Legal Obligations of healthcare providers when it comes to patient confidentiality:

Healthcare providers are bound by confidentiality obligations to protect the privacy of their patients under both common law and statutes. Medical professionals are required to keep patient confidential information secure, unless there is a legal or ethical exception.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is the primary statute law that provides guidance for handling patient’s confidential information. Health care providers are required to obtain written consent from their patients before sharing their medical records with anyone else. Exceptions to this requirement exist for necessary disclosures, such as for government reporting requirements, communication among healthcare providers, and patient billing. Healthcare providers may also release medical information to third parties if there is a court order, national security directive or law enforcement investigation.

It is in the best interest of healthcare providers to maintain proper procedures for developing and communicating privacy policies to their staff and abide by them. Failure to adhere to HIPAA guidelines can and has led to disciplinary action against offending providers, including suspension or revocation of medical license, and paying alleviation to the patient.

If a healthcare provider decides to make any deviation from the privacy policies regarding patient confidential information, it should always be done with the patient’s written consent. The provider should inform the patient of their consent and document the procedure. The patient should be informed of the type of information that will be released, the disclosure purpose, and who the recipient of the information is.

In summary, healthcare providers have an obligation to maintain the confidentiality of patient information. This obligation is based on both common law and statutory law like HIPAA, which prescribes the disclosure of medical records only with written consent of a person or in response to an authorized legal procedure. A breach of confidentiality can lead to disciplinary action against the offending provider.