Survey on the Consumers' Attitudes towards Health Information Privacy

Abstract

Objective: The purposes of this research are to survey the consumers’ opinions about the health information privacy, to understand the consumers’ privacyprotective behaviors out of the concern about the privacy breaches, to know the consumers’ recognition about the constitution of the health information privacy law, to know the consumers’ willingness to share their personal medical information. Methods: The questionnaire was developed and conducted by the California HealthCare Foundation on “National Consumer Health Privacy Survey” was translated into Korean and reviewed by the authors to conform to the Korean situation. We collected data from 335 online survey responses. Results: Consumers concerned about the privacy of their personal health information. Consumers are unfamiliar with health information privacy law. Consumers think that the paper medical records are more secure than electronic medical records. Not so many Korean consumers practice the privacyprotective behaviors even though they worry about the misuse of the health information. However, consumers will share their personal medical information with limited others such as family members and physicians involved in their care. Conclusions: Most of the consumers answered that the information could be shared when necessary, however, the ownership and the right to decide the disclosure should belong to patient, and patient should be allowed to access their own information with certain degree of regulation. (Journal of Korean Society of Medical Informatics 13-4, 335-347, 2007)