There's No Patient-Provider Confidentiality in Football
Sports Illustrated columnist Selena Roberts recently wrote about some of the issues facing team physicians in the National Football League.
Confidentiality is a major issue. Apparently patient-clinician confidentiality doesn't exist in the NFL, and players don't really trust team physicians.
Confidentiality can get tricky. Football-related issues are transmitted to the team, but what about more personal matters? "This is where that unique situation of dual responsibility comes in," Tucker says. "If a player's medical issue--like depression--gets to the point where performance is affected, then I have the responsibility to certain people in the club. . . . Now, sometimes players will choose to share that information with other people."
Physicians are paid by the team, but doesn't clinician-patient confidentiality come first?
Of course team physicians should share most information with the team. It would be rare for players to not agree to that.
But football-related issue or not, if the patient wants something to remain confidential, shouldn't it remain confidential no matter what?
Don't medical ethics mean more than loyalty to a football team?
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The AMA seems pretty clear on this.
What is a breach of confidentiality?
A breach of confidentiality is a disclosure to a third party, without patient consent or court order, of private information that the physician has learned within the patient-physician relationship. Disclosure can be oral or written, by telephone or fax, or electronically, for example, via e-mail or health information networks. The medium is irrelevant, although special security requirements may apply to the electronic transfer of information.
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Maybe it's written into NFL player contracts that there's no confidentiality between team physicians and players. But even if it's written into contracts, an ethical clinician would have to honor a player's verbal request for confidentiality, I would think.
I don't see how an ethical clinician could even take a position with a football team that requires the suspension of provider-patient confidentiality.