Spine Research

Abstract

Objective
To report the results of a systematic review of national eHealth policies of different countries in relation to patient
consent in patient data processing in electronic health records
Method eHealth policies of 19 (14.07%) countries are reviewed with regard to patient consent, from a total of 135 countries
that are indexed in the World Health Organization Directory of eHealth Policies. 68 (50.37%) policies were
excluded based on language and 67 policies in English were selected for further consideration. These 67 (49.62%)
policies were further evaluated resulting in exclusion of 43 (31.85%) policies due to policies being outdated and 5
(3.70%) due to broken links. Finally, a total of 19 (14.07%) countries were selected for the review.
Results
57.89% out of 19 countries require patients’ informed consent to store patient data, 26.32% allow selective storage
of patient data as defined by the patient, 89.47% require patients’ informed consent when sharing or transferring or
accessing patient data, 68.42% of the countries allow patients access their own EHR, 73.68% facilitate
correction/modification in EHR, and 26.32% facilitate deletion of patient records. 89.47% of countries highlight
mechanisms to assure privacy and security of EHR.