Apple to attend meeting promoting easy access to health data
An Apple representative is slated to attend a meeting on Monday held by the Carin Alliance, a nonpartisan group currently advocating to push through government policy that would allow fast, easy access to patient health information.
Ricky Bloomfield, Apple's clinical and health informatics lead, is scheduled to join a meeting at which attendees will discuss efforts to support a Department of Health and Human Services initiative on medical data interoperability, CNBC reports.
Proposed by the HHS in 2019, the proposal would modify rules governing access to health information, allowing patients to more easily obtain and share personal data. These provisions must first pass muster with the Office of Management and Budget, which is where the Carin Alliance comes in.
According to a press release (PDF link), the group seeks to "rapidly advance the ability for consumers and their authorized caregivers to easily get, use, and share their digital health information when, where, and how they want to achieve their goals." At the upcoming meeting, advocates will ask the OMB to release rule changes proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), as well as the 21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program. The group cites consensus reached during a public comment period.
Those in favor of the policy modifications seek to modernize America's health records system. Existing systems silo data and limit cooperative exchange between health care providers. Currently, patients looking to switch doctors or facilities, or share data with others, are typically required to request hard copies of medical histories. Data is often stored on physical media like CDs that are not easily transferrable. Others are denied access altogether, the report notes.
Proponents of the rule changes argue barriers that inhibit free movement between doctors and health institutions are proving detrimental to public health. Opposing voices, like medical records giant Epic, actively urge customers, like hospitals, to fight the proposals out of supposed concern for patient privacy.
Along with Apple's Bloomfield, more than 40 representatives from major medical and tech companies, including Microsoft, will take part in the gathering either in person or by phone, according to an attendee list released Friday (PDF link).
Bloomfield is a physician with a background in mobile technology who currently serves as pediatric hospitalist at Stanford Children's Health and an adjunct clinical assistant professor at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is currently working on technologies that allow users to carry health information on iPhone, the report said.
Apple has long been an advocate of making health data portable and in 2018 launched the Health Records feature on iOS. Built into the Health app, Health Records enables iPhone users to securely store and share medical data from participating healthcare providers. The effort debuted with support from 39 medical groups, later expanding to 75 backers in less than six months. Most recently, veterans gained access to the feature when the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs integrated support for Health Records in November.
Ricky Bloomfield, Apple's clinical and health informatics lead, is scheduled to join a meeting at which attendees will discuss efforts to support a Department of Health and Human Services initiative on medical data interoperability, CNBC reports.
Proposed by the HHS in 2019, the proposal would modify rules governing access to health information, allowing patients to more easily obtain and share personal data. These provisions must first pass muster with the Office of Management and Budget, which is where the Carin Alliance comes in.
According to a press release (PDF link), the group seeks to "rapidly advance the ability for consumers and their authorized caregivers to easily get, use, and share their digital health information when, where, and how they want to achieve their goals." At the upcoming meeting, advocates will ask the OMB to release rule changes proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC), as well as the 21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program. The group cites consensus reached during a public comment period.
Those in favor of the policy modifications seek to modernize America's health records system. Existing systems silo data and limit cooperative exchange between health care providers. Currently, patients looking to switch doctors or facilities, or share data with others, are typically required to request hard copies of medical histories. Data is often stored on physical media like CDs that are not easily transferrable. Others are denied access altogether, the report notes.
Proponents of the rule changes argue barriers that inhibit free movement between doctors and health institutions are proving detrimental to public health. Opposing voices, like medical records giant Epic, actively urge customers, like hospitals, to fight the proposals out of supposed concern for patient privacy.
Along with Apple's Bloomfield, more than 40 representatives from major medical and tech companies, including Microsoft, will take part in the gathering either in person or by phone, according to an attendee list released Friday (PDF link).
Bloomfield is a physician with a background in mobile technology who currently serves as pediatric hospitalist at Stanford Children's Health and an adjunct clinical assistant professor at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is currently working on technologies that allow users to carry health information on iPhone, the report said.
Apple has long been an advocate of making health data portable and in 2018 launched the Health Records feature on iOS. Built into the Health app, Health Records enables iPhone users to securely store and share medical data from participating healthcare providers. The effort debuted with support from 39 medical groups, later expanding to 75 backers in less than six months. Most recently, veterans gained access to the feature when the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs integrated support for Health Records in November.
Comments
) possible to share the data by doctors and others with similar capabilities, without explicit authorization (of the ‘patient’), this is a very bad idea.
edit: fix
This isn't the problem (as emergency care overrides consent and HCPs are able to request access to health data for their patients without requiring a specific authorisation by the patient.)
The problem is that the patients themselves are largely walled off from their own health data. This is known to be a source of a few problems, such as incorrect diagnosis, and HCPs not having a clear understanding of the patient in time-critical scenarios (e.g. ER), this also gives rise to unnecessary costs in testing. On the lower-risk scale it also stymies patients from easily seeking out additional care, receiving cost effectively treatments, seeking second opinions or making more informed lifestyle decisions.
Part of the rationale in keeping the records out of patients hands is because the quality of the record may also be poor and require significant interpretation, as one commenter noted a range of conditions may be falsely diagnosed to take advantage of incomplete insurance coverage. Another doctor would likely be able to recognise such tactics in the record, while a patient may see the conditions and make incorrect health decisions, or suffer a psychological impact from falsely believing they are very unwell.
There is also the ability to limit the records to health care professionals, but allow the patient to carry them with them in a decentralised way (this would avoid the problem of hacking, as the records would not be centrally stored.)
Thats certainly not the case in the Netherlands because for example a company doctor is not allowed to get information of any doctor treating the ‘patient’ unless explicitly approved (by the ‘patient’).
But if so, the problem is a lot bigger and the patients data rights must first be firmly established.
Patients themself not able to get to the information is of course insane and has to be rectified. Its also a patients right to clear all data and to request that no centralized health records are created.
You mention privacy concerns, thats one thing, but the reality is that this kind of information is sold to the highest bidder, say insurance companies and all kinds of other companies seeking ways to monetize this.
And last, records can contain or obtain mistakes that can be deadly, thats why all data must be questioned and measured again, invalidating the whole purpose of such records.
I would advice not to use them.
Yes, Apple has considerable resources. But the American healthcare system is riddled with systemic collusion, cartels, and regional & national monopolies and has smothered multiple efforts at reform for 50 years. At this point even the most powerful -- such as the Amazon, JPMorgan & Berkshire coallition, even though immensely wealthy and powerful are approaching it so cautiously.
'[an] ethos of openness endorsed by Nadella is now needed in the health-care industry, where a battle is raging over whether patients should be able to get easy access to their medical data and share it with the app makers of their choice."
Microsoft health’s Peter Lee says medical data needs to be opened up so patients can get better access
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/26/microsofts-peter-lee-says-health-care-needs-to-let-patients-get-data.html