Guidelines for Protecting Patient Privacy in the Society Meeting Presentations and Medical Papers, including Case Reports
When medical care is being provided, protecting patient privacy is an important responsibility that is expected of medical professionals. In medical research, case reports have contributed to progress in medicine and medical care, and have played an important role in improving people's health and welfare. Medical papers and case reports presented at society meetings and workshops often contain information about specific patient disorders and treatments. On such occasions, care must be taken to protect privacy so that patients will not be identified.
The following guidelines, adopted by the Council of Surgical Associations, pertain to the protection of patient privacy in medical papers, including case reports, and academic presentations given at society meetings:
(1) Do not indicate a name, hospital admission number, initials, or nickname that can identify an individual patient.
(2) Do not indicate a patient's address. If, however, the location where the disease or ailment originated is related to the patient's condition, the general area may be indicated (such as Kanagawa Prefecture or the Yokohama City).
(3) The date is often necessary in order to understand the clinical progress (of a disease); therefore, if it is determined that the individual cannot be identified, the date indicated can be as specific as the year and month.
(4) Do not indicate the name of the hospital department if a patient can be identified by comparing the department with other information.
(5) If a patient has already been diagnosed and treated at another hospital, do not indicate the institution's name and location. However, this will not apply if stating the original hospital before the patient was transferred is essential for emergency medical care or similar situation.
(6) When showing a face photo, conceal the eyes. For eye ailments, use an enlarged photo of the eye only, where the face cannot be identified.
(7) Delete numbers, etc. from biopsies, autopsies, and image information that can identify a case.
(8) If an individual can still be identified even after the aforementioned steps have been taken, either obtain consent for the presentation from the patient himself/herself (or surviving family members or agent, or parent/guardian if patient is a child), or obtain approval from the Ethics Committee.
(9) For case reports that involve hereditary disease and human genome/genetic analysis, comply with the provisions of the "Ethical Guidelines for Human Genome/Gene Analysis Research" (Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, March 29, 2001) (amended in full on December 28, 2004, amended in part on June 29, 2005, and amended in part on December 1, 2008).
April 6, 2004
(Amended in part on December 2, 2009)
| Council of Surgical Associations Member Societies | Japan Surgical Society Japan Broncho-Esophagological Society Japanese Association for Acute Medicine Japanese Association for Thoracic Surgery Japan Society for Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Japanese Association for Chest Surgery Japanese Society of Gastroenterological Surgery Japanese Society of Pediatric Surgeons Japanese Society for Cardiovascular Surgery Japan Society of Coloproctology Japan Association of Endocrine Surgery Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists |
|---|---|
| Societies that Approve of these Guidelines | Japanese Society of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery Japanese Society for Vascular Surgery Japan Laryngological Association Japan Society for Respiratory Endoscopy Japanese Breast Cancer Society Japanese Society for Abdominal Emergency Medicine |
| June 4, 2004 | Japanese Gastric Cancer Association |
| June 24, 2004 | Japan Esophageal Society |
| September 21, 2004 | Japanese Orthopaedic Association |
| August 1, 2005 | Japanese Society for Surgery of the Hand |
| August 20, 2005 | Japanese Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine |
| September 7, 2005 | Japanese Association for the Surgery of Trauma |
| December 14, 2005 | Japanese Society for Burn Injuries, Japanese Society of Aesthetic Dermatology |
| December 16, 2005 | Japan Society of Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery |
| December 19, 2005 | Japanese Hip Society |
| December 28, 2005 | Japanese Society for Cutaneous Immunology and Allergy |
| January 27, 2006 | Japan Elbow Society |
| March 24, 2006 | Western Japan Division of JDA |
| May 15, 2006 | Central Japan Association of Orthopaedic Surgery & Traumatology |
| July 21, 2006 | Japan Biliary Association |
| August 3, 2006 | Japanese Orthopaedic Society of Knee, Arthroscopy and Sports Medicine |
| August 25, 2006 | Eastern Japan Association of Orthopaedics and Traumatology |
| September 6, 2006 | Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine |
| November 13, 2006 | Japanese Society for Helicobacter Research |
| December 8, 2006 | Japanese Society for Surgical Metabolism and Nutrition |
| May 11, 2007 | Japanese Society for the Study of Low Back Pain |
| July 9, 2007 | Japan Lung Cancer Society |
| December 4, 2007 | Japan Pancreas Society |
| December 20, 2007 | Japan Surgical Association |
| September 15, 2009 | Japanese Society of Gastroenterology |
| November 12, 2009 | Japanese Society of Gastrointestinal Cancer Screening |
| December 25, 2009 | Japan Society for Portal Hypertension |
| January 5, 2010 | Tokai Division of Japanese Dermatological Association |
| May 11, 2010 | Japanese Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition |