As records go online, clash over mental care privacy

By Liz Kowalczyk
The Boston Globe - Health and Wellness
Originally published June 21, 2012

At her weekly therapy sessions, Julie revealed her most uncomfortable secrets: depression, debt, childhood sexual abuse. Her psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital would then type a summary into Julie’s computerized medical record.

With that, more than 200 pages of sensitive notes became available to any doctor who cared for her within the sprawling Partners HealthCare system. She discovered this only when one doctor later referenced the notes.

Julie, a 43-year-old lawyer, was unnerved, then angry. “The details are really nobody’s business,” she said.

But Partners disagrees. Doctors must have a complete picture to make accurate diagnoses, the organization argues. And having different rules for psychiatric records contributes to the stigma of mental illness.

The entire story is here.