Protecting Patient Privacy in the Information Age

by DAVID B. KENDALL

The loss of privacy seems to be a foregone conclusion in the information age. Polls show that most Americans believe they have lost all control over the use of personal information by companies.1 Americans are also concerned about the threats posed by identity theft and fraudulent internet deceptions like phishing.2 People are learning the hard way to withhold information unless it is absolutely necessary to disclose it. Being discreet has become a survival tool for the information age.
Privacy is a key ingredient of health care, which has yet to see widespread use of information technology. Withholding information from health care providers to protect one’s privacy is not good for one’s health. For example, a patient who goes to the emergency room with heart trouble may be embarrassed to disclose Viagra use but sharing that information is critical because Viagra is risky for patients when combined with certain heart medications. Patients need to feel safe when sharing personal information; they need to know it will be kept private. Information technology threatens privacy even as it makes our lives more convenient and our economy more productive. Digitized patient records can be copied and transmitted repeatedly at virtually no cost unlike paper-based records. That is both a problem and an opportunity. It means doctors, health care professionals, and patients themselves can have ready access to complete health care records. At the same time, it means that the number of people who might have access to the most private details of one’s life rises exponentially.

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