Google and the Medical Records Business

Dr. Kenneth D. Mandl and Dr. Isaac S. Kohane have written an article in The New England Journal of Medicine, warning consumers that the entry of big guns like Google and Microsoft into the medical records business would raise privacy concerns.

The main reason for their concern is that Microsoft or Google would not be bound by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or Hipaa, which regulates patient privacy.

They feel that consumer control of personal data under internet system would be an open invitation for false marketing and all sorts of scamsters.

Dr. Mandl and Dr. Kohane welcome the core development of electronic medical records, but they say there are some legitimate concerns, "In very short order, a few large companies could hold larger patient databases than any clinical research center anywhere," Dr. Mandl said.

They argue that safeguards have to be installed in order to ensure that patients and consumers are assured of their privacy.

Source: Medindia
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