Ben-Yakov Maxim, Kayssi Ahmed, Bernardo Jennifer D, Hicks Christopher M, Devon Karen
University of Toronto, Department of Emergency Medicine, Toronto, Ontario.
University of Toronto, Department of Surgery, Toronto, Ontario.
West J Emerg Med. 2015 Mar;16(2):234-9. doi: 10.5811/westjem.2015.1.24258. Epub 2015 Feb 25.
The use of search engines and online social media (OSM) websites by healthcare providers is increasing and may even be used to search for patient information. This raises several ethical issues. The objective of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of OSM and web-searching for patient information and to explore attitudes towards the ethical appropriateness of these practices by physicians and trainees in the emergency department (ED).
We conducted an online survey study of Canadian emergency physicians and trainees listed under then Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP) and senior medical students at the University of Toronto.
We received 530 responses (response rate 49.1%): 34.9% medical students, 15.5% residents, 49.6% staff physicians. Most had an active Facebook account (74%). Sixty-four participants (13.5%) had used Google to research a patient and 10 (2.1%) had searched for patients on Facebook. There were no differences in these results based on level of training, and 25% of physicians considered using Facebook to learn about a patient "very unethical." The most frequent ethical concerns were with violation of patient confidentiality, dignity, and consent. The practice was usually not disclosed to patients (14%), but often disclosed to senior colleagues (83%).
This is the first study examining the prevalence of and attitudes towards online searching for obtaining patient information in the ED. This practice occurs among staff physicians and trainees despite ethical concerns. Future work should explore the utility and desirability of searching for patient information online.
医疗保健提供者对搜索引擎和在线社交媒体（OSM）网站的使用正在增加，甚至可能被用于搜索患者信息。这引发了若干伦理问题。本研究的目的是评估在急诊部门（ED）中使用OSM和通过网络搜索患者信息的普遍程度，并探讨医生和实习医生对这些行为伦理适当性的态度。
我们对加拿大急诊医师协会（CAEP）列出的加拿大急诊医生和实习医生以及多伦多大学的高年级医学生进行了一项在线调查研究。
我们收到了530份回复（回复率49.1%）：34.9%是医学生，15.5%是住院医师，49.6%是在职医生。大多数人有活跃的Facebook账户（74%）。64名参与者（13.5%）曾使用谷歌搜索患者信息，10名（2.1%）曾在Facebook上搜索患者。这些结果在不同培训水平之间没有差异，25%的医生认为通过Facebook了解患者“非常不道德”。最常见的伦理担忧是违反患者保密、尊严和同意权。这种行为通常不会告知患者（14%），但经常会告知资深同事（83%）。
这是第一项研究急诊部门中通过网络搜索获取患者信息的普遍程度和态度的研究。尽管存在伦理担忧，但在职医生和实习医生中仍存在这种行为。未来的工作应探索在线搜索患者信息的实用性和可取性。
