Point of care and patient privacy: who is in control?

Public and patient access to medical records has been severely limited through policies limiting physical and timely access and intellectual understanding of content. New expectations of patient/public access and control have arisen accompanying the new paradigms of health care delivery and health information (computer-based patient records). Examples from these new paradigms are personalized and presented in information system contexts from bedside to community settings. Patient and family involvement in care delivery, education, assessment, and control of privacy are explored. A personalized confidentiality/security/privacy module of the computer-based patient record is suggested.