BACKGROUND: The Emergency Care Summary (ECS) was introduced in 2006 to allow aspects of the general practitioner (GP; family doctor, equivalent to primary care physician) medical record to be viewed in hospitals and out-of-hours centers in Scotland. Records were automatically uploaded unless patients actively opted out. This study investigated patient awareness and acceptance of this process. METHODS: This was a questionnaire survey of patients in a GP surgery (office) in Paisley, Scotland. RESULTS: Survey results indicated that 42 percent of patients were aware of the ECS, and 16 percent said that they recognized the leaflet posted to households. Of those who recognized the leaflet, 92 percent said they were happy for their record to be part of the system, while the others did not realize their record was to be included. Having read the leaflet, 97 percent said that they were happy for their record to be included in the ECS. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that most patients were not aware of the Emergency Care Summary or did not remember seeing the leaflet posted to households. Having read the leaflet, the vast majority of patients were happy for their records to be included in the system. The low awareness of the ECS calls into question the validity of an implied consent model using an information leaflet distributed by post.
BACKGROUND: The Emergency Care Summary (ECS) was introduced in 2006 to allow aspects of the general practitioner (GP; family doctor, equivalent to primary care physician) medical record to be viewed in hospitals and out-of-hours centers in Scotland. Records were automatically uploaded unless patients actively opted out. This study investigated patient awareness and acceptance of this process. METHODS: This was a questionnaire survey of patients in a GP surgery (office) in Paisley, Scotland. RESULTS: Survey results indicated that 42 percent of patients were aware of the ECS, and 16 percent said that they recognized the leaflet posted to households. Of those who recognized the leaflet, 92 percent said they were happy for their record to be part of the system, while the others did not realize their record was to be included. Having read the leaflet, 97 percent said that they were happy for their record to be included in the ECS. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that most patients were not aware of the Emergency Care Summary or did not remember seeing the leaflet posted to households. Having read the leaflet, the vast majority of patients were happy for their records to be included in the system. The low awareness of the ECS calls into question the validity of an implied consent model using an information leaflet distributed by post.
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Keywords:
Emergency Care Summary; Summary Care Record; confidentiality; consent; electronic care summary; implied consent; informed consent