It was only a matter of time before the war over the standardization in healthcare would start. Of course, over the past few years tremendous effort has been put into making data exchangeable and interoperable. However, from the perspective of patients, it’s simply not enough.
Therefore, its not ‘so surprising that some of the major corporations are taking the lead here. They’re doing this by also following the rules and guidelines set out by governments in a number of countries. To be quite frank, being able to give their customers the ability to share their data with whom they want seems fairly logical to them. It is THEIR data after all.
Patients’ privacy
There are several perspectives to consider when it comes to the field of EMR vendors. Which shouldn’t come as a surprise to most of us in this sector. Sharing data to and from EMR systems never really took customers’ perspectives into account. Despite the multitude of narratives, reflections, and plans. Apple, together with Microsoft (and a lot of other companies) are now helping to push through a policy that lets consumers/patients access their own data “without further delay.”
Among others, one of the leading EMR vendors – Epic – contends that this approach will have a significant detrimental effect on patients’ privacy.
Whichever side you choose in the end, Microsoft has created a couple of standards that have already gone been implemented. Apple has a similar track record. Working from a consumer/patient’s perspective always establishes the winning side in the end. It is about time we gave patients access to their own data.
About this column:
In a weekly column, written alternately by Lucien Engelen, Tessie Hartjes, Floris Beemster, Bert Overlack, Mary Fiers, Peter de Kock, Eveline van Zeeland, Jan Wouters, Katleen Gabriels en Auke Hoekstra, Innovation Origins tries to figure out what the future will look like. These columnists, occasionally joined by guest bloggers, are all working in their own way on solutions to the problems of our time. So that tomorrow is good. Here are all the previous articles.
Related Posts
