Medical privacy
Encyclopedia
Medical record
The terms medical record, health record, and medical chart are used somewhat interchangeably to describe the systematic documentation of a single patient's medical history and care across time within one particular health care provider's jurisdiction....
' which historically has been a paper file of the entire medical history of the patient. Various electronic forms of medical records
Electronic medical record
An electronic medical record is a computerized medical record created in an organization that delivers care, such as a hospital or physician's office...
have existed in western countries, but mostly in an unintegrated fashion. This lack of integration has in a large part facilitated privacy. While the patient's general practitioner
General practitioner
A general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...
(GP) often generates and holds much data, copies can end up being produced at hospital
Hospital
A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment by specialized staff and equipment. Hospitals often, but not always, provide for inpatient care or longer-term patient stays....
s and other care facilities - often resulting in medical error
Medical error
A medical error may be defined as a preventable adverse effect of care, whether or not it is evident or harmful to the patient. This might include an inaccurate or incomplete diagnosis or treatment of a disease, injury, syndrome, behavior, infection, or other ailment.-Definitions:As a general...
s.
United Kingdom
By 1999, 62% of the National Health ServiceNational Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
(NHS) trusts used electronic records, to some degree.
In 2003 the NHS has taken moves to create a centralised electronic registry of medical records. Its privacy is protected by the UK's Government Gateway, built by Microsoft. The programme is called Electronic Records Development and Implementation Programme (ERDIP). The NHS National Programme for IT has been criticised for its lack of security and lack of patient privacy. It was one of the projects that has caused the Information Commissioner to warn that there is a danger of the country "sleepwalking" into a surveillance society
Mass surveillance
Mass surveillance is the pervasive surveillance of an entire population, or a substantial fraction thereof.Modern governments today commonly perform mass surveillance of their citizens, explaining that they believe that it is necessary to protect them from dangerous groups such as terrorists,...
. Pressure groups opposed to ID cards are also campaigning against the centralised registry.
Privacy is based on patients' rights in the UK, flowing from the European Convention of Human Rights through the Data Protection Act (DPA) in the UK. The opposing point of view that access is on a 'need to know basis' is not legal, it is the patient who must grant access.
United States
- See: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996Health Insurance Portability and Accountability ActThe Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 was enacted by the U.S. Congress and signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996. It was originally sponsored by Sen. Edward Kennedy and Sen. Nancy Kassebaum . Title I of HIPAA protects health insurance coverage for workers and their...
In the USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the Medical Information Privacy and Security Act (MIPSA) is the new development. It contains important provisions requiring accesses to generate an audit trail, and for patients to be able to partition their data so that for example genetic information is not revealed when they go for a flu shot. Individuals have a right to access, copy, edit and augment their information.
Privacy advocates in the United States have raised concerns about the switch from paper to electronic medical records, which some commentators fear will lead to unauthorized access to personal data.
New Zealand
In New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, the Health Information Privacy Code (1994) sets specific rules for agencies in the health sector to better ensure the protection of individual privacy. The code addresses the health information collected, used, held and disclosed by health agencies. For the health sector the code takes the place of the information privacy principles.
Netherlands
The introduction of a nation-wide system for the exchange of medical information and access to electronic patient records led to much discussion in the Netherlands.External links
- European Standards on Confidentiality and Privacy in Healthcare
- Opt out of the NHS Spine, or the NHS Confidentiality campaign