What does the right to privacy in healthcare protect?

The right to privacy in healthcare primarily protects an individual's control over their personal health information. This right encompasses the ability of patients to determine who has access to their medical records and health-related data, which is crucial in maintaining confidentiality and building trust between patients and healthcare providers.

In practice, this means that healthcare providers must secure personal health information and obtain consent prior to sharing it with third parties, unless legally mandated otherwise. This right aligns with concepts like informed consent, where patients must be informed about how their data may be used or shared, ensuring that they have agency over their own personal information.

While access to medical records and other factors such as insurance claims are relevant to patient care, they do not encapsulate the fundamental essence of privacy rights. Paternalistic medical decisions relate more to the authority of healthcare providers in making decisions for patients, often leaving the patients with reduced control, which contradicts the principle of privacy. Thus, the focus on control over personal health information distinctly captures the essence of the right to privacy in the healthcare context.