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HealthVault and Patient Privacy - The Issue Is Deeper than Data Security
By Privacy Maven | October 6, 2007
Who will use Microsoft’s new online health information repository, HealthVault? It is not an idle question. Historically, there has not been an enormous demand for this kind of electronic record keeping from patients. As a recent PCWorld article points out:
Microsoft’s new e-health platform will probably be the largest not affiliated with an insurance provider or specific employer, said Lynne Dunbrack, program director at Health Industry Insights, a market research and advisory services firm.
But the effort faces several challenges, Dunbrack said. Microsoft is banking on its relationships with outside software developers to create programs that work with HealthVault, she said.
In addition, less than 30 percent of doctor’s offices and hospitals now use electronic health records, so it will be a challenge for many users to find data to populate the HealthVault records, she said. Only about 1 percent to 3 percent of U.S. consumers have adopted personal e-health records, she said, despite a major push from U.S. President George Bush’s administration and several private groups.
One of the issues is privacy concerns. “Consumers are quite wary of having their personal health information available and accessible over the Internet,” Dunbrack said.
The larger issue of patients’ privacy rights is not well understood. The public is generally not aware of who has access to their medical records and under what circumstances, although they may have some understanding that electronic record keeping increases the inherent risks of the divulging of private information. Privacy Maven recommends the resources of The Patients Privacy Rights Foundation to learn more about this issue.
Find out more about electronic medical records - their access, use and misuse - from this two-part interview with Deborah C. Peel MD, head of The Patients Privacy Rights Foundation.
Topics: Medical Privacy, Privacy and New Technology |