Electronic medical records (EMRs) should never be used for the collection and storage of data about patients’ firearms.
Physicians’ control over their own medical practices is being taken from them by government policies. Federal law now pressures doctors to use computerized protocols in caring for their patients, and questions to patients are typically pre-loaded into the software programs. Routine screening questions about guns in the home should never be a part of electronic medical records. Doctors are ultimately responsible for their interactions with patients and should always be vigilant to defend their patients’ privacy against the political agendas of third parties.