Your Responsibilities
Everyone who works or volunteers in a health care organization has a responsibility to keep patient information confidential. Here are some things you can do to protect privacy and maintain good quality of care:
Curb human nature--it is natural to be curious when you know someone who is being treated or you have heard of an interesting case. From a privacy perspective this natural curiosity must be curbed. Unless you have a need to know a patient's information to do your job, you do not have a right to access, view, or read a patient's medical record or health information.
From a privacy perspective, sharing is not caring. Again, it is human nature to want to share information with a friend or colleague when you learn something new and interesting. As a member of a health care organization you have a responsibility to keep information to yourself. It is the inappropriate sharing of information that caused patients to lose trust with the health care system.
It is of utmost importance that every member of a health care organization respect the patients right to keep his or her health information confidential and private.
It is critical that you know Magers' policies on confidentiality, when and how to release information, and your responsibilities in maintaining patient privacy.