Christina Farr reports: Facebook has asked several major U.S. hospitals to share anonymized data about their patients, such as illnesses and prescription info, for a proposed research project. Facebook was intending to match it up with user data it had collected, and help the hospitals figure out which patients might need special care or treatment….
Category: Healthcare
Medical Ethics: UK Uses Data From Doctors to Find Migrants
AP reports: To track down people in Britain who may have broken immigration rules, the government is turning to a new and controversial source of information: doctors. Doctors who work with refugees and asylum-seekers have described the move as a major breach of medical ethics, saying it isn’t up to physicians to enforce immigration rules….
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signs law improving patient privacy in health insurance
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday signed a bill providing people with more privacy from their health insurance companies. The new law, the so-called PATCH Act, seeks to ensure that patients have the ability to request that a summary of payment form for their health insurance be sent directly to them, not to the policyholder of their insurance….
Despite privacy concerns, Israel to put nation’s medical database online
Shoshanna Solomon reports: The Israeli government on Sunday approved a National Digital Health plan, which, despite mounting privacy concerns, plans to create a digital database of the medical files of some 9 million residents and make them available to researchers and enterprises. The government has vowed to protect the privacy of individuals and is touting the NIS…