Process of Disclosure of Patient's Information in Hospitals in Isfahan and Design Guidelines

Introduction: One of the most fundamental duties of HIM professionals is the duty to maintain health Information about their patients. This duty is imposed explicitly by state and federal statuted and regulations as well as by accreditation standards. Also one of the most important responsibilities HIM professionals have is keeping confidential health information out of the hands of unauthorized users through appropriate policies and procedures, facility and space planning, information systems design and selection, staff education, and other measures. The purpose of this research is study of health information disclosure process in Isfahan's hospitals. Methods: In this descriptive, cross sectional study, the medical record departments of 30 hospitals in Isfahan city were contributed in this research. A six-section checklist was designed for data collection .The researcher observed and interviewed with medical record staff and complete the checklist. The collected dates were analyzed with SPSS. Results: It was shown %100 of medical record practitioners are alert in regard to health information disclosure laws .It was copied the original patient record with %92/3 frequency when it is needed for use in court. In most of cases (%69/2) the attorney of patient is authorized to access to the patient record, if he or she was authenticated by the patient. It was not guideline for deliver the patient record to another health care facility with %76/9 frequency. Conclusion: HIM professionals have important responsibility in health care facilities to protect the confidential health information; also they must earn the regulations of disclosure of health information and perform them in their hospitals. Keywords: Information; Confidentiality; Patients; Hospitals; Medical Records.