Abstract
A national survey conducted in Switzerland aimed to evaluate the knowledge of physiotherapists regarding the legal requirements for record keeping and to collect their feedback about record keeping in general. Three physiotherapists from various professional practice groups and a lawyer specialised in health law developed a questionnaire that was sent to the 7,753 members of two existing national associations of physiotherapists. The questionnaire evaluated the participants' knowledge by calculating a score of legal knowledge, which had a maximum of 30 points. We included 825 questionnaires in the analysis. The large majority (83.4%) of participants confessed an ignorance of the legal requirements concerning record keeping prior to the survey. The average score of legal compatibility was 8 points. The younger age of the physiotherapists was a significant predictor of having knowledge of the legal requirements for record keeping (p <0.001). The participants had an appreciation of the value of records, but they did not have the relevant knowledge regarding the legal requirements for keeping records. The participants blamed a lack of time and remuneration for their failure to keep records according to known requirements. All practising allied health professionals should keep up-to-date and accurate records that conform to active legal requirements and existing international guidelines. In addition to the existing legal requirements, the emergence of e-health and the electronic era will trigger major changes in patient record management by physiotherapists.
Highlights
Physiotherapy, allied health and nursing professionals are usually charged with the same legal requirements for record keeping [1]
A literature review of major health databases (MEDLINE, PEDro, The Cochrane Library Online, CINAHL, and EMBASE) between 2008 and 2010 and physiotherapy publications in Switzerland revealed an absence of research and information regarding record keeping and legal requirements
Based on the low rate of electronic record use, we assume that the need for and existence of such applications might be lowered by the lack of knowledge of the current legal requirements for record keeping [1]
Summary
Physiotherapy, allied health and nursing professionals are usually charged with the same legal requirements for record keeping [1]. A literature review of major health databases (MEDLINE, PEDro (complete database), The Cochrane Library Online (complete database), CINAHL, and EMBASE) between 2008 and 2010 and physiotherapy publications in Switzerland revealed an absence of research and information regarding record keeping and legal requirements. Due to the differences between health professions and the specific contents of their records, and existing professional recommendations and legal requirements, the focus of this study was kept to physiotherapists. There is a real need for all health professionals to have access to information regarding legal requirements for record keeping, in the context of court issues with patients. We recently published an overview of the legal requirements for record
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