“It may not mean that they will always get a private room, but most emergency staff will make their best effort to at least temporarily find a place to discuss sensitive topics in a space away from potentially prying ears.“While an ideal situation would be for patients to have their own private space to talk with their providers, in the emergency department, patients are often seen in crowded and at times high stress situations, and the ability sport tape to get a private room may just not be practically feasible,” Chang said. Bernard Chang, a professor of emergency medicine at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City.

To see how doctors think this lack of privacy affects care, researchers surveyed 440 emergency room physicians attending a medical conference in Boston in 2015.Only 26 percent of doctors said taking an abbreviated medical history had not led them to fail to diagnose a social issue like suicidal thinking or elder abuse, while 54 percent said changes in a physical exam due to lack of privacy had not caused them to miss such issues.While most physicians said patient gender wasn’t a factor, doctors were more likely to change how they did medical histories and exams for female patients, the study also found.Patients should recognize that they always have the right to request some space to discuss private matters with their doctor.“Patients should recognize that they always have the right to request some space to discuss private matters away from other individuals with their doctor,” Chang added.

Privacy and confidentiality are vital in emergency care, particularly for patients who may be reluctant to undress or divulge sensitive personal information in front of companions in an exam room or strangers in a hallway, researchers note in the Emergency Medicine Journal. It also focused only on the opinions of doctors at a medical conference, and results might differ with a broader, nationally representative group of emergency physicians.“This is quite concerning on many levels because emergency departments are on the front lines of caring for patients most vulnerable to these conditions,” Stoklosa said by email.”.“Past work has found that patients treated in overcrowded emergency departments often have delays in medical care and increased risk of medical errors,” Chang, who wasn’t involved in the study, said by email

Megosztás a facebookon