CONFIDENTIALITY OF MEDICAL RECORDS - THE PATIENTS PERSPECTIVE

Background. The development of modern information technology and the i ncreasing amount of multidisciplinary teamwork in primary health care mean that the principle of patient confidentiality is becoming difficu lt to uphold, The debate about confidentiality so far has paid little attention to patients' views. Aim. A qualitative study was undertaken to explore patients' expectations and attitudes concerning confidentia lity of patients' medical records in general practice. Method. Semi-st ructured interviews were carried out with 39 patients from one general practice. Results. Patients' expectations diverged considerably from actual practice. The majority of interviewees felt that administrative and secretarial staff should not have access to medical records. Some patients had reservations about a doctor not directly involved in the ir care having access to their records. They were unaware of the fact that practice staff had ready access to their medical records. Intervi ewees had particular concerns about recording of nonmedical informatio n in their records, and the confidentiality of computerized records. C onclusion. Assumptions of shared doctor-patient definitions of confide ntiality, at least in this practice, would be misplaced. It is suggest ed that explicit negotiations about what is recorded in patients' reco rds would go some way to addressing the discrepancies identified in th is study.