Similar to my recent probes and interactions with the designers of the social networking site Moli, I recently enjoyed the opportunity to discuss privacy-related design issues with the product manager for Microsoft’s HealthVault platform. HealthVault is Microsoft’s attempt to provide an online platform where personal electronic health records can be stored, managed, and shared with…
Legal and Policy Analysis: Personal Health Records: Why Many PHRs Threaten Privacy
The World Privacy Forum has published a new legal and policy analysis examining Personal Health Records — or PHRs — and the privacy issues associated with them. This analysis, Personal Health Records: Why Many PHRs Threaten Privacy, was prepared by Robert Gellman for the World Privacy Forum. The analysis finds that significant, serious threats to…
WI: Healthcare execs, state employees testify on behalf of patient data exchange bill
If you believe patient health information should be electronically exchanged between different health systems and facilities, Wednesday was a pretty good day in the state Capitol. The Senate Committee on Health, Human Services, Insurance and Job Creation heard testimony on a bill to remove barriers to electronic patient data exchange in Wisconsin. The testimony favored…
Rhode Island addresses patient data privacy, security
Lawmakers in Rhode Island this week introduced legislation that would create a set of patient safeguards that go beyond existing state and federal privacy and data security protections for shared information in preparation for the launch of a statewide health information exchange (HIE). The legislation, called the Rhode Island Health Information Exchange Act of 2008,…
Public Health Surveillance in the Twenty-First Century: Achieving Population Health Goals While Protecting Individuals’ Privacy
Stoto, M.A. Public Health Surveillance in the Twenty-First Century: Achieving Population Health Goals While Protecting Individuals’ Privacy and Confidentiality. Georgetown Law Journal, 2008, 96:2, 703-719. Surveillance, a core function of public health, is defined as “ongoing, systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health data essential to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice,…