The Personal Health Information Act (PHIA) provides you with the right to:

1. access your personal health information, and
2. have your personal health information kept private

when that information is held by a health care provider, health care facility or public body (referred to in the Act as “trustees“).

Access

The right of access means that you can ask to see, or get a copy of, personal health information about you.  You also have the right to request a correction to this information if you feel it is inaccurate or incomplete.

Access to your health records allows you to make informed decisions, based on complete information, about your health and health care.

Privacy

PHIA also recognizes that personal health information is private and should be held in confidence by those who maintain it. This enables you to discuss things you might find sensitive or embarrassing with trustees without worrying that they will discuss it with others inappropriately.

In order to protect your right to privacy, PHIA imposes obligations on trustees when they collect, maintain, use and share your personal health information.

When trustees collect personal health information from you, they will normally use that information for the reasons it was provided. For example, if you discuss personal health information with a health care provider, he or she will use that information to provide you with the care you are seeking.

Before trustees can use this information for other reasons — or share it with people outside their organization — they should generally get your consent. There are some exceptions to this obligation, however. Here are a few examples:

• A health care provider may share information about you with another provider who is involved in your care, as long as the information is relevant and as long as you haven’t asked the first provider not to.
• A hospital may contact your family and inform them that you are hurt or injured if you can’t inform them yourself.
• A hospital or personal care home may discuss, with family members and close friends, care you are currently receiving in the facility, as long as the facility believes you wouldn’t object.
• A trustee might share personal health information with an outside agency if it is necessary to prevent serious harm to you or someone else.
• A trustee might also have to share personal health information about you if another law requires them to do so.

Source: http://www.gov.mb.ca/health/phia/index.html