Institute:Office of National Coordinator (ONC) Workforce Training Curriculum
Component:The Culture of Health Care
Unit:Privacy, Confidentiality, and Security
Lecture:HIPAA Privacy Rule
Slide content:Physician Oaths of Privacy Are Not New Oath of Hippocrates, fifth century BC All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or outside of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and never reveal. Declaration of Geneva, 20th century I will respect the secrets which are confided in me, even after the patient has died. AAPS, n.d.
Slide notes:The Notice of Privacy Practices is essentially an oath of privacy. An interesting Web page devoted to oaths of privacy in health care notes that physicians have been taking privacy seriously for quite some time. The Hippocratic Oath, or the Oath of Hippocrates, developed in the fifth century BC, requires the physician to state, All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or outside of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad I will keep secret and never reveal. Likewise, the Declaration of Geneva, usually considered to be the modern-day replacement of the Hippocratic Oath, states, I will respect the secrets which are confided in me even after the patient has died. 7