title: Divided loyalties: a physician's responsibilities in an information age.
abstract: Increasing demands are being placed on medical care providers for the disclosure of identifiable patient information for use in the medical treatment and payment system as well as for unrelated uses. The legal and ethical principles that are supposed to guide physicians with respect to confidentiality of medical records are neither consistent nor complete. Physicians are required to make decisions regarding the disclosure of patient information without clearly defined, up-to-date legal or ethical guidance and in circumstances in which the physician and the patient may have different interests.
mesh_terms: D003219:Confidentiality / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D004630:Emergencies; D004992:Ethics, Medical; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D035846:Law Enforcement; D008499:Medical Records; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders; D009014:Morals; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D018570:Risk Assessment; D014481:United States