CONFIDENTIALITY OF MEDICAL RECORDS

Medical records can be used as a personal or impersonal document. 1) Personal document - this information is confidential and should not be released without the consent of the patient except in some specific situations. 2) Impersonal document – the record looses its identity as a personal document and patient permission is not required. These records could be used for research purposes. Confidentiality is an important component of the rights of the patient. The hospital is legally bound to maintain the confidentiality of the personal medical records. The patient can claim negligence against the hospital or the doctor for a breach of confidentiality. However, there are certain situations where it is legal for the authorities to give patient information. They are as follows: 1) during referral, 2) when demanded by the court or by the police on a written requisition, 3) when demanded by insurance companies as provided by the Insurance Act when the patient has relinquished his rights on taking the insurance, and 4) when required for specific provisions of Workmen's Compensation cases, Consumer Protection cases, or for Income tax authorities. The maintenance of confidentiality is an important issue in the era of electronic data storage. There should be checks in place so that only those who are authorized can access the patient data.

The impersonal documents have been used for research purposes as the identity of the patient is not revealed. Though the identity of the patient is not revealed, the research team is privy to patient records and a cause of concern about the confidentiality of information. Historically, such research has been exempt from an ethics review and researchers have not been required to obtain informed consent from patients before using their records. Recently, a need has been felt to regulate the use of medical records in research, effectively restricting the manner in which this type of research is conducted. An ethics review is required for using the patient data. However this is not widely followed all over India.