La cartella clinica: tradizionale documento medico-legale o anche strumento di sanita' pubblica e di ricerca scientifica?

The question posed by the title is provocative. The article in fact makes a series of considerations which lead to the conclusion that the Medical Record in Italy today can no longer be considered simply as a legal-medical document, recognised as much by the laws and administrative regulations in force, but that its information content must be organised and structured so that it can also be a useful tool for the purposes of both the public health system and of scientific research.