title: Patient consent for release of sensitive information from their medical records: an exploratory study.
abstract: The disclosure of sensitive information concerning mental health, drug and alcohol use, and communicable diseases requires express patient consent under federal and state laws. This paper presents the results of a retrospective medical record abstraction of hospital consent-to-treatment and release-of-information forms, examining whether the forms are present in the records, and, if so, whether they are signed by patients. The results suggest that patients who have sensitive information in their medical records or pay out of pocket for their care are less likely to consent to disclosure of their records. We discuss the implications of these results and recommend further research to understand patients' perceptions of medical confidentiality and the processes used for securing consent to hospital treatment.
authors.affiliation: Center for Bioethics, University of Pennsylvania, 3401 Market St., Suite 320, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3308, USA. merz@mail.med.upenn.edu
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Merz
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Spina
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sankar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003219:Confidentiality / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005260:Female; D005568:Forms and Records Control / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies