Medical privacy

Medical privacy is a subset of the larger domain of health privacy, which includes the law of confidentiality as it relates to healthcare, as well as the ethical issues of autonomy, dignity and integrity, and trust that arise in the context of the patient-physician relationship.

Overview

Medical privacy pertains to the privacy of a person's medical information. This includes, but is not limited to, their medical conditions, treatments, and general health information. Medical privacy is a fundamental right recognized in the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and in many other international and regional treaties.

Legal Aspects

In the United States, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) provides federal protections for personal health information held by covered entities and gives patients an array of rights with respect to that information. At the same time, the Privacy Rule is balanced so that it permits the disclosure of personal health information needed for patient care and other important purposes.

Ethical Aspects

The ethical aspects of medical privacy include the patient's right to control who has access to their personal health information. This includes the right to refuse to disclose information to certain individuals or entities, and the right to demand that their information be kept confidential.

Challenges

The advent of electronic health records and the increasing digitization of healthcare have posed new challenges to maintaining medical privacy. These challenges include the risk of data breaches, the potential for unauthorized access to patient information, and the difficulty of ensuring that all healthcare providers are in compliance with privacy laws and regulations.

See Also

• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
• Electronic health record
• Patient confidentiality
• Health privacy

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