Assistant Professor of Communication Studies reports surprising findings
on Patient Confidentiality

Morgantown, WV, October 25, 2006: The doctor-patient relationship is expected to be one of trust and privacy. However, a recent study finds health care providers have a tendency to disclose personal information to patients’ family members.

Dr. Maria Brann, assistant professor of communication studies in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University, has studied the circumstances surrounding the disclosure of private information. Her study, “The influence of illness factors on physicians’ likelihood of disclosing confidential health information to relatives of patients,” was published in last months’ edition of Communication Studies.

“Confidentiality of patients’ information is vital to beneficial interactions between patients and health care providers,” Dr. Brann explained. “Patients expect that their information will be kept confidential, and based on this expectation, patients disclose personal and sometimes sensitive information to their health care providers.”

The study found that health care providers are sharing confidential health information on a daily basis, frequently with relatives of patients. More importantly, physicians consistently claimed that Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations are theoretically good ideas, but admitted they would follow their own ideas for the patient, even if it meant violating HIPAA regulations.

According to Dr. Brann’s study, HIPAA allows for the disclosure of information to specific third parties in emergency situations. However, she found that many of these instances were not emergency situations, for example, the diagnosis of mild dementia or lower IQ.

“As a health care consumer, I have always been interested in confidentiality maintenance, or lack thereof,” Dr. Brann stated. “I have witnessed firsthand how easily patients’ confidential information is disclosed. Many times physicians freely give information to relatives of patients simply because they are relatives, but we know that this may actually be harmful to a patient.”

In interviewing physicians, Dr. Brann found that several illness factors, such as a patient’s prognosis or diagnosis, played an important role in information disclosure. She determined that sometimes physicians disclose information because they express empathy toward the relatives, they want to encourage relatives to be advocates for the patient, they hold cultural expectations, or more commonly, they feel the diagnosis is severe.

Dr. Maria Brann earned her Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky in 2003. She has published 11 articles related to health communication, 6 of which are related to confidentiality. Her research interests include ethical issues in health communication contexts, healthy lifestyles through physical activity, women’s health issues, ethical gynecological care, differing aspects of body image, the aging population, gender constructions, and drug and alcohol abuse.

For more information, please contact Dr. Maria Brann at Maria.Brann@mail.wvu.edu.

W-V-U