Privacy protective behavior

Definition
Privacy protective behavior is behavior engaged in by an individual to protect his/her personal information from being disclosed.

Medical information
In the medical context, such behavior may include hiding evidence of pre-existing conditions from doctors or insurance companies; paying for treatment out-of-pocket; or avoiding treatment completely. Four negative consequences of such behavior includes:


 * (1) The patient may receive poor-quality care, risking undetected and untreated conditions.
 * (2) The doctor's abilities to diagnose and treat accurately are jeopardized by a lack of complete and reliable information from the patient.
 * (3) A doctor may skew diagnosis or treatment codes on claim forms, keep separate records for internal uses only, or send incomplete information for claims processing to encourage a patient to communicate more fully.
 * (4) The integrity of the data flowing out of the doctor's office may be undermined. The information the patient provides, as well as the resulting diagnosis and treatment, may be incomplete, inaccurate, and not fully representative of the patient's care or health status.