ABSTRACT
Follow-up study designs have in common that they link individually identifiable data collected at one point in time with individually identifiable data collected at another point in time. The fact that follow-up studies with high recovery rates can be done when there is easy access to records says nothing, of course, about whether they can be done ethically. Among the rules the authors observed to preserve confidentiality of records was never sharing any information they had with any agency from which they accepted information. Records other than those of governmental, medical, school, and social agencies could, of course, be used for longitudinal research if permissions were obtained. The Commission recommends that "any disclosure of medical record information by a medical care provider, with or without the authorization of the individual to whom it pertains, be limited only to information necessary to accomplish the purpose for which the disclosure is made.".
