The multifarious function of medical records: Ethical issues

Medical records comprise history data, physical examination, biosignals, da ta acquired through in vitro diagnostic tests, images, therapeutic data, an d administrative data. Beyond the use of records for therapy, they are also used in research, teaching, the allocation of resources, and for the const ruction of the patient's personal history. These functions give rise to a n umber of important ethical issues. The most important ethical issues are th e patient's autonomy in decisions pertaining to proposed therapeutic interv entions, the confidentiality of the information contained in the records, t he reliability of the information for research, and questions related to he althcare policy and the distribution of healthcare resources.