Back to Chapter 3 Privacy, Confidentiality & Medical Records
Opinion 3.1.5

Professionalism in Relationships with Media

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Ensuring that the public is informed promptly and accurately about medical issues is a valuable objective. However, media requests for information about patients can pose concerns about patient privacy and confidentiality, among other issues.

Physicians who speak on health-related matters on behalf of organizations should be aware of to institutional guidelines for communicating with media, where they exist.

To safeguard patient interests when working with representative of the media, all physicians should:

  1. Obtain consent from the patient or the patient’s authorized representative before releasing information. 
  2. Release only information specifically authorized by the patient or patient’s representative or that is part of the public record. 
  3. Ensure that no statement regarding diagnosis or prognosis is made except by or on behalf of the attending physician. 
  4. Refer any questions regarding criminal activities or other police matters to the proper authorities. 
AMA Principles of Medical Ethics: IV
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Opinion 3.1.1

Privacy in Health Care

Respecting patient privacy is a fundamental expression of respect for patient autonomy and a prerequisite for trust. Patient privacy includes personal space (physical privacy), personal data (informational privacy), personal choices, including cultural and religious affiliations (decisional privacy), and personal relationships with family members and other intimates (associational privacy). Physicians must seek to protect patient privacy in all settings to the greatest extent possible.
Opinion 3.2.1

Confidentiality

Physicians have an ethical obligation to preserve the confidentiality of information gathered in association with the care of the patient. With rare exceptions, patients are entitled to decide whether and to whom their personal health information is disclosed.
Opinion 3.2.2

Confidentiality Postmortem

In general, patients are entitled to the same respect for the confidentiality of their personal information after death as they were in life, with a few exceptions. Physicians have a corresponding obligation to protect patient information, including information obtained postmortem.