By Chelsea Conaboy Globe Staff

Liz Kowalczyk writes in today’s Globe about how the issue of protecting people’s privacy as electronic health records are more widely used is complicated by mental health information.

Kowalczyk tells the story of a patient whose medical records at Massachusetts General Hospital included more then 200 pages of detailed notes from her psychiatrist. The patient was outraged when she visited a new internist and learned that other doctors had access to the notes. Representatives from Partners HealthCare, Mass. General’s parent organization, said it is important for doctors to have a full picture of a patient’s history.

The dispute highlights patient fears about how much will be shared and with whom, Kowalczyk writes.

Between 35 percent and 45 percent of doctors in Massachusetts now use electronic health records with at least basic functions, such as storing doctor notes and ordering tests. And Massachusetts is moving toward a system that allow records to be shared between hospitals.

Kowalczyk writes:

Under federal health privacy laws, patients must sign a standard permission form for providers to share their medical information for purposes of treatment and billing. Policies on sharing psychiatric notes vary.

At Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, for example, psychiatrists decide whether to put notes in a locked area of the record, which other doctors can see only if they provide written justification.