Privacy Statement

Medigas Privacy Statement
Last updated: August 2023

This privacy statement explains the information practices “Medigas”, a Division of Linde Canada Inc. (“Medigas”) ("we," or "us,") has adopted to protect the personal information we collect, use, disclose and store in the course of doing business and your rights and choices with respect to this personal information.  “You” and “Your” means the individual whose personal information is collected by or for Medigas.

This statement applies to personal information Medigas collects or receives about any individual from any source through Medigas websites and other online platforms (the “Sites”), when you shop in our stores, and when you otherwise interact with us.

Our privacy practices are subject to applicable privacy laws in the places in which we operate, which means we engage in the practices described in this notice in a particular region only as permitted under the laws of such jurisdictions.

This privacy statement should be read in connection with the Linde Canada privacy statement for more information.

1.    Personal Information We Collect About You

Personal information is information about an identifiable individual, as defined under Canadian federal and provincial privacy laws applicable to Medigas operations in Canada.

Personal Health Information (PHI), generally defined under Canadian health sector privacy laws as identifying information about an individual that is related to the physical or mental health of the individual, including: medical history of an individual and their family, healthcare that has been provided to the individual, care plans, payments and eligibility for healthcare services, provincial healthcare or health card numbers, information derived from testing, examination, or donation of an individual’s body parts or substances, and any information that identifies an individual’s substitute decision maker or healthcare provider.

The types of personal information and personal health information (herein referred to collectively as ‘personal information’) we collect about you depend on your interactions with us and are described in more detail below.

PERSONAL INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE DIRECTLY TO US

We collect personal information directly from you when providing you with equipment, health care services, or diagnostic testing when you use these services or otherwise interact with us, online or in person, as described herein.  The types of personal information we collect from you include:

Contact Information (e.g., address, telephone number and e-mail address), when you apply for services or create an account with us, we collect your contact information, for billing purposes, to communicate with you and to contact you in the event of a product recall or to provide other safety notifications or information regarding the medical equipment, supplies and accessories that you purchase from Medigas. We may also collect your contact information when you request additional information about products or services and interact with our Customer Service team.

Account information: such as username and password when you create an account with us for the purpose of purchasing a product or service.

Appointment information - Name, date of birth, provider, and appointment details to enable you to book appointments online.   

Customer financial/payment information such as credit card and/or banking information to charge you for the products and services we provide and process payments and insurance provider information to confirm details required for reimbursement coverage.

Information related to your purchase, use, or rental of products and services such as products and services requested and provided; order details; billing, shipping, or delivery information; and information about your return or exchange of any products or services with us.

Audio and video recordings - If you provide your personal information over the phone, the call might be recorded or monitored for quality improvement and training purposes.  We collect video surveillance footage in certain locations such as in our retail stores for the safety and security of individuals.  As a client or visitor to a retail store, your image, which may identify you, may be captured on video.

Oxygen and Respiratory Products and Services

For providing you with oxygen services and other respiratory products and services, we collect:

• Prescription or referral for services, including the name of your health care provider(s).
• Demographic information and personal characteristics such as birth date, age, gender, height, weight and other pertinent lifestyle information, as necessary for providing services.
• Relevant health history, test results, qualifying data, diagnoses, clinical assessments and outcomes – for service initiation, care planning, to support the provision of health care and to manage the care relationship with you.
• Provincial health card number for billing provincial health insurance plans.
• Diagnoses, purchases and funding type - for funding purposes.
• The name of your substitute decision maker (such as a next of kin) to contact in the event of an emergency.

The above information will be used to create and maintain an electronic medical record (EMR) for you, which provides a record of your care. We will update and add to your EMR over the course of our ongoing care relationship with you and provision of healthcare products and services (e.g., home oxygen services).

Medigas is contracted with several provincial health ministries to provide products and services. As such, we may collect your personal health information in relation to such a contract for services on behalf of a health information custodian (e.g., oxygen or assistive devices on behalf of the Ministry of Health of Alberta under the Alberta Aids to Daily Living program).  Please note that in such circumstances the custodian’s privacy policy will apply and should be consulted for details.

Medigas Express

If you purchase CPAP or BiLevel devices online via Medigas Express, we collect your contact information, payment information and require you to provide a prescription (PHI) to us via secure email or fax.

