Your excellent question is in the spotlight as our health care system and related electronic technologies take shape.

“To safeguard our financial records, we count on all bank employees to follow all the rules all the time,” explains Bonnie Cassidy, president of the American Health Information Management Association (ahima.org), a nonprofit group dedicated to the ethical use of health information.

“Health care providers such as doctors and hospitals also have checks and balances in place to prevent employees—even well-meaning ones—from doing something that could jeopardize patient medical records.”

Maintaining safe medical records hinges on protecting the confidentiality of personal health information—whether stored electronically or on paper. According to Cassidy, the Health Information Management (HIM) professional in each health care organization is the one responsible for making sure patient information is secure.

Patients have responsibilities, too. We know there’s plenty of legal language to wade through, but read your doctor’s Notice of Privacy Practices and discuss any concerns. Next, check that release forms specify who will receive the requested information and why. Finally, don’t give it away—never volunteer to complete health questionnaires on Web sites or over the phone.

Advocates of electronic health records say that password-protected files enhance confidentiality and streamline record retrieval for better patient care.