Provider Patient Relationship: Privacy and Confidentiality Issues

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Provider-Patient Relationship
Privacy is important to the patients as they express their problems and illnesses to the physicians CITATION Kat09 \l 1033 (Sommerhalder, Abraham and Zufferey). The privacy in many cases extends even to the most sensitive issues that even the physician is put in a compromising situation. Patients have the confidence that the doctor or nurse will be keen to keep the promise of maintaining the privacy policy whatever the situation. The confidence of the patient puts the health provider in a compromising situation mostly if the information given is very sensitive and which requires an external intervention.
In light of the provider-patient relationship, the medical provider is obliged to maintain the privacy and confidence of the patient in his/her profession. The physician is expected to assure the patient that the information given will not be exposed to a third party. Such assurance gives the patient the courage to express themselves and give classified information that is required by the physician to administer the appropriate medical attention CITATION Jes03 \l 1033 (Bord).
A patient may be involved in criminal activities, and in the process get serious injuries. It is the duty of the medical officer to inquire about the main occurrence that led to those injuries. The information needed in this situation should be very appropriate since it will be required for administering the right treatment. As much as the patient is required to give the truth, the physician is also required to maintain the confidentiality and privacy of the information given. The privacy is regardless of whether the physician is questioned by the police and other law enhancers or not.
Maintaining privacy and confidentiality is very critical of the medical officers. The patient can communicate without fear about the various situations that there may b...