We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Patient consent for release of sensitive information from their medical records: an exploratory study.
- Authors
Merz, Jon F.; Spina, Bernadette J.; Sankar, Pamela; Merz, J F; Spina, B J; Sankar, P
- Abstract
The disclosure of sensitive information concerning mental health, drug and alcohol use, and communicable diseases requires express patient consent under federal and state laws. This paper presents the results of a retrospective medical record abstraction of hospital consent-to-treatment and release-of-information forms, examining whether the forms are present in the records, and, if so, whether they are signed by patients. The results suggest that patients who have sensitive information in their medical records or pay out of pocket for their care are less likely to consent to disclosure of their records. We discuss the implications of these results and recommend further research to understand patients' perceptions of medical confidentiality and the processes used for securing consent to hospital treatment.
- Subjects
INFORMED consent (Medical law); MEDICAL records; INFORMATIONS (Criminal procedure); FEDERAL legislation; PATIENTS; SOCIAL sciences; MEDICAL record laws; RIGHT of privacy; MEDICAL ethics laws; COMPARATIVE studies; RESEARCH methodology; MEDICAL cooperation; RESEARCH; EVALUATION research; RETROSPECTIVE studies; MEDICAL coding
- Publication
Behavioral Sciences & the Law, 1999, Vol 17, Issue 4, p445
- ISSN
0735-3936
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1002/(SICI)1099-0798(199910/12)17:4<445::AID-BSL359>3.0.CO;2-P