This appeared last week:
MDU advises GPs on patient access
23 April 2015 Rebecca McBeth
The Medical Defence Union has produced guidance for GPs to help them to ensure the confidentiality and accuracy of medical records being made available to patients online.
Practices have been contractually required to offer patients in England online access to their Summary Care Record information since the start of the month and some are giving patients access to their whole record.
The MDU said it has been contacted by a number of GPs with queries about giving patients access to their records online, including; whether they need to limit access to sensitive information; how to deal with parents' requests to access children's records; and what to do if a patient challenges the accuracy of a record.
Dr Beverley Ward, MDU medico-legal adviser, said: "Making confidential information about patients available online has logistical difficulties, and practices will need to consider how to allow patients to access information securely, while being sensitive to any information which may cause distress.
"Fortunately, there is plenty of guidance available for practices and for patients, but there are likely to be more queries about the accuracy and contents of records once patients begin to sign up for online access. For example, GPs may need to explain any abbreviations the records contain and will need to ensure test results are reviewed and discussed with the patient before they are uploaded to the online record.
"Another area of concern is requests by parents to access children's records. For children over 16, GPs should usually get their consent before granting access to someone with parental responsibility, but for under 16s the situation is more complicated."
The RCGP suggests that full access for those with parental responsibility should be automatically switched off at age 11 and a discussion arranged with the child and parents to consider the extent of ongoing access.
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The last two paragraphs are of special importance - and should we find ourselves with a PCEHR that is opt-out we will need to carefully review access by parents to the compulsorily gathered records in a child / adolescent’s PCEHR.
Just deciding to have control passed when the patient is aged 18 clearly will not cut it and if not rethought there will be big trouble I predict!
David.
1 comment:
When one changes lawyer, one can pick up (take physical delivery) all of the file. I've been involved in such a decision. The file was not transmitted from lawyer to lawyer, treated as something too dangerous for their client to see.
The medical profession needs to harden up and realise that they have clients, and those clients have rights. Any move toward "personally controllable" records that do not allow the client uncensored access, the right of alteration, and the right to take away access from a particular doctor deserves to fail. We are a long way past the time when doctors and priests were the only educated, literate people in the village and hence were accorded some special status. The clergy fell some time back, as did doctors, but at least the clergy know the world has changed.
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