Medical privacy

Medical privacy, or health privacy, is the practice of maintaining the security and confidentiality of patient records. It involves both the conversational discretion of health care providers and the security of medical records. The terms can also refer to the physical privacy of patients from other patients and providers while in a medical facility, and to modesty in medical settings. Modern concerns include the degree of disclosure to insurance companies, employers, and other third parties. The advent of electronic medical records (EMR) and patient care management systems (PCMS) have raised new concerns about privacy, balanced with efforts to reduce duplication of services and medical errors.[1][2]

Most developed countries including Australia,[3] Canada, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, and the Netherlands have enacted laws protecting people's medical health privacy. However, many of these health-securing privacy laws have proven less effective in practice than in theory.[4] In 1996, the United States passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) which aimed to increase privacy precautions within medical institutions.[5]

  1. ^ Hiller, Mare (1982). "Patient Care Management Systems, Medical Records, and Privacy: A Balancing Act". Public Health Reports. 97 (4): 332–45. PMC 1424350. PMID 7111656.
  2. ^ Miller, Amalia (2009). "Privacy Protection and Technology Diffusion: The Case of Electronic Medical Records". Management Science. 55 (7): 1077–1093. doi:10.1287/mnsc.1090.1014.
  3. ^ Manager, Web (2011-09-28). "Australian Privacy Law & Practice - Key Recommendations for Health Information Privacy Reform". www.alrc.gov.au. Retrieved 2018-12-03.
  4. ^ Andriole, Katherine P. (2014). "Security of Electronic Medical Information and Patient Privacy: What You Need to Know". Journal of the American College of Radiology. 11 (12 Pt B): 1212–1216. doi:10.1016/j.jacr.2014.09.011. PMID 25467897.
  5. ^ Edemekong, Peter F.; Haydel, Micelle J. (2018), "Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)", StatPearls, StatPearls Publishing, PMID 29763195, retrieved 2018-12-03