is a mandatory component of the program.”
Garry Begg, B.C.’s solicitor general, said he’s sure ICBC will comply with provincial privacy laws.
“My expectation is that they will do that,” the minister said on Wednesday. “Anything that they release has to go through a funnel, as it were, to ensure that the rights of the citizens who are involved are safeguarded.
“I’m sure that’s the case here.”
Nijjar is optimistic continuing talks will iron things out.
“We’re happy ICBC is now kind of agreeing to engage in conversation, which is really good,” he said. “Hopefully, the conversations continue to head in a positive direction and we can get all this sorted out.
“At the end of the day, the patients are the ones being affected the most, right?”
With files from Alec Lazenby