It's interesting, this one, isn't it? Philosophically, at what point is
confidentiality breached? Presumably discussing a case with one's partners
is OK, and discussing it with a consultant to whom one might refer is fine,
but is it OK to discuss an *identified* case with one's spouse, eve if
he/she is medical, given that he/she could never have the oportunity to
treat the patient? Extending this, is it OK to discuss *identified* cases
with other doctors?
One could say that the patient might ultimately benefit because one of the
other docs might suggest a diagnosis/solution, but in the end is the correct
model the one used in post-grad meetings/medical textbooks, where cases have
to be anonymised? I remember some time ago there was a hell of a stink
because photo of a patient was recognisable in a journal.
A
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [log in to unmask]
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Chris Salter
> Sent: 05 December 1998 14:41
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Help gp-uk
> Yes, security is a relative matter. In an attempt to offer constructive
> criticism I was using the term 'secure' in the context of voluntary
> disclosure. It *may* be possible to discuss patient history without
> seriously compromising patient confidentiality. Assuming that is the
> case, my point was that distributing that class of information to a list
> of people, albeit all GP's, may still risk breaching confidentiality if
> one of those GP's recognises the patient from the description. That risk
> is significantly reduced, although certainly not to zero, if the
> information is only distributed to a panel comprised of named
> individuals.
>
> As to the second point, any job worth doing requires resources. Fully
> moderated mailing lists and newsgroups do exist. I am in the process of
> setting a mailing list up to allow post-polio specialists around the
> world to interact and exchange information. Of course it will involve a
> significant amount of work on an ongoing basis but so do a lot of other
> jobs, maintaining a web site for example.
>
> Chris
> --
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