As of April 1, an amendment to the Nova Scotia Personal Health Information Act (PHIA), took effect and removes the requirement that the significant danger be “imminent,” allowing health-care professionals to consider disclosure earlier when they reasonably believe it may help avert or minimize the danger. Prior to this change, the danger had to be determined to be “imminent,” a qualifier now removed from the legislation.

Section 38(1)(d) of PHIA now states:

A custodian may disclose personal health information without consent if they believe, on reasonable grounds, that it will avert or minimize a significant danger to the health or safety of any person or class of persons.

The Nova Scotia Health Authority has emailed physicians outlining these amendments to PHIA and along with the IWK provided virtual educational sessions in March. This communication is available here.

This amendment does not create a mandatory duty to disclose. Custodians continue to have discretion to decide whether disclosure is appropriate on a case-by-case basis. The amendment affects only the threshold for when disclosure may be considered. In such clinical instances, the College expects physicians to exercise their professional judgment while adhering to best practices within medicine.

Should registrants have any questions please contact the College’s Registrar.

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