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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So to anyone who reads this, understand that nothing a doctor asks you is for us to use against you for some nefarious reason. If we ask a question (about drug use, for instance) we’re not running to the cops with that. We ask it because it might change what we’re thinking in terms of problems and solutions. It can really help us give you the best care that we can
Doctors are required, by law, to not share anything you say to them during an appointment. Doing so could get their license revoked along with massive fines. Even in a criminal court case, the prosecution needs a warrant to look at medical files of anyone involved.
Your doctor is not allowed to share your name&story without valid medical reason.
For instance, let’s say you havecancer. Your doctor can of course tell you, and can tell the surgeon who is tasked with removing a tumor, and probably can tell a nurse who is meant to give some chemotherapy drugs, etc. However, they might not be allowed to tell your partner/spouse, nor your kids (if you have any), nor your boss – that’s private information that is up to you to share or not.
If you had an infectious disease, maybe they would be allowed to tell others who were exposed. For instance, if you had HIV, they’d probably have to tell your partner/spouse since you might have infected them.
I don’t know the exact rules, and they’d vary by country/state, but it is things in the spirit of the above examples.
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You can tell whoever you like that you have cancer/AIDS/etc. The rule only applies to the medical staff, not you.
This is often called Doctor-patient confidentiality. Basically, your doctor can talk about your condition with other doctors or hospitals that need to know, but they can’t tell anyone else without your permission. Not your family or friends, not strangers, not your employer, they can’t post on social media about you, etc.
The policy is meant to make people feel more comfortable receiving medical care. For example, if you need care for an STI you may have family members that disapprove of you being sexually active or you may just be embarrassed about the condition, but neither of those things should prevent you from seeking medical care.
You can of course give the doctor permission to share details with certain people, and I believe doctors can tell parents about their children’s conditions until they turn about 18 (feel free to fact check me on that with a Google search). Not sure about other exceptions.
Everything will go into an office note for documentation purposes. There will be billing and diagnostic codes related to it. If you are self pay, these records are sealed to just you, the Dr, and anyone you approve. If you have insurance, you, the Dr, and the insurance have records. If sign releases, other doctors or private individuals can access these records. If someone can fake being you, they can also get them. In the US, some mental health codes or STDs lock down the system, where only the provider sees anything and the patient and insurance can only access codes and not complete records. I forget the reasoning on this, but it’s super secured with anyone baker acted.
This is typically referred to as confidentiality and is a rule for the medical professionals not you. As its your medical info, you can share what you want. The medical professionals however, cant say anything unless it involves someone’s safety. So your safety or someone else’s safety. In therapy specifically this generally means if your not going to hurt yourself or someone else, and it isnt needed to be communicated as part of treatment, it stays in the room. Basically, they have to get your permission to share anything specific in terms of identifying info or specific info unless its imperative to treatment (in this case will usually give necessary details but not identifying info), or some sort of safety is involved. So for example I go to my doctor and ask for an STD test, they cant say anything about it to anyone unless i say yes, aside from necessary communication to conduct the testing and provide results. If I was a minor and got raped for example, and wanted an STD test though, they would be required to say something as it involves safety. Especially the safety of a minor. Hope this helps! 🙂
Note: IT might be different where you live but this is generally how it goes. Ask your doctor to be extra sure if you want.
You’re allowed to talk about whatever you want pertaining to your health, your doctor is not. That rule applies only to medical staff and not patients, ie they can’t go tell their friends about *your* health problems or whatever.
U.S. Psychologist. I cannot release any info I have on patient or even fact that I see patient without their written permission. Main exceptions:
1. If they are an immediate danger to themselves or another(s) and there is no way to keep them or the other person safe without revealing confidential information, then I must contact authorities, e.g., to hospitalize them.
2. If the patient tells me about current child or vulnerable adult abuse, I must make a report to the child or adult social services agency. Depending on how involved or uninvolved the patient is in the abuse, I will need to include a lot to very little confidential information about them in the report.
3. If the patient sues me, I am allowed to use my psych records of that patient in court to defend myself.
I was an attorney before I was a psychologist and I couldn’t talk about clients then, either. You just don’t talk about your work. It’s off the table. I’m a chatty Cathy, too. I love to tell my husband everything. But client or patient privilege is different. Breaking confidentiality is like stabbing your client/patient in the back. Especially because you made a promise to keep their most private things private. It’s illegal and unethical to break such a promise. You just don’t do it.
The rule is for medical practitioners. The patient can talk about it to anyone if they want, the doctor/nurse/medical personnel can’t or at least can’t talk about it in a way that anyone can figure out is about a specific patient. This is to ensure as much as possible that patients feel like they can and should share everything with their doctor.
Exceptions vary by country and genetally are reserved for emergency situations or if someone is in direct danger. An example could be a situation where you need emergency care, the ER doctors might call your GP for information and the GP would be allowed to share any relevant information. Some countries allow exceptions in specific circumstances relating to specific crimes.
Sometimes it’s about sharing information to non-medical professionals, for example say you are for some reason medically incapacitated and/or inflicted with a dangerous infectious disease, most countries would allow your treating doctor to share this news with your family or close contacts without your direct consent.
Even in these exceptional situations though, there is usually the requirement that the information shared must be relevant and minimal. So its important for your family to know you have an infectious disease or you had a stroke or are being operated on but they dont need to know you are also doing drugs or have a chronic illness. This is again to make sure that patients feel like they can share anything and everything with their doctor without it being shared with the rest of the world, even your family.
You tell your doctor you have 12 drinks a week when they ask. Your doctor adds it to your file, 6 years later you settle down and have kids. You go to get life insurance. You’re denied because the insurance company subpoenas your file as part of the fine print of getting the insurance and decide you were an alcoholic in your early 20s and therefore you still are. So it leaves the room. It’s just in the fine print.
Happened to my brother.
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