| Abstract: | Confidentiality breaches of health information can affect every person who seeks medical care. To better understand this phenomenon, breaches of confidentiality by employees in a health care organization were examined and compared to the perceived confidentiality maintenance actions of the organization's health care providers. The study, using observation and interviews of a health promotion department, supported Brann and Mattson's (2004) typology of confidentiality breaches, provided evidence for another type of communicative breach, and revealed inconsistencies between health care providers' actions and their perceptions of those actions. Future research should address the prevalence of such discrepancies in other health contexts and its impact on patient care. |
