DOCTORS REFORM SOCIETY

Media Release

 

Wednesday, 1 June 2005

 

 

DOCTORS FEAR FOR PATIENTS’ PRIVACY WITH ELECTRONIC RECORDS

 

The proposal to have patients’ medical records collected and available on a central electronic database in NSW (SMH today), raises serious concerns about the privacy of patients’ very personal information with which they trust doctors on a daily basis, said Dr Tim Woodruff, President, Doctors Reform Society

 

The possibility,  however remote, of inappropriate access of such records for purposes other than to treat the patient must be addressed before this type of scheme is introduced, said Dr Woodruff.

 

Patients have a right to privacy, and even though there are many important benefits from such a scheme, these privacy concerns are crucial to the patient, and to the future of the doctor patient relationship, said Dr Woodruff.