A PIA is an in depth look at how an organization, office, or clinic proposes to use and handle patient information and lays out your plan to address potential risks to patient privacy. It is a declaration that your clinic understands how, and has sufficient processes in place, to protect the information of your patients and serves as a blueprint for protecting your clinic against breaches.In Alberta, Section 64 of the Health Information Act (HIA) mandates submission of a Privacy Impact Assessment for review by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC).