A patient requests that records of her hospitalization for treatment of an infection following an abortion be destroyed as soon as she is discharged. What is the likely outcome of this request?
A) The record will be sealed.
B) The record will be destroyed.
C) The request will be denied.
D) The record will be given to the patient's attorney.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Rationale 1: Even though the patient has requested that the record be destroyed, medical records departments are generally unwilling to do so. In most cases, the record will be sealed rather than destroyed.
Rationale 2: Destroying the medical record is a permanent action that is generally done only after a specified amount of time, often several years. It is unlikely that the medical records department will honor this request.
Rationale 3: Simply denying the patient's request does not fulfill the patient's need for privacy of information.
Rationale 4: The hospital will not turn the only copy of this record over to the patient's attorney. If a lawsuit were to be filed, the hospital would have no record of the hospitalization.

A Patient Requests That Records of Her Hospitalization for Treatment