In the field of health research, data have long been held closely by the researchers who collected it. The knowledge is considered proprietary information owned by whoever conducted and funded the study, even if it has the potential to lead to future health advances.
Now, a slew of new companies and organizations promise to tear down the barriers to data collection and sharing by encouraging patients to give away their data. In addition to fostering diverse research projects, data donation helps patients learn about themselves and improve their own treatment, the companies say. The change has taken root in the medical community, and if roadblocks to privacy and data ownership can be overcome, data sharing efforts may just change the nature of research.
I – Word Understanding
slew – a large number
fostering – helping to grow or develop
roadblocks – something that stops progress
II – Have Your Say
1. EHR – an Electronic Health Record is a digital version of a patient’s paper chart which can be shared across across different healthcare settings. In the United States, Great Britain, and Germany, the concept of a national centralized server model of healthcare data has been poorly received. Issues of privacy and security in such a model have been of concern.
2. Would you share your medical data?
Pros:
* improve patient health care
* advancement of medical science
Cons:
* challenge to keep patient confidentiality
* online security
310 How Sharing Your Health Data Could Change Medical Research
