Iliana Magra reports: “Alexa, how do I treat a migraine?” When British users ask Amazon’s voice assistant system for medical advice, it can respond as of Wednesday with the authority of an organization once described as “the closest thing the English have to a religion”: the country’s National Health Service. The collaboration, described by Britain’s…
Category: Healthcare
Square Faces Lawsuit Over Misfired Medical Receipt
Peter Rudegeair reports: A California man accused Square Inc. of violating privacy laws after the payments company mistakenly forwarded a digital receipt containing details of his medical history to one of his friends. A. Trent Ruark, a resident of San Diego County, paid a bill in early May at a health-care provider that used a…
Broader issues raised in Singapore Medical Council’s appeal for doctor to be cleared of confidentiality breach
Selina Lum reports: Does a hospital doctor have a professional duty to personally verify the identity of someone claiming to be a patient’s family member before releasing medical information to that person? The court raised the question yesterday during an appeal by the Singapore Medical Council (SMC) for National University Hospital psychiatrist Soo Shuenn Chiang…
Government EHR proposals threaten patient privacy — American Medical Association
Andis Robeznieks, Senior News Writer for the American Medical Association (AMA), writes: Two federal agencies have proposed rules pertaining to health information technology that will have a significant impact on the exchange, access and use of all health care data. While there are elements in both that deserve support, there are also several problems—particularly when…