Information relating to an identifiable individual's health, often referred to as personal health information, is confidential information. IMS Health does not collect personal identifiable information — by ensuring that the transactions we process are made anonymous prior to being received. In nearly 40 years of operation, IMS Health has not experienced a single breach of patient confidentiality.
Employing the highest standards in data collection, processing and statistical analysis, IMS Health collects data from over 65,000 sources in Canada including hospitals, pharmacies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and wholesalers, and physicians. More than 200 million transactions are processed each year to yield extensive information databases of diagnosis and treatment patterns, prescribing patterns and pharmaceutical utilization trends.
IMS Health adheres to the highest ethical and professional standards in the field of market research. In particular, it complies with all relevant standards of the International Code of Marketing and Social Research Practice as they relate to privacy. IMS Health in Canada also complies with provincial privacy laws, where applicable, and with privacy regulations such as those contained in the bylaws governing the professions of pharmacy and medicine in Canada.
We have developed our own personal information management code based on the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information (CAN/CSA-Q830-1996). IMS Health is the first organization in North America to have been registered to the CSA privacy standard by the Quality Management Institute - a very important endorsement of the quality of our company's practices for the protection of personal information. Click here for the IMS Privacy Code- Canada.
In addition, our confidentiality practices are regularly audited by an independent, external auditor. Moreover, we require that our clients and partners adhere to the most stringent rules and procedures to protect the confidentiality of the information contained in our reports.
In 1997, IMS HEALTH established the Quebec Health Information Advisory Board, the first of its kind in Canada. Click here for the IMS Privacy Code- Quebec.
The Health Information Advisory Board's mandate is to:
-
Review exceptional requests from third parties for data from the IMS prescription databases and, if need be, to recommend terms and conditions under which this information can be provided.
-
Deliberate on ethical questions that may arise, making appropriate recommendations.
-
Review complaints that may be filed by individuals or organizations.
HIAB Members
-
Dr. Jules Martin, President, HIAB.
-
Dr. Claude Mercure, Assistant Syndic, Member designate of the Collège des médecins du Québec.
-
Dr. Gilles Hudon, Cardiologist, Member designate of the Fédération des médecins spécialistes du Québec (FMSQ).
-
Dr. Ayda Bachir, General Practitioner, Member designate of the FMOQ.
-
Mr. Normand Cadieux, Pharmacist, member designate of the Association québecoise des pharmaciens propriétaires (AQPP).
-
Mr. Claude Lafontaine, Ordre des pharmaciens du Québec.
-
Mr. Michel Rousseau, Member designate of Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies.
-
Mr. Gary Fabian, Vice-President of IMS Health.