The New Brunswick Personal Health Information Privacy and Access Act (S.N.B. 2009, c. P-7.05) ↗︎ permits health information custodians to screen electronic health records with algorithms available through Ensho’s data labs for the purpose of risk management, error management or activities to improve or maintain the quality of care or any related programs or services of the custodian.
Ensho Health Intelligent Systems Inc. (“Ensho”) is a health technology company whose mission is to empower healthcare providers to do more with data. We realize our mission through the development and application of algorithms that screen electronic health records for specific clinical use-cases deployed at our clinical data labs. Each data lab operates under the supervision of a Medical Director and performs computational analysis of electronic health records as a service to physicians. We conduct analyses by:
Processing the data we receive with our Apollo automated electronic data capture (“aEDC”) system;
Inputting the parameters we extract with Apollo to algorithms encoded in medical device software; and
Preparing reports summarizing the outcomes of our analyses.
Our algorithms are intended for use as decision support tools that aid physicians in improving the detection, treatment and management of patients with rare and complex cardiovascular, neurological and rheumatic disorders that are difficult to screen for or lack definitive biomarkers. Their intended use includes identifying individuals in which specific follow-up investigations may be clinically appropriate.
They can be ordered through PDF and HTML requisition forms by physicians that attest to their use in the diagnosis or detection of a disease, illness, impairment, symptom, syndrome, or disorder or in medical management.
Information managers are defined in Section 1 of the New Brunswick PHIPAA ↗︎ as follows:
“information manager” means an individual or organization that on behalf of a custodian (gestionnaire de l’information) (a) processes, stores, retrieves, archives or disposes of personal health information,(b) de-identifies or otherwise transforms personal health information, or(c) provides information management or information technology services
Part (1)(f) of section 38 of the New Brunswick PHIPAA allows custodians to disclose personal health information relating to an individual without prior consent:
to an information manager in accordance with this Act
Permitted use of personal health information by health information custodians is defined in Section 34 of the New Brunswick PHIPAA ↗︎ which states in part (1)(f) that custodians may use personal health information in their custody or under their control:
for the purpose of risk management, error management or for the purpose of activities to improve or maintain the quality of care or to improve or maintain the quality of any related programs or services of the custodian
We require all healthcare providers to execute our PHIPAA-compliant services agreement and any data transfer authorizations required by their electronic medical record system service providers before we agree to process their data.
Physicians in New Brunswick can send electronic health records for which they are custodians to our data labs for analysis in compliance with the New Brunswick Personal Health Information Privacy and Access Act (S.N.B. 2009,c P-705)if they plan on using the outputs to aid in diagnosis or detection of a disease, illness, impairment, symptom, syndrome, or disorder or in medical management. Doing so would qualify as a permitted use of personal health information for the purpose of activities to improve or maintain the quality of care provided by