Confidentiality of Electronic Medical Records
Keywords:
medical law, protection of privacy, data protection, confidentiality, medical recordsAbstract
The article discusses the confidentiality of medical records especially regarding electronic medical records (EMRs) in Finland. During the past few years there have been dozens of cases where medical records have been accessed without authorization and the patients’ privacy has been breached. Although the Finnish data protection legislation confines access to records only to those taking part in the treatment, much wider access is granted in practice. The article presents the principles of confidentiality of medical records and the protection of privacy and discusses the current state of legislation and the major problems regarding the privacy breaches. Special notice is paid to the possible ways of enforcing the current legislation and holding the registrars liable.
