Sorry I couldn’t word that better, but I don’t know the proper term. My vocabulary is kind of limited and I have trouble putting thoughts into words.
I always see stuff about this rule, but I don’t really understand it. You can’t talk about what’s said during this appointment, but what does that entail? And what are the exceptions to this rule, because I think there are, right?
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Ok, I got you.
Patient confidentiality is both one of the five major ethical principles and a legal obligation on the part of all medical professionals and offices. It is taken very seriously. As a default, your presence at a doctor’s office or clinic, your status as a patient, what procedures or tests were done and their results, and anything you say are strictly between you and your doctor (and your insurance company, in America. I have many strong feelings about this, mostly rage).
This means the doctor has a duty to ensure this privacy as much as they reasonably can. Some things are known exceptions: obviously, if someone recognizes you in the waiting room of a doctor’s office, there’s not much to be done about that. But when calling you in, they shouldn’t mention what you’re there for.
Doctors are mandated reporters for some things. If the patient is an immediate danger to themself or to others, that must be reported, breaking autonomy. Likewise, in the case of abuse, neglect, or rape of a child or an adult who does not have the mental capacity to look after themself, the doctor must break confidentiality to report this. These are exceptions because they directly prevent criminal harm.
These are the big two. Basically any other case, the doctor must keep silent, or even lie, to protect privacy. A doctor can be looking directly at you and would still tell someone calling on the phone “I’m not sure if that person has ever been to this hospital”. Even someone like your parent or spouse.
Of course, you can then say “it’s okay to talk about my health with this person”. This typically happens by appointing a next-of-kin, specifically telling your doctor who it’s okay to talk with, or bringing them in the room with you. For example, someone giving birth brings her husband in the birthing room, she does so under the expectation that her husband will be exposed to some of her medical history.
For the sake of clarity, this is a responsibility of healthcare professionals (and to a degree their support staff–the receptionist is also bound to privacy). **If you are a patient, you are always allowed to talk about whatever you want with whoever you want.** Likewise, if, say, your parent or boss shares your private medical information with people, that’d be super rude of them but not illegal.
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