Medical Information Confidentiality - Research Paper Example

Module Medical Information Confidentiality METHODOLOGY The study will use primary and secondary sources of data to offer a comprehensive coverage of the issue of medical information confidentiality. Firstly, patients’ knowledge on medical information confidentiality and their attitude towards the sharing of information among various organizations were determined using a brief questionnaire. The questionnaires were distributed in five primary care clinics. The receptionists in these clinics were requested to issue questionnaires to all the patents who visited the clinics. The survey was intended to run for three weeks and it was aimed at collecting 100 questionnaires (Whiddett et al. 532). Patients were requested to answer all the questions and put them in a collective box in the respective clinics. Alternatively, they could return them using pre-paid envelopes. The research team did not monitor the issuance of the questionnaires or make attempts to identify repeat respondents and non respondents (Whiddett et al. 532). This was the major limitation facing the exercise however; it did not impact on the findings as the sample size was adequate. The survey was representative enough as the clinics were chosen to represent a wide range of demographics. The questionnaire covered three key areas. These are basic demographics, attitudes towards sharing different kinds of information and patients’ knowledge towards information sharing practices. Secondly, secondary data was used to complement the findings that were obtained from the survey. The information will be collected from a peer reviewed sources, credible internet sources and medical journals that have conducted similar studies. A comprehensive study of past case studies reveals that medical confidentiality in the health sector is at a risk of getting eroded due to the use of the current technology. The respondents are wary about sharing their personal information to various parties and the study reveals that most of them are not aware of the increasing information sharing practice in the medical field (Levenson 20). Data Collection Instrument: Questionnaire Tick the appropriate answer 1. My age is: 18 to 30 years 30 to 60 years Above 60 years 2. I am Male Female 3. My ethnicity or race? (Tick one) White Americans Black Americans Asian Americans Hispanic and Latino Americans Other 4. How much information do you have concerning those who can access your medical records? Nothing Something A lot 5. Are you aware of the NHI number? Nothing Something A lot 6. I am comfortable with confidential health information being shared between the following groups. Health administrators Yes Maybe, if consulted first No Don’t know Health professionals Yes Maybe, if consulted first No Don’t know Researchers Yes Maybe, if consulted first No Don’t know Other bodies (Insurers) Yes Maybe, if consulted first No Don’t know 7. I am comfortable with confidential health information being shared to the following groups as long as it does not contain my personal information. Health administrators Yes Maybe, if consulted first No Don’t know Health professionals Yes Maybe, if consulted first No Don’t know Researchers Yes Maybe, if consulted first No Don’t know Other bodies (Insurers) Yes Maybe, if consulted first No Don’t know Question Specifications The first question is important since it helps to establish the link between the age of the respondents and their level of awareness concerning confidentiality of medical information. In addition to, it helps to establish the age bracket that attends the clinics often. The second question concerning gender helps to determine the relationship between gender and attitudes towards medical information confidentiality. The third question is aimed at finding out the level of awareness about medical confidentiality (Whiddett et al. 534). It also gives information on varying attitudes across ethnic groups. In a nutshell, the first three questions are interested in determining the primary demographics which are age, gender and ethnicity. The fourth question investigates the level of information that the respondents have concerning those who can access their medical information. The fifth question seeks to establish whether the respondents are aware of the mechanisms that govern sharing of personal medical information. The question concerning their attitudes is aimed at finding out if the patients are at peace with sharing their medical information among the four broad categories of people. These include health administrators, health professionals, researchers and other organizations including health insurance companies (Whiddett et al. 532). The respondents were first asked if they were comfortable if their non- identifiable information was disclosed to the four groups of people. Non- identifiable information contains no personal information including general information, current health status and past medical information. The respondents were them asked to show their attitudes with regards to sharing identifiable information to the four classes of people. Approximately 200 responses were gathered from the five clinics (Whiddett et al. 530). This sample size was adequate to carry out data analysis and draw conclusions. It was found out that the respondent’s attitudes to share information were affected by three main factors. These include the type of information that is being shared, the level of anonymity and identity of the recipient of the information. First, it was established that the respondents were not willing to share personal information such as current health status and medical history. Second, the respondents were happy to share anonymous information that did not contain any personal information. Lastly, the respondents were willing to have this information shared among health professionals including doctors and nurses. However, they were not willing to have their information share among government departments, researchers and administrators. In general, the respondents were unaware of the fact that information was being shared among various bodies (Levenson 20). Most of them were also unaware of the uses of the NHI number. The survey also revealed that the respondents would prefer to be consulted first before their information is disclosed and distributed among the relevant parties. It is clear that the patients were reluctant to have their personal information shared for uses other than clinical care purposes. Therefore, more attention should be given to ensuring that the patients are educated concerning the information sharing practices present in the medical profession. Furthermore, refined and flexible access control systems should be put in place to meet the confidentiality requirements stipulated by patients. Works Cited Levenson James L.. “The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Psychosomatic Medicine: Psychiatric Care of the Medically.” American Psychiatric Pub. (2011). Print. Whiddett, Richard, Inga Hunter, Judith Engelbrecht & Jocelyn Handy. “Patients’ attitudes towards sharing their health Information.” International Journal of Medical Informatics 75 (2006): 530—541. Print. Read More