Sleep Therapy (CPAP/BIPAP) Services

If you purchase, rent or trial equipment or undergo Sleep Studies or sleep therapy through Medigas retail stores and via virtual delivery of PAP services, we collect from you:

• your personal health information upon service initiation, which may include the name of your health care provider(s), prescription, diagnoses, symptoms, medications, clinical or diagnostic test results, the name of your substitute decision maker, and related personal information for service initiation, care planning, to support the provision of health care and to manage the care relationship with you.
• Demographic information and personal characteristics such as birth date, age, gender, height, weight and other pertinent lifestyle information, as necessary for providing services.

The above information will be securely stored and maintained in an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) which provides an ongoing record of your care. Depending on the products and services being purchased/rented/trialed, ongoing additions and updates to PHI may be obtained from you and documented by our clinicians.

In addition to the personal information collected from you directly, compliance tracking and monitoring information from your device (to ensure therapy is effective, your device is functioning properly, and to provide advice/adjustments when needed) may be uploaded to an associated IT system at set intervals (daily, weekly, etc.) where it can be accessed by Medigas staff who use the information to provide you with care.  Note that you do not need to allow your PAP device to be set for automatic downloads. Your device will function normally, and in accordance with your prescription for PAP therapy; automatic or manual downloads of compliance data are not required to receive care and services. You may also choose to download this information directly in the applicable App, subject to an agreement between you and the manufacturer

Incident Reports

Incident reports and associated progress notes including type and description of incident, which may include personal information if you are a patient.   

PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT FROM OTHER SOURCES

To provide services to you, we may collect personal information about you from other sources with your advance consent, unless otherwise permitted by law. This includes collection of personal information from:

• the referring facility, physician, or other health care professionals that are involved in your care - we may collect clinical or diagnostic test results, assessments and outcomes, health history, qualifying data, details about a customer’s equipment and care, health status, compliance with therapy, etc.
• other third parties you allow to share information with us.

2.    How We Use Your Personal Information

Medigas generally uses your personal information for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we have obtained your consent to use it for another purpose or when we are permitted by law to use it for another purpose.

We use your personal health information, with your consent, to:

• provide you with healthcare, monitor your health, or assist in provision of healthcare to you,
• service initiation, care planning and provision,
• determining the appropriateness of care or justification of charges,
• determining coverage under health insurance plans,
• making claims and receiving payment for products and services that we have provided to you (including for billing purposes to third party payors and government health and funding agencies), and
• to assist in incident review, investigation, and management.

We use your personal information for:

• providing or delivering a product or service that you have requested,
• customer account creation and management,
• to take or verify instructions from you and to confirm your identity if you contact us by phone,
• completing the transactions you request, facilitating ordering and verifying order status, billing, and processing payments through third-party vendors,
• responding to your requests and any other communications from you to provide customer service,
• sending you communications related to your account, purchases, exchanges, and returns,
• sending you marketing communications about products, services, offers, and promotions by Medigas and providing you with news and information that we believe may be of interest to you, in accordance with your marketing preferences, with your express consent. You can ask to be removed from our marketing lists at any time, and
• reasonable other purposes as permitted by applicable law or with your consent, intentional direction, or instructions.

We may use your personal information without consent for:

• preventing and detecting malicious, deceptive, or illegal activity, including fraudulent transactions, error, negligence, and breach of contract, security incidents, and harm to the rights, property or safety of Linde Canada and our users, customers, employees, or others,
• reasonable other purposes that are consistent with the reasons we collected it, including, but not be limited to:

           o    providing information technology support, including troubleshooting to identify, and repair errors that impair existing or intended functionality of our services,

           o    establishing a record of the information you provide over the phone to maintain quality service levels and help with staff training,

• conducting product recalls or corrective actions relating to the products and services that have been provided to you,
• responding or reporting to regulatory or self-regulatory bodies having jurisdiction over Medigas or its personnel in connection with inquiries or investigations by such bodies
• performance of audits and reviews of Medigas records by potential purchasers of our business, brokers, or advisors,
• accreditation and quality improvement activities,
• complying with legal requirements, and
• other purposes that are permitted or required by applicable law

3.    Disclosing Your Personal Information

Depending on the product or service, we may disclose your personal information for the purposes we collected it, for another purpose to which you have consented, or for other purposes permitted or required by law.  

