When acting as a surrogate for incapacitated incarcerated patients, physicians may disclose protected health information to a patient’s legal counsel.

Physicians can approach patients’ incarceration history in ways that mitigate stigma and strengthen therapeutic alliance.

The American College of Physicians and the Federation of State Medical Boards’ guidelines for online medical professionalism apply existing norms of communication and confidentiality to new settings but will need to be modified in light of technological advances and unanswered questions.

Networking with a friend to help a patient gain employment is not unethical as long as confidentiality is maintained and the patient grants his or her doctor permission to discuss the situation with the friend.

A physician in a university student health center may feel a duty to intervene when he finds out from a patient that a student who is not a patient is diverting medication, but doing so would violate patient confidentiality.

A discussion of how to handle the documentation of mental health care in electronic medical records so that patient wishes for confidentiality are balanced with the need for interdisciplinary communication and care coordination.

The AMA Code of Medical Ethics' opinion on confidentiality of patient disclosure and circumstances under which it may be breached.

Students are not obligated to keep their instructors' behavior and remarks confidential.

Instead of trying to reduce the number of people who have access to a patient's medical record by quarantining information, hospitals should explain the current meaning of confidentiality to patients as part of the informed consent process.

When a medical student needs to be hospitalized, the paramount concern of the student affairs dean is promoting the student's health, followed by protecting her privacy and supporting her medical education.