Blogs and Patient Privacy

I worry when I hear stories of doctors blogs being attacked, or worse, used in court during malpractice litigation. Apparently, anonymous discussion of a patient's problem on an anonymous blog, with adequate disclaimers, can be traced to the author and considered an invasion of patient privacy. I worry now, about my blog, The Wounded Surgeon, posting my experiences during cancer surgery. But wait, I AM the patient whose privacy I invaded. I worry about publishing my poetry, at least as obscure as blogging, but often inspired by patients and their stories. I worry about my latest blog, Constipation Corner, which I wanted to set up FOR patients, with a link from my practice's website, and on which I planned to post some relatively reliable information regarding the disease processes I treat every day. I worry that I am now sucked into this "culture of worry," and that the same forces that have driven up the cost of healthcare (fat managed care companies, shrinking reimbursements, rising malpractice insurance rates, fear of being sued) are now seeping into and suffocating the last breaths of pure expression and pure communication between a doctor and her patients, between a surgeon and her self.

I worry what to do with such small hands.