In a bid to protect physician privacy, the Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) is calling for the creation of a nonjudgemental, voluntary and confidential reporting system for the personal health information of its 78 500 member physicians.
Some regulatory colleges and an increasing number of hospitals have, under the auspices of protecting the public, recently introduced requirements for physicians to disclose their personal health information when they apply for or renew their licences or hospital privileges.
But mandatory disclosure and punitive approaches to identifying physicians’ personal health issues may push doctors to hide medical problems and delay necessary treatment if they feel the repercussions of reporting will affect their ability to practice, according to the association, which provides medico-legal protection to Canadian physicians.
Read the full article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.