A number of physiotherapists and other health-care providers in B.C. are sounding the alarm about working with ICBC.
The issues arose due to ICBC’s Health Care Services Terms, which allow qualifying health care services to bill ICBC directly for services provided to individuals.
Some health care providers say they are considering opting out of the system because they are concerned about ICBC’s new rules and their client’s privacy.
The service providers say ICBC’s Services Terms could increase the corporation’s access to sensitive client information, let ICBC dictate treatment and possibly give it control over a patient’s records.
The changes also apply to providers of acupuncture, chiropractic, massage therapy and more.
“The way that it is currently written, they could access any PC, whether it’s personal or clinic-related, which is onsite, and there’s no room for negotiation on these terms, obviously that’s a huge risk for FIPA and PIPA which is privacy and patient confidentiality,” physiotherapist Manvir Purewal said.
“I think it’s just the unilateral arrangement of the terms. They’re really just favouring ICBC in a very broad scope that goes to KPIs, it goes to the privacy policy and it goes to the fact that clinics who opt-out will not be able to direct bill.”
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Purewal said that when he reads the line “(will) comply with any ICBC Directive” he said it makes it seem like ICBC does not trust them as practitioners.
“It’s put a lot of fear in the community because of all these demands and all the risks that the clinic undertakes,” he added. “I know there’s a lot of fear as to how we are going to continue services under ICBC.”
Also in the terms, it states that practitioners “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.”
Purewal said that the lawyer for the Physiotherapy Association of British Columbia said that statement is so broad in the way it is currently written that it means ICBC employees could access any PC, whether it’s personal or clinic-related.
“Obviously that’s a huge risk for FIPPA and HIPA, which is privacy and patient confidentiality,” he said.
ICBC said they have heard from customers that they want help finding health care providers that bill direct to ICBC and its recovery network and online locator tool, launching in the spring, will be able to do that.
The organization stated that it is not changing any policies on what treatments are funded, how they fund treatments and ICBC does not determine who can treat its customers.
“ICBC is by no way putting the privacy legislation at risk, nor do we have any intent or expectation to put our practitioners at that same risk,” Perry Strauss, ICBC’s chief enhanced care officer told Global News.
Purewal said that right now, they are likely going to opt-out of the ICBC direct billing program. But he does not know if that will affect customers and staffing levels.
