Right to Privacy and Confidentiality of Patient Data in the age of AI: Legal obligations of Medical Professionals to Protect Patient Information

The advancements in adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology in the healthcare industry have been very execute rapid and have brought very efficient change in the functionality, diagnostics, and management of the healthcare industry. But this technological advancement come with very significant question and issues on the right to privacy and confidentiality of patient data especially in India following the constitutional provision that privacy is a right under the Article 21 of the Constitution. The gap in the research specifically relates to whether the contemporary legal instruments that include the Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002, the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the proposed Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 adequately respond to the challenges raised by the AI healthcare technologies emerging in the healthcare sector. One major research issue derives from the enormous data-handling capability of the AI systems with possible infringement of identity rights, apply bias and abusive of ‘patients’ sensitive health information. As mentioned earlier, this research investigates how effectively Indian law protects privacy and confidentiality in AI health systems. It also assesses the legal and ethically responsible implications of doctors and other healthcare workers in terms of Patient’s data privacy in their usage of the AI tools. The other important dimension of this research is to identify how the Indian law and policy may be reframed to reduce the privacy vulnerability. Using the AI in the process, new problems arose: the definition of informed consent within the agreements of data sharing and AI’s responsibility regarding the automated decision-making process. This study also discusses what could be learned from other nations by developing an effective regime for the regulation of AI in healthcare in India with reference to GDPR and HIPAA. In addressing these dimensions, the study seeks to fill the identified gap in the existing literature by offering insights regarding the roles and responsibilities of physicians and health policy makers in realising the potential of AI while ensuring patient confidentiality at the same time. The insights generated out of the study will help in formulating the legal guidelines that can encompass accountability, ethical standards and public confidence in technologies embedded in the health care systems.