We may disclose your personal information to:

• any person or organization to whom you provide consent,
• an emergency contact in connection with the provision of healthcare products and services to you, where it is necessary in the event of an emergency,
• clinicians external to the organization who are involved in your care (the prescribing physician, family physician, respirologist, for example) with your consent. This might include details about your equipment and care, health status, compliance with therapy, etc., 
• a specified accredited testing laboratory for the purpose of determining eligibility for oxygen therapy and disclosing the results to Medigas,
• others (e.g. family member, insurance company, etc.) as requested by you if you have consented to this disclosure at the time services are initiated.  This will include compliance reports, sleep studies and other patient data and reports,
• people, organizations, government regulatory agencies and investigative bodies who work to prevent, detect, or investigate suspected fraud, breaches of agreement, or contravention of the law where it is necessary to comply with legal or regulatory obligations,
• government funding agencies to verify qualification for funding,
• third-party insurance companies, for reimbursement for products and services provided, and
• other people or organizations who are legally authorized to view your personal information

4.    Service Providers and Affiliates

To carry out our legitimate business purposes, we communicate your personal information to authorized people, organizations, and service providers carrying out a contract for services for Medigas, who need this information to perform their duties and services for us.  Some service providers are located in provinces or jurisdictions outside the province where the personal information was collected. If you are a Quebec resident, this means your personal information may be disclosed or transferred outside Quebec including to our service providers and affiliated companies outside of Quebec. When we share your personal information with our service providers or affiliated companies, we ensure by contractual means, or by agreement that they are required to protect it in ways that are consistent with our privacy policies and practices and all privacy laws and regulations applicable to Medigas. We do not sell your personal information.

We use service providers and affiliated companies for various business purposes, including:

• to physicians for clinical interpretation of results and for the purposes of providing healthcare,
• in connection with the use of CPAP, BiPAP or other PAP equipment (“PAP Equipment”) personal information may be sent to a computer server that is owned by a company that is not Medigas, for the purposes of providing healthcare,
• delivering products and equipment,
• product recalls and communication of services or information,
• information management services such as secure paper shredding service providers and records storage,
• providing support services, including answering services,
• information technology (IT) support and processing,
• payment processing,
• for debt collection, and
• supporting the provision of other services.

5.    Retention of your personal information

Personal information is retained by Linde for one of the following time periods, whichever is longer:

• As long as required by law;
• As long as required by contract, for the fulfillment of our contract obligations; or
• As long as needed to for managing the products and services we provide you.

The types of products and services we offer may require us to keep your information for extended periods. Personal information that is no longer required is securely destroyed, deleted, or made anonymous.  

6.    Consent

With some exceptions, we require your consent to collect, use and disclose your personal information except where otherwise permitted or required by law. Depending on the circumstances and the type of personal information collected, your consent may be expressed orally, in writing or electronically.  Your consent will be implied when, acting reasonably, Linde can conclude that by taking a certain action, you have given your consent. In certain circumstances, we may obtain your consent through your authorized representative, such as your substitute decision maker.

We may collect, use, or disclose personal information about you without your consent for legitimate business purposes, as described in this privacy statement. For example, we do not require additional consent to use your personal information for providing or delivering a product or service you use or apply for. Other exceptions are determined by law and can include legal, medical or security reasons that make receiving your consent impossible or impractical such as fraud prevention and detection, assessing or improving security measures, or when necessary for providing health care and it is not reasonably possible to obtain your consent in a timely manner.

You have a right to withhold or withdraw your consent for us to collect, use or disclose your personal information if there are no legal or contractual requirements that prevent it.  If you choose to withdraw or refuse to give consent, we may not be able to provide or continue to provide certain products services or information to you. You cannot withdraw consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information for the purposes of product recalls, safety notifications or information, or of responses to regulatory or self-regulatory bodies.

If you wish to withdraw your consent at any time, or would like to access your personal information held by Medigas, you may do so by contacting by the process described in Section 10.

7.    How We Protect Your Personal Information

Linde’s information security has been developed and continually enhanced to protect your personal information from unauthorized disclosure, access and use. Physical, organizational and technological safeguards are in place to protect this information, based on its nature and sensitivity.  

While we strive to protect your personal information, we can not ensure the security of the information you transmit. Therefore, we recommend you take every precaution in protecting your personal information when you are on the Internet. For example, use complex passwords and do not reveal your password to anyone.

