Patient Trust in Confidentiality Affects Health Decisions

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New London Consulting conducted a survey of patients in the United Kingdom, and the answers were frightening for people who care about public health issues or the spread of communicable diseases:

38.3 percent stated they have or would postpone seeking care for a sensitive medical condition due to privacy concerns. 72.9 percent of patients reported that if there were any breaches of patients’ personal information at a hospital where they had treatment; it would reduce their confidence in the quality of healthcare offered by the hospital, and nearly 1 out of 2 patients, 45.1 percent indicated they would seek care outside of their community due to privacy concerns with 37 percent indicating they would travel substantial distances, 30 miles or more, to avoid being treated at a hospital they did not trust, in order to keep sensitive information confidential.

Another important finding is that 53 percent of patients withhold information about some sensitive medical condition from their doctor and healthcare provider out of privacy concerns, and 37 percent will travel significant distances to avoid treatment in an institution they did not trust.

It is also interesting to note the differences between the UK and the US:

UK patients are almost twice as likely to withhold information from their care provider about a sensitive personal medical matter if they had a poor record of protecting patient privacy as their American counterparts... In the UK, patients indicate that they feel stronger than US citizens about the degree in which executives and top managers should be held accountable for protecting patient privacy and in the case of a breach.

Obviously, some of those "sensitive medical matters" include conditions that are seriously contagious or more dangerous if left untreated over time. As the report states:

Accurate information is the bedrock upon which physicians assess medical conditions, and hence determines the treatment patients receive. When this information is withheld or even falsified, fundamental treatment assumptions are impacted.

CIOs need to be proactive about keeping information extremely safe. It is not enough to comply with government regulations about data protection. If a data breach occurs patients are not going to check if the institution was following rules, they are going to blame their executives for allowing the breach to happen, regardless of the reasons.

If you can't be bothered to worry about the health issues, at least realize that your hospital is likely to lose customers (and therefore government aid, grants, and donations) as word gets out over breaches. Compliance isn't enough anymore, and neither is just hoping things will blow over. Your business and your patients' lives depend on you protecting their data.