Knowledge of Physicians, Nurses and Medical Record Personnel about Legal Aspects of Medical Records in Teaching Hospitals Affiliated to Kashan University of Medical Sciences

Obeying patient rights is dependent upon the knowledge of healthcare providers about ethical and legal aspects of healthcare. This study aimed to determine the knowledge of physicians, nurses and medical record personnel about legal aspects of medical records in teaching hospitals affiliated to Kashan University of Medical Sciences. In this cross-sectional study, 325 healthcare personnel including physicians, nurses and medical record personnel were surveyed by a valid questionnaire designed based on Iranian laws and referenced materials. The questions were related to legal aspects of informed consent, confidentiality, and issuing certificates. We analyzed the data through the mean score (± SD) of correct responses. The knowledge level of participants was moderate about legal aspect of informed consent (3.78 ± 1.36 from 8 points), confidentiality (1.45 ± 0.97 from 4 points) and issuing certificates (3.27 ± 1.79 from 9 points). Totally, the knowledge level was moderate (8.51 ± 2.83 from 21 points). Physicians had more knowledge and nurses less. Educating legal aspects related to medical records including confidentiality, informed consent, and issuing certificates for all of healthcare providers especially for nurses seems necessary.