The practice of recontacting patients has a long history in medicine but emerged as an issue in genetics as the rapid expansion of knowledge and of testing capacity raised questions about whether, when and how to recontact patients. Until recently, the debate on recontacting has focussed on theoretical concerns of experts. The publication of empirical research into the views of patients, clinicians, laboratories and services in a number of countries has changed this. These studies have filled out, and altered our view of, this issue. Whereas debates on the duty to recontact have explored all aspects of recontact practice, recent contributions have been developing a more nuanced view of recontacting. The result is a narrowing of the scope of the duty, so that a norm on recontacting focuses on the practice of reaching out to discharged patients. This brings into focus the importance of the consent conversation, the resource implications of this duty, and the role of the patient in recontacting.

重新联系患者的做法在医学上有着悠久的历史，但随着知识和检测能力的快速扩展引发了关于是否、何时以及如何重新联系患者的问题，它成为遗传学中的一个问题。直到最近，关于重新联系的辩论都集中在专家的理论问题上。在许多国家发表的关于患者、临床医生、实验室和服务机构观点的实证研究已经改变了这一点。这些研究填补并改变了我们对这个问题的看法。尽管关于重新联系义务的辩论已经探讨了重新联系实践的各个方面，但最近的贡献一直在发展对重新联系的更细致入微的看法。结果是缩小了职责范围，因此关于重新联系的规范侧重于与出院患者接触的做法。