My role within the Canadian Healthcare System

My role within the Canadian Health System as an Orthotist is governed by Orthotics Prosthetics Canada (OPC) nationally. As an Orthotist you have to abide by the OPC Canons of Ethical Conduct. The Canons outline the responsibility to the physician and allied licensed healthcare providers, responsibilities to the patients and responsibilities to colleagues and the profession.

Patient privacy in any healthcare field is of the utmost importance and is protected under the Personal Health Information Protection Act and institutional privacy and confidentiality policies. In the field of Orthotics and Prosthetics most facilities are private and not within an institution. Therefore, prior to treatment the patient must sign consent to collecting personal information. This form is called the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA.)

As an Orthotist you are assessing, fabricating and dispensing medical devices to patients who have a physical disability. These devices are funded by provincial programs to allow individuals to maintain their activities of daily living. In Ontario the program set-up for individuals is called the Assistive Devices Program (ADP) which is run by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. To access funding the individual requires an Ontario health card number. For medical devices ADP will cover 75% of the cost of the device and the remaining 25% the patient has to pay and then submit to their group insurance plan if they have one. For the medical device to be covered the device has to be custom made by a Certified Orthotist who is an Authorizer for ADP and employed by a vendor of ADP.

For the remaining provinces, what I found was that Alberta has the Aids to Daily Living Program run by Alberta Health. British Columbia has the Pharmacare Prosthetic and Orthotic Program run by the British Columbia Ministry of Health. Manitoba has Manitoba Health. I still need to look into their coverage for these programs and find out the funding program for the remaining provinces.

References

Assistive Devices Program. (2016, December 7). Retrieved from https://www.ontario.ca/page/assistive-devices-program

Policies and Procedures Manual for the Assistive Devices Program. (2016, May). Retrieved from

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/pro/programs/adp/policies_procedures_manuals/docs/pp_adp_manual.pdf

Canons of Ethical Conduct. (2016, May 16). Retrieved from https://opcanada.ca/_uploads/587ncj4sh.pdf

The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). (2018, January 23). Received from https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/privacy-laws-in-canada/the-personal-information-protection-and-electronic-documents-act-pipeda/

Husereau D, Arshoff L, Bhimani S, Allen N. Medical device and diagnostic pricing and reimbursement in Canada. Edmonton (AB): Institute of Health Economics; 2015.