Since July 4, 2016, the shared medical file (DMP) is registered in French law. And from September, nine departments will test it. This digital medical record aims to facilitate the care of each patient. Its principle: to gather all the medical information of a person (care received, prescribed treatments, medical examinations, contact details of doctors and relatives …) and make them accessible to health professionals and to the patient himself via software or an Internet site.
A risk of disclosure of private medical information
Problem, this private information, usually reserved only for doctors bound by medical confidentiality, will be accessible to a wider community. Indeed, the decree provides that the DMP is available for consultation by professionals related to health but who have not taken an oath, such as psychologists, psychotherapists, maternal and family assistants, educators or even people welcoming people. elderly. This is why some liberal doctors’ unions have expressed concern about the terms of the DMP, according to information from the Parisian. Thus, the Federation of Doctors of France (FMF) would be concerned that certain professionals not bound by medical confidentiality would disclose sensitive information and that this could, for example, be used by complementary health for commercial purposes.
The patient will remain in control of his medical file
The National Council of the Order of Physicians (CNOM) wants to be reassuring by recalling first of all that the Penal Code punishes “lthe fact of obtaining or attempting to obtain the communication of this information“by one year of imprisonment and a fine of € 15,000. In addition, Doctor Jean-Marie Faroudja, president of the CNOM, underlines that”the patient has the right to object at any time to an exchange of information concerning him“. In fact, the patient remains in control of his medical file, since the decree provides that he alone can decide which professional will have – or not – access to his information. Finally, Claude Rambaud, co-president of the Interassociative Collective On Health (CISS) specifies on the antenna ofEurope 1 that professions not subject to medical confidentiality “will not have access to the medical file, but to the health information necessary for the performance of their mission“. She adds that” tnobody who receives health information in a professional capacity is subject to compulsory professional secrecy obligations“, which should limit disclosures contrary to any ethics.
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