The sharing of patient information in the US is out of whack — we lean far too much toward hoarding information vs. sharing it. While care providers have an explicit duty to protect patient confidentiality and privacy, two things are missing:
- the explicit recognition of a corollary duty to share patient information with other providers when doing so is the patient’s interests, and
- a recognition that there is potential tension between the duty to protect patient confidentiality/privacy and the duty to share — with minimal guidance on how to resolve the tension.
In this essay we’ll discuss:
1. A recent recognition in the UK
2. The need for an explicit duty to share patient information in the US
