Don't cooperate on project, Manitoba MDs told CMAJ 1997;157:361 © 1997 Canadian Medical Association The Manitoba Medical Association (MMA) is urging members to refuse to cooperate with the provincial government or its consultant on a project called the Health Information Network. In a July 11 letter to members, President Ian White warned that cooperation with the government "could undermine MMA efforts." The association's main concern is that there aren't adequate safeguards to protect the patient­physician relationship. The MMA wants the government to appoint a privacy commissioner to oversee the recently passed Personal Health Information Act, which is supposed to provide legal protection for personal health information. The MMA argues that it provides insufficient safeguards. "While the government may be willing to 'milk' physicians for information and ideas, it has not been prepared to answer our fundamental questions," White wrote. "Who can access the system? What confidential personal information, if any, will be put online?" The MMA argues that patients clinical records should not be online because the information might be abused. Send a letter to the editor responding to this article Envoyez une lettre à la rédaction au sujet de cet article | CMAJ August 15, 1997 (vol 157, no 4) / JAMC le 15 août 1997 (vol 157, no 4) |