Following a survey of doctors and the public, the Medical Protection Society (MPS) compares the plans for online medical records to opening a ‘Pandora’s Box’, unless there are proper safeguards in place to protect patient confidentiality. The organisation is concerned that when access is granted, it could have unintended and severe consequences, such as sensitive information being accessed by a patient’s family members.
This is a view shared by both the public and doctors, as the surveys revealed that 80% of the public would be concerned for the security of their medical records and 86% of MPS members would be concerned for the security of patients’ medical records if they become accessible online.1
Dr Stephanie Bown, Director of Policy and Communications at MPS said, 'There is no doubt that the digital age offers huge opportunity in managing healthcare, and those in denial will have to get onboard very soon. However, we must open our eyes to the risks with the brave new world of online access.
MPS has seen first hand how things can go wrong for patients and doctors when confidential medical information gets into the wrong hands. Imagine the teenage girl who has had a termination without her mother knowing or the patient who informs their doctor about abuse at the hands of their partner; if they were to accidently leave their online record open at home, this could have dire consequences for their relationships and put extra pressure on the doctor to deal with the fallout.
The public is very clear that they consider doctors as critical to protecting their medical information; more than two-thirds (69%) agree that their medical records should only be accessible to a healthcare professional. Furthermore, a survey of MPS members highlighted strong concerns, as less than 30% of doctors think that allowing patient‟s access to their records online is a good idea.
Patients requesting access to their medical records is relatively uncommon in the UK, with more than half of doctors (55%) receiving requests from patients to see their records less than once a month. There is likely to be increased interest when medical records are accessible online, however it is not enough to equip patients with the ability to access their medical records online without supporting them to use their information safely and appropriately.
Nearly three-quarters (73%) of the public and 66% of doctors agree that particularly sensitive information should never be accessible online. This supports our call for there to be careful consideration as to whether only parts of medical records should be accessible online, with information about particularly sensitive issues such as mental health, sexual health, child protection and counselling only available if it is requested by the patient.
Patients expect the information they give to their doctor to be kept confidential and if this doesn't happen, it could cause a breakdown in the relationship of trust. We want a firm commitment from the government that the information strategy will not compromise patient confidentiality – because once the contents of "Pandora's Box" have been released into the wrong hands, the damage cannot be undone.
More than 1700 of the English public and 650 MPS members were surveyed to find out their views on the Department of Health's commitment for patients to be able to view their medical records online by 2015.2 These findings, along with other insights from the surveys, will be shared at a Parliamentary Reception on 30 April 2013.'
More information
For further information please contact Kim Watson, Press Officer at MPS on +44 207 399 1409 or email [email protected].
Notes to editors
- Public survey: ComRes interviewed 1,766 English adults online between 2 and 4 November 2012, on behalf of the Medical Protection Society (MPS). Data were weighted by the figures in the National Readership Survey to be demographically representative of all English adults.
MPS member survey: The survey of MPS members was initially sent out to approx 15,000 UK MPS members in November 2012. The survey received 650 completed responses (4%), with GPs having the highest representation with 48%.
To view the survey results referred to in the press release, please click here.
- For information on the Department of Health's Information Strategy, please click here.