Commentary: Electronic Communication in the Pediatric Setting--Dilemmas Associated with Patient Blogs

Abstract

Advances in communication and technology have posed serious challenges to some of the fundamental ethical principles upon which psychologists operate, including the protection of patient privacy and confidentiality and the ideals of beneficence and nonmaleficence. In pediatric settings, efforts have been made to limit inadvertent dissemination of personal information in public areas such as hallways, cafeterias, elevators, and hospital emergency departments (Olsen & Sabin, 2003; Patient privacy, 2004; Ubel et al., 1995). Likewise, legislation (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, HIPAA, 1996) now imposes standards around electronic transmission of protected health information, and psychologists are addressing privacy and confidentiality concerns in the context of computer-mediated clinical services (Drotar et al., 2006). However, recent phenomena in electronic communication, including the use of weblogs, or “blogs” (easily updated personal web pages that allow for visitor comments) by patients and their families, raise new and unique threats and dilemmas regarding our ethical and professional principles.

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