March 7, 2017
Manitoba Government Introduces Amendments that would Strengthen the Regulated Health Professions Amendment Act
Proposed amendments to The Regulated Health Professions Act would improve transparency and better enable health profession regulatory bodies to address changes in the standards of practice for a health profession as the health care they provide evolves over time, Health, Seniors and Active Living Minister Kelvin Goertzen announced today.
“The Regulated Health Professions Act provides a consistent way to regulate how health-care services are provided, ensuring patient safety and accountability,” Goertzen said. “The proposed changes would help to ensure the public can access information necessary to make informed choices about who provides their care, and will also help health profession regulatory bodies make appropriate changes in a timely way in the standards that health professionals must meet in providing health care.”
The act currently prohibits information kept by a regulatory body regarding a health professional’s health condition or addiction that affects his or her ability to practice from being made generally available to the public by way of the Internet. The legislation does allow a member of the public to receive this information when they request it directly from the regulatory body.
Proposed changes would allow this information to be published on a regulatory body’s website where professional fees are charged to members of the public for services provided by their members or where their members can submit claims for the services under the Manitoba Health Services Insurance Plan. This would enhance transparency by providing the public with better access to information when choosing a health-care provider. The public would be able to obtain a fuller picture of disciplinary matters relating to a health professional from which they are seeking health care.
In addition, proposed changes would allow health profession regulatory bodies to create additional practice standards outside The Regulated Health Professions Act and its regulations if required.
For more information on the act, visit www.gov.mb.ca/health/rhpa/index.html.
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