Author: Derek Baird
Publisher: MedCity News
Publication Year: 2021
Summary: The following article describes how the U.S. has lagged behind their developed nation counterparts in regards to patient and consumer privacy protections. The 30 year old Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) law is the basis for patient privacy protection which was long before the widespread adoption of the internet and its associated technologies. The article calls for a revamping of patient privacy protections. The second major goal of the article is to address the fragmented nature of America’s healthcare system that results in inability or difficulty in sharing depersonalized health data. This depersonalized health data could aid in the research and development of population medicine so improving the ability to share such depersonalized data is imperative to the future of medicine.