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OHRC provides guidance on medical documentation

Describe functional limitations of disability , not diagnosis : Ontario Human Rights Commission

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Under Ontario ’ s Human Rights Code , employers and unions , housing providers and service providers have a legal duty to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities who are adversely affected by a requirement , rule or standard . Physicians have an important role to play when patients with disabilities are seeking accommodations which will allow them to equally benefit from and take part in services ( such as education ), housing or the workplace . Organizations , such as schools and employers , rely on the expertise of physicians to understand the functional limitations and needs associated with a disability in order to implement appropriate accommodations . And of course , those seeking accommodation rely on physicians to provide clear , timely information about their disabilityrelated needs , while still respecting their privacy interests . An updated policy from the Ontario Human Rights Commission ( OHRC ) on disability provides guidance to physicians on the information that they should provide in their medical documentation . Specifically , the policy states that , in most circumstances , a physician should describe the functional limitations associated with the disability that require accommodation instead of providing a diagnosis of the disability . This new emphasis , says the OHRC , allows for the implementation of appropriate accommodations that respect the dignity and privacy of people with disabilities . The OHRC reports that it has seen challenges relating to medical documentation of disabilities and the needs associated with those disabilities in the accommodation process . It has encountered circumstances , for example , in which people with disabilities have been unable to gain equal access to services or employment because of ambiguous medical notes that do not provide enough information to allow for meaningful implementation of appropriate accommodations . Conversely , it has also encountered circumstances in which overly intrusive requests for medical documentation from employers and others create barriers for people with disabilities . “ Unwarranted requests for private medical information – such as diagnostic

ISSue 3 , 2016 Dialogue