by Michael Woodhead

As increasing numbers of doctors go online, they  are being warned about the dangers of unwittingly breaching patient confidentiality and also the risks of being stalked by patients.

A recent study (link) which looked at 271 doctor blogs found that 17% included information that would allow patients to identify the doctor and possibly  themselves.

More than 40% of the blogs mentioned individual patient cases and some even included recognisabl;e photographs.

The study authors said that unlike other medical such as journals, blogs and online sites were not peer reviewed or regulated and there was the potential for medicaolegal action.

Already one doctor has made an out of court settlement after he revealed details of a patient’s death on his blog, they note.

"[Medical blogs] risk exposing the public to unprofessional content and tone, privacy violations, and hidden promotions that damage the integrity of the medical field. Although there has been some discussion in the lay press regarding the ethical questions posed by medical blogs, there has been no organised or official response from the medical profession,” the study authors say.

At the same time, a commentary in this week’s JAMA (link) warns that many doctors are unaware of how much information about themselves is available to internet-savvy patients – and social networking sites in particular may contain “revealing information about favorite sports team, social causes, musical tastes, sexual orientation, and political leanings.”