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Background: To analyse the knowledge, conduct and opinions concerning confidentiality of the medical and nursing personnel who attended the 13 seminars given on this subject at the Virgen del Camino Hospital in Pamplona in the year 2002., Methods: Distribution before the start of each seminar of a survey of 11 closed questions to be completed anonymously., Results: Ninety-three percent (93.0%) of the 244 professionals attending the seminars responded to the survey (128 doctors and 99 nurses). Ninety-two point one percent (92.1%) of the professionals understand what privacy is, but 58.1% do not know any of the laws that regulate it. Eighty-seven point five percent (87.5%) know when it is legitimate to access the data on a patient, but contrary conduct is recognise in a percentage that increases with age, from 12.5% in the group under 31 years old to 51.9% in those over 50 years of age. More correct practices were recollected amongst nursing personnel even when they show less theoretical knowledge about these questions. Forty-nine point seven percent (49.7%) of the professionals would join another centre if they wanted their diagnosis not to be divulged amongst their colleagues, and 92.2% consider informal comments made in the corridors to be the most frequent way of breaking confidentiality in the hospital., Conclusion: It seems timely to call attention to ethical and legal responsibility in our hospital and to encourage reflection amongst professional about this questions of confidentiality in order to improve this key dimension of health care.

Background: To assess the utilization of an electronic medical record (EMR), the degree of satisfaction with this tool, as well as to detect problems in its utilization, in a tertiary hospital in Spain., Methods: A survey was sent by mail to all physicians in the Virgen del Camino Hospital in Pamplona, Spain., Results: Out of 445 staff physicians, 174 answered the survey (39%). Seventy-nine percent considered that the EMR is better than the traditional, paper-based medical record. Sixty-one percent used the EMR for consultation and to introduce clinical data in a regular way. Fifty-five percent agreed that the EMR has advantages for the patient. The main problems detected are a loss in confidentiality, lack of time, insufficient number of computers, and inadequate training. Ninety percent answered that EMR implementation should be continued and only 6% are dissatisfied with the computer application., Conclusions: There is a high degree of utilization of the EMR in the Virgen del Camino Hospital. Measures should be implemented to resolve the problems detected in this survey.