Patient intake forms and AI data leakage: what a new patient form gives away in ChatGPT or Claude.

A new patient form is the densest document a practice collects. In one page it holds the patient’s identity, Medicare details, contact numbers, medical history, medications, alcohol and drug use, who to call in an emergency and what they agree to. Reception teams paste completed forms into ChatGPT or Claude to summarise them for the doctor or to fill the practice software. This page marks every item on a routine registration form that the Privacy Act and the NSW health records law bear on, including the patient’s choice about AI, and shows how the same form is read on Ermos inside the practice.

The new patient intake form

Completed by a patient on or before their first visit, then entered into the practice software. Staff often read it before the first consultation to prepare the doctor.

An invented registration form. The Medicare number, phone numbers and email address are placeholders. Hover or tap any highlighted item for the analysis; the full list is below.

What leaves the practice

1. 1
   Full name and date of birth

   Two identifiers that tie the form to one person. Personal information collected by a health service provider, and health information once it sits in the clinical record. Privacy Act guide.

2. 2
   Address, mobile and email

   The details used to reach or find the patient. Personal information, and the material scams and impersonation are built from. Privacy Act guide.

3. 3
   Medicare number and expiry

   An identifier assigned by an agency, which APP 9.2 limits an organisation from using or disclosing except in listed cases. With a date of birth it is enough to impersonate a patient. Privacy Act guide.

4. 4
   Emergency contact and who may be told what

   A named partner, a number and an instruction that the parents are told nothing. Third-party personal information, and the patient’s expressed wishes about how information is shared. Patient data guide.

5. 5
   Mental health history and medication

   A diagnosis-level history, a medication and a prescriber’s location. Health information is sensitive information under the Privacy Act. Patient data guide.

6. 6
   Alcohol, drug use and self-harm thoughts

   The most private answers on the form, including a safety disclosure the doctor will act on. Sensitive health information, held in confidence under Good medical practice 4.4. Patient data guide.

7. 7
   Employer and a fear of being found out

   A named employer and the patient’s worry that the manager will learn of the appointment. A confidence that is only safe while it stays in the practice. Privacy Act guide.

8. 8
   Previous doctor and a records instruction

   A named doctor and a limit on what records to request. Part of the patient’s expressed wishes about their care.

9. 9
   Consents, including a refusal of AI scribing

   What the patient agrees to, and that they declined AI scribing. The RACGP asks practices to get consent at the start of each consultation using a scribe, and the patient has said no. Patient data guide.

10. 10
    The signature and date

    Shows the form was completed and when. Evidence of the consents above.

What happens in Frontier Models (ChatGPT, Claude)

• The whole document is transmitted to the provider’s servers. On personal plans the user cannot choose where it is stored or processed, and for the major providers that has generally meant outside Australia, under that country’s legal process. Some business plans offer storage in Australia, but the provider still receives the content.
• On consumer tiers, prompts can be retained and used to train future models.
• The provider’s staff and systems can reach the content under the provider’s own policies.
• Once sent, the practice no longer controls it. Retention and deletion happen on the provider’s terms.

The same document on Ermos

Part of AI data leakage in healthcare practices.

Common questions