LPrivacy Policy

Beyond Words SLP is committed to protecting the privacy of all the personal information that is collected to enable us to provide quality services. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, disclose, and protect your personal information.

What is Personal Information

Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. Personal information includes information that relates to personal characteristics (e.g., gender, age, home address or phone number, language spoken, marital status), health (e.g., health history, health conditions, health services received) or activities and views (e.g., opinions expressed by an individual, an opinion or evaluation of an individual). Personal information is to be contrasted with business information (e.g., an individual’s business address and telephone number), which is not protected by privacy legislation.

Who We Are

Beyond Words SLP consists of the Speech-Language Pathologists Julie Sorhaitz and Julie Sidock. To assist us in providing services, we use a limited number of consultants or agencies (such as accountants, IT consultants and lawyers), that may, in the course of their duties, have limited access to personal information. We restrict consultants’ access to any personal information as much as is reasonably possible. We also have their written assurances that they will follow appropriate privacy policies.

Reasons for Collecting Personal Information About Clients

Like all Speech-Language Pathologists, Beyond Words SLP’s main purpose for collecting personal information is to provide speech, language, literacy, voice, as well as cognitive services. We collect the following information (please note that not all information is collected for all clients – we only collect what is needed for each individual client):

  • Contact info (name, address, phone, email)
  • Insurance info (claim number, policy number, adjuster, company)
  • Lawyer info (name, law firm)
  • Gender
  • Age
  • Language
  • Education / training / occupation
  • Community involvements
  • Family status and home environment
  • Health history
  • Assessment results
  • Health services provided to or received by the person
  • Health and social information (including opinions expressed by the person) collected during the course of assessment or treatment)
  • Prognosis and other opinions formed during assessment or treatment
  • Compliance with assessment and treatment
  • Reasons for discharge, discharge condition and recommendations
  • Correspondence from us to the person and/or other team members/outside parties and/or payers

Beyond Words SLP collects this information in order to keep in contact with you, help assess what your needs are, advise you of your options and then provide you with the individualized health care you choose. This information also forms a baseline of both health and social information so that as we provide ongoing health services we can identify changes that are occurring over time.

We also collect contact and service provision information for the following secondary purposes:

  • To differentiate clients with the same name.
  • To secure payment for goods and services.
  • To contact you to determine the need for follow-up services.
  • To provide examples (anonymized) for teaching purposes.
  • To allow us to meet our regulatory obligations. The College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists may inspect our records and interview our staff as a part of their regulatory activities in the public interest. Various government agencies (e.g., Canada Revenue Agency, Privacy Commissioner, Human Rights Commission, etc.) have the authority to review our files and interview our staff as a part of their mandates. External regulators have their own strict privacy obligations.
  • To provide information to third party payers (e.g., WSIB, private insurance, Assistive Devices Program) when they pay for the goods and services you receive from us. We will obtain your consent to disclose your personal information in these instances except in instances where there is legislative authority to collect the information.
  • To provide information for accounting and tax purposes.
  • To answer any questions you may have about the service you received once it is concluded.

We will obtain your consent to disclose your personal information in these secondary instances, except when there is a legislative authority to collect the information, such as external regulation.

It would be rare for us to collect any personal information without your express consent, but this might occur in an emergency (e.g., you are unconscious) or where we believe you would consent if asked and it is impractical to obtain consent (e.g., a family member passing a message on from you and we have no reason to believe that the message is not genuine).

Protecting Personal Information

At Beyond Words SLP, we understand the importance of protecting your personal information. For that reason, we have taken the following steps:

  • The minimal paper information that we keep is either under supervision or secured in a locked or restricted area and contains little personal information beyond initials and date of birth. Most personal information is electronic and is stored in an encrypted medical record with a server housed in Canada.
  • Any paper information that is taken outside of the clinic is anonymized and/or locked out-of-sight and/or under supervision.
  • Electronic hardware is either under supervision or secured in a locked or restricted area.
  • Our servers meet and exceed security standards and privacy requirements, both for physical and electronic access, encryption and back up. Paper information is sealed and transmitted by reputable companies.
  • We take special care when transmitting electronic information. Unless you have specifically requested otherwise, confidential information is password protected when being emailed, or sent via secure encryption. Faxes are sent with cover sheets and are transmitted to confirmed numbers.
  • External consultants and agencies with access to personal information must demonstrate their adherence to privacy laws.
  • Reports and/or progress notes are only sent to team members/outside parties for whom the information will be helpful, and only with your written consent.

Retention and Destruction of Personal Information

It is important that we keep personal information for some time to ensure that we can answer your questions about the services we provided and for our own accountability to external regulatory bodies.

The College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario requires that we retain our client records for 10 years past the last visit or, in the case of a child, for 10 years past their 18th birthday. Working notes and recordings are destroyed regularly throughout our intervention, as we transfer the information into progress notes and reports. All remaining files are destroyed on or shortly after the 10-year mark. This includes your contact and health information.

We destroy paper files containing personal information by shredding. We destroy electronic information by deleting it and, when the hardware is discarded, we ensure that the hard drive is physically destroyed.

You Can Look at Your Information

With limited exceptions, you have the right to see what personal information we hold about you. We will help you understand any information that is unclear (e.g., short forms, technical language, etc.). We will need to confirm your identity before providing this access. Beyond Words SLP reserves the right to charge a nominal fee for such requests.

If there is a problem, we may ask for the request in writing. If we cannot provide access, we will tell you within 10 days and explain the reason, as best we can, why we cannot provide access.

If you believe there is a mistake in the factual information, you have the right to ask for it to be corrected. This does not apply to our professional opinions. We may ask for documentation if you state that our records contain any incorrect information. Where we agree that a mistake was made on our part, we will make the correction and notify anyone to whom we sent this information. If we do not agree that we have made a mistake, we will still agree to include in our file a brief statement from you on the point and we will forward that statement to anyone else who received the earlier information.

Our Website, Cookies and Similar Technologies 

Like many websites, we use cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your browsing experience. Cookies are small data files stored on your device that help us understand your preferences and improve our services. You can modify your browser settings to accept or decline cookies. Please note that certain features may not function correctly if cookies are disabled. We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer any information shared on this website to external parties. We may engage reputable third-party service providers to assist us in operating the website. These providers are bound by strict confidentiality agreements and are only authorized to use any data shared to this website for the purposes specified by us. 

Changes to the Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new policy on our website.

Questions or Concerns?

Our Information Officer, Julie Sorhaitz, can be reached at:

Phone/Fax: 905-723-3061

Email: julie@beyondslp.ca

She will attempt to answer any questions or concerns. Formal complaints about Beyond Words SLP’s privacy practices can be made in writing to Julie. She will acknowledge receipt of the complaint, ensure that it is investigated promptly, and that you are provided with a formal decision and reasons in writing.

This policy is made under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and the Personal Health Information Protection Act. These are complex Acts and provide some additional exceptions to the privacy principles that are too detailed to set out here. There are some rare exceptions to the commitments set out above.

For more general inquiries, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada oversees the administration of the privacy legislation in the private sector. The Commissioner also acts as a kind of ombudsperson for privacy disputes. The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario can be reached at:

2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1400

Toronto, ON M4W 1A8

1-800-387-0073

TDD/TTY: 416-325-7539

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