In Aug.17th 2014, Kuwait published it's act no. 114 entitled as "Medical Insurance for Retired Kuwaitis". Article 10 of that act states that "Records of insured and all related information are CONFIDENTIAL and may not be acquainted by others with exception to judiciary system and who ever is granted the authorization through the implementing authority".
This act is; in fact, an evolution of article 6, act. 25/1981 which stated that "A doctor shall not disclose a secret that was identified during his/her job by himself or disclosed to him by the patient."
Consequences of the new law.The new law will; in fact, influence many aspects of healthcare service providing in Kuwait.
1. The law implies a necessity to keep medical records in a safe place away from being disclosed to the public or others who are not directly providing health service to the patient.
2. Medical records includes every document that is used during the health service and is identified by patient information.
3. In cases of electronic records, information storage or exchange of patient information should happen within an acceptable level of eSecurity (i.e. digital infrastructure, data encryption, etc..)
4. Medical Record handling should be provided by a team that is well trusted to be held liable to the confidentiality of the patient records. In cases of electronic records access rights should be clearly defined for the service provider.
5. Retention and discard of patient information should also be handled with care via a a written standard to maintain the privacy order.
Unfortunately, all above interpretations of the new law will not see light unless professionals in this field work to pass them through the policy making process of the healthcare system in Kuwait.
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