Title: Ethical and legal issues of privacy and patient rights in the application of information healthcare delivery systems

Authors: Yair Babad, Avishai Lubitch

Addresses: College of Business Administration; Liautaud Graduate School of Business, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, USA. ' Consulting Actuary, '4Actuaries' Group, Tagore 29, 69203 Tel-Aviv, Israel

Abstract: Large volumes of medical and personal data are stored in medical records and are processed and distributed by electronic means, making it accessible to a large number of users and enabling generation of profiles of patients and their relatives. The result is a fast developing onslaught on the valued personal private zone and the individual|s rights. Different societies offer partial legal solutions to this onslaught, but privacy is a moving target whose legislative management is (almost) always behind the times. We review the ethical and legal aspects of privacy and patient|s rights pursuit in healthcare delivery. We address the fundamental issue of medical information ownership, the rights it delegates to related parties (like patients, physicians, medical providers, hospitals, community, and the public), and the recognition and implementation of these rights by the legal and regulatory systems of several countries. We propose several measures that can enhance and standardise the protection of privacy and patient|s rights.

Keywords: privacy; ethics; patient rights; patient consent; patient information; patient data management; patient data ownership; medical data ownership; information technology; medical record management; electronic medical records; healthcare delivery; healthcare management; healthcare technology; medical information systems; law; legal protection.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHTM.2011.040477

International Journal of Healthcare Technology and Management, 2011 Vol.12 No.3/4, pp.230 - 249

Published online: 28 Mar 2015 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article