Third Party Access to Shared Electronic Mental Health Records: Ethical Issues

The move in many countries toward systems of shared electronic mental health records will have major ethical and legal repercussions. This article addresses the ethical issues raised by enabling third party access to shared electronic mental health records. The ethical justifications for confidentiality are outlined and it is argued that ethical principles can be used by either those arguing for the prevention of third party access or those arguing in favour of third party access. It is through the requirement of consent to the use of the data that a balance between the two sides can be reached. The current law in relation to mental health records is then outlined and it is argued that where a patient is incapable of consenting to third party access to electronic mental health records, it is best to work towards a presumption of confidentiality because of the highly sensitive nature of the information involved.