Transcript Document
Research Access to Records Containing
Protected Health Information
A Review of 2014 Survey Results
Emily R. Novak Gustainis, Head, Collections Services
Center for the History of Medicine, Countway Library, Harvard Medical School
[email protected]
About the Survey
Maxwell Finland papers, H MS c153. Box 18, folder 5: Erythromycin and Ilosone, Food and Drug
Administration: Ilotycin cases, 1952. Collection contains correspondence, pamphlets, articles, invoices,
notes, charts, photographs, and graphs supporting drug studies from the 1940s through the 1970s.
Oliver Cope papers,
H MS c177: Box 6,
folder: Q-Z. Contains
Massachusetts General
Hospital-related patient
records on thyroid
research, treatment,
and surgical technique.
Records include
operation sheets,
correspondence,
reports, photographs
• Open four months (January – April 2014)
• 63 respondents
• 50 opted to self-identify as:
• A professor/instructor of history, the history of
medicine, or the history of science (44%)
• A student (any field) (22%)
• A physician or healthcare provider with an interest in
the history of medicine or science (16%)
• A professor/instructor of another Humanities subdiscipline or a different discipline (10%)
• A researcher (no academic affiliation) (6%)
• A librarian or archivist (2%)
Awareness of Collection Restrictions
59.65% (n=57) learned about the presence of
restricted records for the majority of the
collections they used (or were interested in
using) from a librarian or archivist
77.37% percent (n=61) respondents have used
finding aids that included information about
whether or not patient or other
health-related records in the collection had
access restrictions
Variables
What are the “Most Useful” formats for archivists to identify?
1. Patient histories (91.67%)
2. Case files
3. Correspondence
4. Patient questionnaires
5. Patient summaries
6. Consultation files
7. Family medical histories
8. Admission/registration record
9. Diagnostic indices
10.Photographs/medical imaging
11.Informed consent records
(43.75%)
12. Autopsy records (40.43%)
13.Lab notebooks
14.Prescription books/logs
15.Research protocols
16.Hospital policies
17. Graphs and charts
18. Surgical logbooks
19. Microscope slides/specimens
20. Billing information
21. Genetic testing records
22. Immunization records
23. Insurance records (12.5%)
Thank you!
(And how can we help?)