WG Psychology Reporting Requirements - A Guide For Physicians

What are the Reporting Requirements for Psychologists Working with Physicians?

Physicians can be reluctant to access mental health services because they are concerned about confidentiality and psychologist reporting requirements regarding physician fitness to practice. This page outlines the rare scenarios in which disclosure of physicians’ personal health information without consent might need to occur.

These are the two scenarios in which fitness to practice concerns might lead a psychologist to make a report:

1. The following is a scenario in which mandatory reporting related to physician fitness to practice is required:

If a psychologist learns about any regulated health professional who has sexually abused a patient, the psychologist must file a report with that health professional’s regulatory College within 30 days, or sooner if the sexual abuse is believed to be ongoing. This reporting must occur whether or not the health professional is a client of the psychologist.

2. The following describes situations in which voluntary reporting related to physician fitness to practice may be permitted:

If a psychologist is working with a client who is a physician, the psychologist is permitted to “make a voluntary report, without the client’s consent, if you [the psychologist] believe, on reasonable grounds that such a disclosure is necessary as they [the physician] are putting clients at significant risk of serious bodily harm” (Section 40, PHIPA, 2004). This situation may arise, for example, if the psychologist becomes aware that the physician-client is using impairing substances before performing surgery.

Additionally, unlike physicians, psychologists in Ontario do not have a reporting requirement related to impaired driving resulting from a medical condition.

The College of Psychologists and Behaviour Analysts of Ontario (CPBAO) has an FAQ on their website that reviews reporting scenarios related to other regulated health professionals: https://cpbao.ca/members/professional-practice/mandatory-and-non-mandatory-reporting/

If you have specific questions about the limits to confidentiality and psychologists’ reporting requirements, please speak with your prospective psychologist or Dr. James Watson-Gaze, Clinic Director (drjames@wgpsychology.com), and consider seeking legal advice before initiating services at WG Psychology.

Other Limits To And Considerations About Confidentiality

Additional limits to and considerations about confidentiality at WG Psychology that are tangential to fitness to practice concerns are as follows:

●  In situations in which there is a court order for your psychologist’s records, the psychologist is legally required to submit the requested information to the court.

●  The Child and Family Services Act states that when a psychologist has reasonable grounds to suspect that a child under the age of 16 has or may have suffered abuse (including physical, sexual, emotional abuse, and neglect), a report must be made stating the suspicion and the information on which it is based to child welfare services. A report may be filed if the psychologist has a belief that a child aged 16-17 has or may experience abuse.

●  The Long-Term Care Homes Act and the Retirement Homes Act require mandatory reporting when there are reasonable grounds to suspect the abuse or neglect of residents of long-term care facilities or retirement homes.

●  The Missing Persons Act gives police the ability to require disclosure of personal health information in a psychologist’s record for the purposes of locating a missing person.

●  The CPBAO occasionally conducts quality assurance audits of psychologists’ files to ensure they are up to standard.