Title
Our bodies, our data : how companies make billions selling our medical records / Adam Tanner.
ISBN
9780807033357 (electronic book)
0807033359 (electronic book)
9780807033340
0807033340
Published
Boston : Beacon Press, [2016]
Language
English
Description
1 online resource (218 pages)
Call Number
R858 .T34 2017eb
Dewey Decimal Classification
610.285
Summary
Hidden from consumers, patient medical data has become a multibillion-dollar worldwide trade between our health-care providers, drug companies, and a complex web of middlemen. This great medical-data bazaar sells copies of our prescriptions, hospital records, insurance claims, blood-test results, and more, stripped of names but still containing identifiers such as year of birth, gender, and doctor. As computing grows ever more sophisticated, patient dossiers are increasingly vulnerable to re-identification, which could make them a target for identity thieves or hackers. Paradoxically, comprehensive electronic files for patient treatment-a key reason medical data exists in the first place-remain an elusive goal. Even today, patients and their doctors rarely have easy access to full records that could improve care. In the evolution of medical data, the instinct for profit has outstripped patient needs. This book reveals the previously hidden story of how such a system evolved internationally. ... This investigative narrative seeks to spark debate on how we can best balance the promise big data offers to advance medicine and improve lives, while preserving the rights and interests of every patients. We, the patients, deserve a say in this discussion. After all, it's our data.-- Book jacket.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
Digital File Characteristics
text file
Source of Description
Description based on print version record.
What the pharmacy knows
Data bonanza for pharmacies and middlemen
The covert alliance
Patient power
The dossier on your doctor
Supreme Court battle
Studying patients over time
Fighting for patients
How safe is "anonymized"?
Korean War over patient data
The patient's data tower of babel
21st century advances
Intimate, anonymized, and for sale
At the bottom of Niagara.