8.    Your Rights and Choices

You have several rights and choices with respect to your personal information held by or for Medigas.  These rights and choices may vary, based on the specific privacy legislation that applies to the collection, use, disclosure and retention of your personal information by Medigas. We strive to uphold the highest standards under all privacy laws applicable to Medigas, as outlined here. You may contact our Chief Privacy Officer for more information.

Rights of access and correction

You may submit a written request to obtain access to your personal information we hold about you. We will also inform you, upon written request, of any of the following information:

• the existence and nature of any personal information we hold about you, the purposes for which we collected it, how we collected it, or the sources of the personal information,
• the names of the individuals or categories of third parties with whom it is necessary for us to communicate your personal information,
• the categories of Medigas employees who have access to the information, and
• the length of time your personal information will be kept.

There may be a fee for such information; you will be notified after your request has been evaluated. Our response to your request will be provided in writing, with certain limited exceptions. In some cases, Medigas may not be able to provide access to personal information within our possession or control, including in the following circumstances, as allowed by law:

• if doing so would reasonably be expected to threaten the life or security of another individual,
• disclosure would reveal confidential commercial information,
• the personal information is protected by solicitor/client privilege,
• the information was collected during the investigation of a legal matter or for purposes related to the detection and prevention of fraud, or
• for another reason, in accordance with legislation applicable to the request.

If we inform you about the existence of or provide you with a copy of your personal information and you believe that it is inaccurate, incomplete or ambiguous you can request that we correct the information. Subject to limit exceptions allowed by law, we will correct any inaccurate personal information upon your written request, allowing us to best meet your needs in the future. If you believe that the collection, disclosure or retention of your personal information is not authorized by law, you may ask us to rectify the matter.

We will require that you prove your identity before we process your request for access to, or correction of your personal information. A request will also be considered if it is made by a person acting as the representative, heir or successor of the person concerned, liquidator of the estate, beneficiary of the life insurance or death benefit, or holder of parental authority. In all cases, this person will have to establish their capacity and identity.

If we are unable to provide you or an authorized representative with access to your personal information or if we are unable to correct it, we will advise you in writing of the reason for the refusal unless we are prohibited from doing so by law.

We will respond to your access or correction request within 30 days of the date of receipt.

To exercise your rights of access and correction under applicable privacy law(s), you may contact the Linde Canada Chief Privacy Officer at the mailing address or email address provided below.

Use of Personal Information for Automated Decision Making

If we intend to use your information to make a decision about you based solely on automated processing of the information, we will provide you with a notice of the automated decision at the outset of an application process (for example when seeking consent to use personal information for the application) or when the decision is provided to you (for example when advising you that you are eligible for a new product).

Upon request, you also have the right to be informed about the personal information we have used to render the decision and the reasons and principal factors and parameters for the decision.  If we collect personal information from you using automated means, we will provide you with the contact information of a member of Medigas’ staff to whom you may submit your written observations about the automated processing of your personal information.

9.    Complaint Process

Linde’s Chief Privacy Officer is accountable for overseeing compliance with Linde’s privacy policies.

You may submit a written request to Linde’s Chief Privacy Officer on any aspect of our personal information governance and procedures, including:

• questions about Medigas’ privacy policies and practices and/or to obtain additional information;
• to exercise your rights, as described in this Privacy Statement; or
• to voice a concern or make a privacy-related complaint.  We have established an internal privacy complaint review process. We will investigate all complaints and we endeavor to respond to all privacy-related complaints and address any concerns as quickly and thoroughly as possible. If a complaint is found to be justified, we will take appropriate measures to correct the situation.

10.    Contact Us

Privacy complaints and all other privacy-related inquiries should be directed to the Linde Chief Privacy Officer in writing, at:

Linde Canada Inc.
Attention: Chief Privacy Officer
5015 Spectrum Way, Suite 500
Mississauga, Ontario, L4W 0E4

Or, by Email: privacy.officer.canada@linde.com

Or, by confidential toll-free telephone, at 1-866-896-6866.

If your privacy concern has not been addressed to your satisfaction, you may file a formal complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, who oversees compliance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), or to any other applicable provincial privacy regulatory body.

11.    Updates

We may update this Privacy Statement at any time by posting updated text on this site. We encourage you to review this Privacy Statement from time to time.