How we collect, use, protect, and share your health information
Effective date: May 25, 2026
Grace Medical Clinic is committed to protecting the privacy of your personal and health information. We are the custodian of your health information under Alberta’s Health Information Act (HIA), and we handle your information in accordance with that Act. This statement explains, in plain language, what information we collect, why, how we protect it, how we communicate with you, and your rights.
1. Information we collect
When you register and receive care with us, we collect information such as:
- Identifying and contact information — your name, date of birth, address, phone numbers, and email;
- Your Alberta Health Care number and coverage details;
- Health information — your medical, surgical, medication, allergy, and social history, and the care we provide to you;
- Emergency contact and, where applicable, the details of a person submitting information on your behalf; and
- Your communication preferences and consents.
We collect only the information we need to provide your care and to operate the clinic.
2. Why we collect it, and our authority
We collect, use, and disclose your health information to provide and coordinate your medical care, to manage appointments and recalls, to communicate with you, and to meet our legal, billing, and professional obligations. Our authority to do so is the Health Information Act and your consent.
3. Where your information is stored
Your health record is maintained in our electronic medical record (EMR) system, MedAccess. Information is stored securely, access is limited to authorized staff and your healthcare providers, and our systems are protected by appropriate technical and administrative safeguards.
4. Who can see your information within the clinic
Within Grace Medical Clinic, access to your information is limited to the people involved in your care or in serving you, and each person sees only what their role requires (a “need-to-know” basis):
- Reception and administrative staff have access only to the minimal information needed to register you, book and manage appointments, and handle general communication — not your full clinical record.
- Nurses, registered nurses (RNs), and nurse practitioners access the clinical information needed to provide and coordinate your care.
- Physicians access your health record as needed to provide your medical care.
- Students and trainees (for example, those completing a licensing requirement or practicum placement) may be involved in your care under supervision. They are bound by the same privacy and confidentiality obligations as our staff, and you may ask that a trainee not be involved in your care.
All staff and trainees are required to keep your information confidential, and access is monitored.
5. How we communicate with you
We use different channels for different purposes, and we match the channel to the sensitivity of the information. You choose which channels you consent to on your registration form, and you may change your preferences at any time.
| Channel | What we use it for |
|---|---|
| Text message (SMS) | Brief administrative messages only — such as appointment reminders and recall notices. These contain only the minimal information needed to serve their purpose, and never include medical information. |
| Standard email | Administrative messages only — appointment reminders, announcements, and general clinic communications, sent from reception@gracemedicalclinics.ca. Standard email is never used for medical information. |
| BrightSquid Secure-Mail | Clinical communications — lab results, requisitions, referrals, and medical documents. BrightSquid is an encrypted, HIA-compliant secure-messaging service used in place of ordinary email for anything clinical. |
| Voicemail | Brief messages only; voicemail messages never contain medical information. |
Note: ordinary text message and email are not fully secure channels, which is why we deliberately keep medical information out of them and use BrightSquid Secure-Mail for clinical communications. We ask that you also avoid sending sensitive medical details to us by ordinary email or text.
6. Our clinic-management software (Imhotep Med)
Grace Medical Clinic uses a clinic-management application, Imhotep Med, to support day-to-day operations — for example scheduling, internal staff tasks and messages, announcements, and appointment-reminder and recall workflows. Where this application handles information related to you (such as your phone number and appointment timing for a reminder), that information is stored in Canada, access is limited to authorized staff, and activity is recorded in an audit log. The application is used by clinic staff and is not a system patients log in to.
7. Use of AI
Clinical documentation. We use AI technology to assist in transcribing consultation notes and medical documentation. All AI-generated transcriptions are reviewed and verified by your healthcare provider, AI is used for documentation purposes only and does not replace clinical judgment, and your privacy remains protected under the Health Information Act.
Website booking assistant. Our website booking assistant is powered by Anthropic (Claude), an AI service provider based in the United States. The content of your chat conversation is processed by this provider to generate replies, and is not used to train AI models. We do not store the conversation itself — only the appointment request details you confirm (your first name, contact information, preferred time, and a general reason) are kept, on Canadian servers. Before any request is submitted, the assistant asks for your confirmation; by submitting a request through the assistant, you consent to this processing as described in this Privacy Policy.
8. Who we share your information with
We share your health information only as needed to provide your care or as permitted or required by law. This may include:
- Your healthcare providers within Grace Medical Clinic, for the purpose of your care;
- Other healthcare providers involved in your care (for example, specialists we refer you to, or your pharmacy), with your knowledge;
- Service providers who process information on our behalf (for example, our secure-messaging and software providers), who are bound by agreements to protect your information; and
- Others where the law requires or permits it.
Euclid Telehealth eye disease screening. Grace Medical Clinic, together with Euclid Telehealth, offers an eye disease screening covered by Alberta Health Care at no charge; it is a screening for eye disease, not a vision (glasses) test. Euclid may contact you directly to schedule it. This is optional — if they reach out and you do not wish to take part, you may simply opt out, with no effect on your care.
We do not sell your information, and we do not use it for advertising.
9. How we protect your information
- Access is limited to authorized staff and providers, on a need-to-know basis;
- Our electronic systems use secure sign-in and are protected in transit and at rest;
- We keep the most sensitive information out of lower-security channels (ordinary email and text); and
- We maintain agreements with service providers who handle information on our behalf.
10. Your rights
Under the Health Information Act, you have the right to:
- Ask to see and receive a copy of your health record;
- Ask us to correct information you believe is inaccurate;
- Ask questions about how your information is handled; and
- Change or withdraw your consent to any communication channel at any time (this will not affect your care).
11. Questions or concerns
If you have any questions about your privacy, or wish to access or correct your records, please contact our reception:
Grace Medical Clinic
2170 – 3950 Sage Hill Drive NW, Calgary, AB T3R 2A4
Phone: 403-666-0909 | Email: reception@gracemedicalclinics.ca
If you have a privacy concern you feel we have not resolved, you may also contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta (OIPC).
This policy summarizes our privacy practices and supplements the consents you provide on your registration form. It may be updated from time to time; the current version is available at the clinic and on our website.