Confidentiality of Records
* Your July 20 editorial about the children at Orangewood and the Health Care Agency’s mental health services there was wide of the mark.
As you suggest, “government claims of confidentiality should be considered with skepticism,” but in this instance I believe they withstand the most skeptical scrutiny.
The issue of confidentiality of mental health records is a little bit more complex than your editorial indicates. People who manage health care systems need to have the tools to manage and to ensure quality. The only way to ensure quality of care is to empower supervisors and managers to review and critique their peers’ work without fear of being sued.
Equally important is the mental health worker’s responsibility to safeguard the privacy of the patient. In this era of electronic record-keeping and instant communication, sensitivity in safeguarding confidential patient information is all the more vital.
The public’s rights to high quality health care and privacy are at least as important as the public’s “right to know.”
FELIX A. SCHWARZ
Executive Director
Health Care Council
of Orange County
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