By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    bowl of vegetable salad
    Raw Foods: benefits and harms
    November 9, 2021
    pros and cons of the keto diet
    Read This Before You Follow the Keto Diet
    May 18, 2022
    spinal cord injuries
    4 Potential Causes of Spinal Cord Injuries (and How to Seek Compensation)
    May 25, 2022
    Latest News
    Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
    May 16, 2025
    Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
    May 16, 2025
    Choosing the Right Supplement Manufacturer for Your Brand
    May 1, 2025
    Engineering Temporary Hospitals for Extreme Weather
    April 24, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    4 Reasons Why Medical Device Compliance Matters
    May 22, 2020
    What To Know About The Importance Of Healthcare Marketing
    November 23, 2019
    healthcare courses
    6 Supplemental Courses in Healthcare to Support Your HR Degree
    August 20, 2021
    Latest News
    Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
    May 18, 2025
    The Critical Role of Healthcare in Personal Injury Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide for Victims
    May 14, 2025
    The Backbone of Successful Trials: Clinical Data Management
    April 28, 2025
    Advancing Your Healthcare Career through Education and Specialization
    April 16, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Consumer Generated Data: Your “Data Exhaust”
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > eHealth > Medical Records > Consumer Generated Data: Your “Data Exhaust”
eHealthMedical Records

Consumer Generated Data: Your “Data Exhaust”

David Harlow
Last updated: July 17, 2014 2:19 pm
David Harlow
Share
4 Min Read
patient data
SHARE

You might be surprised to learn how wide your digital footprint is these days.

It is worth getting up to speed on this issue by reading Jane Sarasohn-Kahn‘s latest report for the California Healthcare Foundation, entitled Here’s Looking at You: How Personal Information Is Being Tracked and Used. I enjoyed speaking with Jane about these issues as she was researching and writing the report.

Some highlights:

You might be surprised to learn how wide your digital footprint is these days.

More Read

Image
Mobile Health Around the Globe: Zao mHealth Device Field-Tested in India and Nepal
Big Data = Big Savings in Healthcare
Person-Centered HealthCare: Patients and Community Engage Through Social Media
Crowdfunding Cancer Research: Martin (Marty) Smith
Apple Watch: Continuous Glucose Monitoring

It is worth getting up to speed on this issue by reading Jane Sarasohn-Kahn‘s latest report for the California Healthcare Foundation, entitled Here’s Looking at You: How Personal Information Is Being Tracked and Used. I enjoyed speaking with Jane about these issues as she was researching and writing the report.

Some highlights:

1.    Most people are unaware that they are leaving their personal data behind and that some of this information is not protected by HIPAA. Data brokers are able to build dossiers on individuals to sell to marketers, while consumers lack recourse to obtain or correct their information.

2.    Clinical researchers, health plans, and others use the information to enhance individuals’ health as well as to benefit public health. Larger and speedier clinical trials are made possible by the quantity of data available.

3.    Different types of information — such as historical claims data and consumer-generated data — can be combined and used for statistical modeling for health or financial risk-profiling. Such information is purchased by hedge funds, hospitals, large provider networks, payers, pharmaceutical companies, and others.

4.    Even when given an opportunity, most consumers are not vigilant about protecting their data; many are willing to share data to further their own health or to serve public health goals.

patient dataThe key takeaway is that the collection and collation of our data exhaust is not universally good or bad, and that it is important to be aware of how different data points may be used and combined by the original collector of the data, by data brokers, and by data brokers’ customers, so that we make informed decisions about how our data is used, by whom, and to what ends. In order to make these informed decisions, of course, the relevant information needs to be presented to us clearly and in a timely manner.

Much of the use is well-intentioned (e.g., the health care system that subscribes to data services in order to match broader data sets to patient data in order to offer better-targeted health and wellness programs) and individuals can proactively contribute their data to benefit research, though of course other uses are intended to protect the data purchaser against the risk posed by the data subject (e.g., the mortgage lender that uses health data as part of its scoring of a loan application). Today, consumers are not given sufficient information at the appropriate time to inform the decisionmaking process about whether to sign up for the customer loyalty program at a particular retailer, or to take the health insurance discount in return for enrollment in the wellness program (often of dubious value to the individual) that ends up scraping patient data.

Caveat emptor.

data / shutterstock

TAGGED:HIPAAsecurity
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Do You Grind Your Teeth at Night? Here’s How Night Guards and TMJ Treatments Can Help
Do You Grind Your Teeth at Night? Here’s How Night Guards and TMJ Treatments Can Help
Dental health
May 21, 2025
The Secret To A Confident Smile: Top Tips For Better Teeth
The Secret To A Confident Smile: Top Tips For Better Teeth
Dental health
May 21, 2025
Clinical Expertise
Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
Health care
May 18, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Health
May 15, 2025

You Might also Like

Interview: Tiantian Li, Founder of DXY, Chinese Physicians’ Online Community

January 19, 2012

Person-Centered HealthCare: How mHealth Technologies Are Benefiting Patients

May 10, 2013
EHR deadline pushed back HIS
eHealthMedical RecordsNewsPolicy & LawPublic Health

CMS Pushes EHR Meaningful Use Deadline Back One Year: What It Means For You

January 3, 2014

How to Best Manage the Good Name of a Hospital

May 8, 2016
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?