Can Patient Data Truly Be Stripped Of Identifying Information? A Possible Class-Action Lawsuit Renews Debate
A suit filed against the University of Chicago Medical Center and Google demonstrates the difficulties technology companies face in handling health data as they forge ahead into one of the most promising — and potentially lucrative — areas of artificial intelligence: diagnosing medical problems.
The New York Times:
Google And The University Of Chicago Are Sued Over Data Sharing
When the University of Chicago Medical Center announced a partnership to share patient data with Google in 2017, the alliance was promoted as a way to unlock information trapped in electronic health records and improve predictive analysis in medicine. On Wednesday, the University of Chicago, the medical center and Google were sued in a potential class-action lawsuit accusing the hospital of sharing hundreds of thousands of patients’ records with the technology giant without stripping identifiable date stamps or doctor’s notes. (Wakabayashi, 6/26)
Stat:
Potential Class Action Lawsuit Accuses The University Of Chicago Of Sharing Identifiable Patient Data With Google
Two years later, a law firm alleged Wednesday that the hospital handed vast amounts of data over to the tech giant without removing potentially identifying information like physicians’ notes or date stamps of when patients checked in and out of the hospital. The suit was filed on behalf of a single patient, with the goal of expanding it to a class action suit if more patients come forward. The suit underscores rising concern about patient privacy as companies seek to mine the reams of health data stored in hospitals’ medical records systems to fine-tune their algorithms. If the suit can attract more plaintiffs, it could open up a new front in the debate over when and whether patient data can be truly de-identified. (Robbins, 6/26)
In other health and technology news —
Modern Healthcare:
There's A Push To Slow Down Required EHR-PDMP Integration
Health IT groups were generally supportive of revised information technology provisions proposed in the CMS' annual update to the inpatient prospective payment system, but urged the agency to slow potential requirements related to integrating outside programs with electronic health record systems. The public comment period for the CMS' IPPS proposal, which the agency released in April, closed Monday. Now the CMS is tasked with sifting through more than 2,000 comments from providers, vendors and trade groups offering feedback on the agency's plan to update inpatient hospital reimbursements for federal fiscal 2020. (Cohen, 6/26)
