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document
Confidential registration in health services : randomised controlled trial . BACKGROUND Human rights legislation safeguards the privacy and dignity of patients . OBJECTIVE To assess the effectiveness in terms of patient assessed privacy of confidential registration . DESIGN Randomised controlled trial . SETTING Emergency Department , University Hospital of Wales . PARTICIPANTS A total of 302 patients aged over 15 years . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Binary choices and ordinal visual analogue scores from a validated questionnaire on self reported measures : patient ability and preference to speak to receptionists and disclose confidential information without being overhead and concern about disclosure of items of confidential personal information . RESULTS Patients who registered in a screened area felt significantly more able to tell receptionists things they did not want others to hear . Control patients were significantly more concerned than intervention patients that others heard their name , address , date of birth , reason for emergency department attendance , and telephone number , but not their marital status . Overall , intervention patients were less concerned about disclosure of information and that they had been overheard . CONCLUSIONS Patients value privacy when they register and are concerned if others can hear them tell receptionists who they are , how to contact them , and why they are there . Confidential registration should be instituted in health services . Confidential registration increased patient privacy and should be instituted in health services .
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Intervention_Educational
Confidential registration
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Intervention_Educational
confidential registration
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Intervention_Other
Binary choices
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Intervention_Other
ordinal visual analogue
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Intervention_Educational
validated questionnaire on self reported measures
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Intervention_Other
screened area
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Intervention_Other
Confidential registration
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Intervention_Other
Confidential registration
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Outcome_Mental
patient ability
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Outcome_Mental
preference to speak to receptionists and disclose confidential information without being overhead and concern about disclosure of items of confidential personal information
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Outcome_Mental
tell receptionists things they did not want others to hear .