In: Nursing
" People willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither or will lose both."
- Benjamin Franklin
Every small bit of information pertaining to the health of the patient is subject to privacy and confidentiality. The patient have a legal right for the privacy and confidentiality of his information be it a personal information or health related data. Its against law to disclose an information to other personnel may be another health worker or personnel, without the consent of the patient themselves.
In the above scenario, the patient's privacy has been violated where the internist had send the records to her dermatologist without informing her. Even if her gastrointestinal condition has to do nothing with her dermatologic complaint, her health record and family history is an subjected to be confidential. Its the right of the patient to know where and by whom is her records been sent and why. It is illegal to do so and the internist may require to face a legal implication for his act. After taking a consent, the records would have been sent to the deramatologist and there is no wrong in doing so as it has not violated the patient's rights and has maintained the privacy and confidentiality of the information.