A physical therapist receives a phone call from a woman demanding to know when h

Question

A physical therapist receives a phone call from a woman demanding to know when her daughter-in-law’s next appointment is. The therapist tells the woman that she cannot disclose any information, and the woman becomes very angry and abusive, threatening to make a complaint. After the phone call, the therapist logs into the electronic medical record system to make a note about the conversation. However, since the two women share the same last name, the therapist accidentally accesses the woman's record instead of the daughter-in-law’s record. The therapist realizes the mistake, but not before spotting that the woman suffers from a serious mental health disorder, which might explain her behavior on the phone.

The therapist mentions to her supervisor the possibility of a complaint being brought and also mentions that the woman has a history of mental health problems.

Do you feel that there has been a breach of confidentiality? Why or why not?

How do you feel the supervisor should handle this situation? Should the patient be notified?

Explanation / Answer

I dont see any breach of confidentiality since the therapist shares the information only with her supervisor, who in any ways will have the access to the records that the therapist accessed. If the therapist shared the details with the customer on the phone then it would have been a serious issue of confidentiality. This is a serious situation and the therapist and the supervisor has to handle it very carefully.

In my opinion the supervisor should have handled the situation as follows: The supervisor must have called the daughter in law whose medical records the lady was calling for. Then enquiry should be done with the daughter in law about the status of the lady at home. The daughter in law must be taken to confidence, by explaining the entire situation to her. For the betterment of her mother in law, the supervisor has to work in tandem with the daughter in law as to how to handle the situation better. Whether her medicals records could be disclosed to the mother in law for her betterment.

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