What Is the Morality Behind Patient Confidentiality?
What is The Morality behind Patient Confidentiality?
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What is The Morality behind Patient Confidentiality?
Introduction
Patient confidentiality is one of the pillars of modern medical profession. It implies that the medical practitioner is under the obligation to keep his patient’s medical profile confidential. The main reason is to help the patient maintain his privacy. However, there have been numerous cases of breach of such confidentiality, which has raised varying ethical implications. Further, there have been instances where the medical practitioner has felt that he needs to divulge such private information to a 3rd party. Often, this results in a dilemma, and the medical professional has to balance between maintaining the patient’s confidentiality and promoting the public good (McHale, 1993). Further, governments worldwide have passed laws that have enhanced the protection of a patient’s confidentiality. All these issues have complicated the understanding of patient morality and the morality behind it. Indeed, various stakeholders have questioned the need for such confidentiality and whether there are instances where it can be denied. However, understanding patient confidentiality requires scrutiny of a society’s moral considerations. This is because such confidentiality is more a moral issue than a professional one. Indeed, the degree to which patient confidentiality is guaranteed depends on a society’s moral code. Therefore, it is imperative that patient confidentiality reflect the moral code of the society.
Values behind Patient Confidentiality Patient confidentiality is reflective of four main values that the society holds dear (Banatar, 2003). The first of these values is with regard to the autonomy of a person. Society agrees that adult persons are autonomous. This means that they have the capacity to determine their destiny. As a result, they need to
Name:
Course:
Tutor:
Date:
What is The Morality behind Patient Confidentiality?
Introduction
Patient confidentiality is one of the pillars of modern medical profession. It implies that the medical practitioner is under the obligation to keep his patient’s medical profile confidential. The main reason is to help the patient maintain his privacy. However, there have been numerous cases of breach of such confidentiality, which has raised varying ethical implications. Further, there have been instances where the medical practitioner has felt that he needs to divulge such private information to a 3rd party. Often, this results in a dilemma, and the medical professional has to balance between maintaining the patient’s confidentiality and promoting the public good (McHale, 1993). Further, governments worldwide have passed laws that have enhanced the protection of a patient’s confidentiality. All these issues have complicated the understanding of patient morality and the morality behind it. Indeed, various stakeholders have questioned the need for such confidentiality and whether there are instances where it can be denied. However, understanding patient confidentiality requires scrutiny of a society’s moral considerations. This is because such confidentiality is more a moral issue than a professional one. Indeed, the degree to which patient confidentiality is guaranteed depends on a society’s moral code. Therefore, it is imperative that patient confidentiality reflect the moral code of the society.
Values behind Patient Confidentiality Patient confidentiality is reflective of four main values that the society holds dear (Banatar, 2003). The first of these values is with regard to the autonomy of a person. Society agrees that adult persons are autonomous. This means that they have the capacity to determine their destiny. As a result, they need to
References: Banatar, D. (2003). Confidentiality. Retrieved on 29 November 2012 from http://www.ajol.info/index.php/cme/article/viewFile/43846/27365. Bourke, J., & Wessely, S. (1996). Confidentiality. Retrieved on 29 November 2012 from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2323098/http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2323098/. Krauss, J. B. (Dec 1996). Ethics in community mental health care: Confidentiality and common Sense.Community Mental Health Journal, 32, 513-8. McHale, J. (1993). Medical Confidentiality and Legal Privilege in Social Ethics and Policy Series. Routledge.