Patient Access to Medical Information Part II: A Survey of Medical Practitioners' Attitudes

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The attitudes of 107 doctors towards patient access to medical records and communication with patients were investigated using a 21-item questionnaire. The average doctor expressed conservative attitudes, and showed little awareness of research findings demonstrating the benefits of communication with patients. No significant differences were found between the attitudes of surgeons and physicians. Attending medical officers differed significantly from interns and residents in their responses to four items. Attending medical officers had more conservative attitudes towards patient access to records, but were more in favour of verbal communication with patients. Responses on nine items were compared with those made by American doctors in a survey by Steiner (1978). Australian medical practitioners were significantly more conservative in their responses towards access and regarded their patients as less knowledgeable and interested in being informed.

This publication has 3 references indexed in Scilit: