Medical confidentiality in the digital era: an analysis of physician-patient relations

Abstract The study analyzes confidentiality in the physician-patient relations, addressing how new technologies, such as social media, influence professional practice, and assessing the professionals’ knowledge regarding situations in which confidentiality can be broken without legal consequences. This cross-sectional, quantitative and exploratory research took place between October and November 2019, involving 116 physicians who answered a structured questionnaire with 19 questions, among which five assessed knowledge on professional secrecy according to the Code of Medical Ethics and the Brazilian legal system. Physicians who answered three or more questions correctly were considered to have satisfactory knowledge on social media use and medical confidentiality (only 55.2% of respondents). Results reveal the importance of continuing medical education, especially regarding medical confidentiality.

摘要 本研究分析医患关系中的保密议题，探讨社交媒体等新兴技术对医疗执业实践的影响，并评估医护人员在无需承担法律后果即可打破保密义务的相关场景下的认知水平。本研究为横断面定量探索性研究，于2019年10月至11月开展，共纳入116名医师参与，所有受试者均填写了一份包含19个问题的结构化问卷，其中5个问题用于评估医师依据《医学伦理守则（Code of Medical Ethics）》及巴西法律体系对职业保密义务的认知情况。将答对3道及以上相关问题的医师判定为对社交媒体使用与医疗保密具备合格认知，该群体仅占受访总人数的55.2%。研究结果显示，继续医学教育的重要性尤为凸显，尤其针对医疗保密相关议题的培训。