Rationale For Confidentiality In Health Care
ThConfidentiality is a key ethical and legal principle governing health care practice. Confidentiality is recognised as a requirement of practice for all health professions in:
1. Health Services Act 1988 (Vic);
2. Contracts of employment;
3. Professional Codes of Conduct;
Rationale for confidentiality
1. Respect for patient autonomy
An important principle in health care ethics is respect for patient autonomy. This principle emphasises a person’s right to have control over their own life. This principle implies that a person has the right, by and large, to decide who should have access to their personal information.
2.The nature of the healthcare relationship - implied promise
The health care practitioner-patient relationship has elements …show more content…
A patient’s personal health information is to be kept private unless consent to release the information is provided by the patient or for medicolegal purposes . For conditions that might be stigmatizing, such as reproductive, sexual, public health, and psychiatric health concerns, confidentiality assures that private information will not be disclosed to family or employers without their consent. Appropriate care often requires that information about patients be discussed among members of a health care team; all team members have authorized access to confidential information about the patients they care for and assume the duty of protecting that information from others who do not have access. Electronic medical records can pose challenges to confidentiality. In accordance with the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act of 1997 (HIPAA), institutions are required to have policies to protect the privacy of patients’ electronic information, including procedures for computer access and …show more content…
While there may be cases where the physician feels naturally inclined to share information, such as responding to an inquiring spouse, the requirements for making an exception to confidentiality may not be met. If there is not explicit permission from the patient to share information with family member, it is generally not ethically justifiable to do so. Except in cases where the spouse is at specific risk of harm directly related to the diagnosis, it remains the patient's (and sometimes local public health officers’), rather than the physician's, obligation to inform the spouse.
Unintended disclosures may occur in a variety of ways. For example, when pressed for time, providers may be tempted to discuss a patient in the elevator or other public place, but maintaining privacy may not be possible in these circumstances. Similarly, extra copies of handouts from teaching conferences that contain identifiable patient information should be removed at the conclusion of the session in order to protect patient privacy. And identifiable patient information should either be encrypted or should not be removed from the security of the health care institution. The patient's right
1. Health Services Act 1988 (Vic);
2. Contracts of employment;
3. Professional Codes of Conduct;
Rationale for confidentiality
1. Respect for patient autonomy
An important principle in health care ethics is respect for patient autonomy. This principle emphasises a person’s right to have control over their own life. This principle implies that a person has the right, by and large, to decide who should have access to their personal information.
2.The nature of the healthcare relationship - implied promise
The health care practitioner-patient relationship has elements …show more content…
A patient’s personal health information is to be kept private unless consent to release the information is provided by the patient or for medicolegal purposes . For conditions that might be stigmatizing, such as reproductive, sexual, public health, and psychiatric health concerns, confidentiality assures that private information will not be disclosed to family or employers without their consent. Appropriate care often requires that information about patients be discussed among members of a health care team; all team members have authorized access to confidential information about the patients they care for and assume the duty of protecting that information from others who do not have access. Electronic medical records can pose challenges to confidentiality. In accordance with the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act of 1997 (HIPAA), institutions are required to have policies to protect the privacy of patients’ electronic information, including procedures for computer access and …show more content…
While there may be cases where the physician feels naturally inclined to share information, such as responding to an inquiring spouse, the requirements for making an exception to confidentiality may not be met. If there is not explicit permission from the patient to share information with family member, it is generally not ethically justifiable to do so. Except in cases where the spouse is at specific risk of harm directly related to the diagnosis, it remains the patient's (and sometimes local public health officers’), rather than the physician's, obligation to inform the spouse.
Unintended disclosures may occur in a variety of ways. For example, when pressed for time, providers may be tempted to discuss a patient in the elevator or other public place, but maintaining privacy may not be possible in these circumstances. Similarly, extra copies of handouts from teaching conferences that contain identifiable patient information should be removed at the conclusion of the session in order to protect patient privacy. And identifiable patient information should either be encrypted or should not be removed from the security of the health care institution. The patient's right