Survey shows that medical students share too much info online

Posted Friday, Nov. 06, 2009 Comments   (0) Print Share Share Reprints
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Some 13 percent of American medical schools have reported that their students have leaked confidential information about patients via blogs or social networking Web sites.

The students didn’t name names but did provide enough personal information, such as the medical condition involved and hospital, for patients or their families to recognize who was being described. The information was provided by medical school administrators as part of a survey into students’ behavior online (Journal of the American Medical Association).

That’s a potential violation of patient confidentiality laws, experts say.

— "New Scientist" magazine

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