Privacy is the right of the patient, and confidentiality may be relinquished only with the patient's prior, noncoerced, informed consent. When such consent is obtained, the information released may be used only for designated, specific purposes with clear limits and with stated safeguards to prevent further dissemination. Release of information under these circumstances for a specific purpose should not require or be construed to imply waiver of the patient's total right to privacy and confidentiality. When a patient's right to privacy conflicts with needs external to the treatment relationship, such as administrative, research, or technical requirements, patient confidentiality and privacy must take precedence. The analyst should use all legal means to safeguard confidentiality.
Clinical research is essential to the advance of mental as well as other health care and treatment.
But without adequate safeguards for privacy and confidentiality, patients will not reveal and their caregivers will not record accurate information. In those rare instances where personally identifiable treatment information is essential to research, there must be valid patient consent, and privacy and confidentiality must be protected. Researchers should obtain a certificate of confidentiality. Researchers should not maintain identifying information in a database beyond the specific research project for which they obtained consent. Identifiable information obtained during treatment encounters should not be entered into computer systems.