Alaap B. Shah, Member of the Firm in the Health Care & Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s Washington, DC, office, was quoted in the Washington Examiner, in “Letting Patients Own Their Data,” by Grant Gross. (Read the full version – subscription required.)

Following is an excerpt:

New state laws in Maryland and Oregon would give patients ownership of the medical data they generate when they visit healthcare providers.

In most circumstances, healthcare providers have ownership of the medical data they extract from patients. The Maryland and Oregon bills would give patients ownership of their medical data, opening up avenues for patients to be paid if their medical data is sold. …

Many people in the healthcare industry agree that increased patient engagement with their data would be positive, but so would more sharing of de-identified medical information, said Alaap Shah, a lawyer focused on healthcare and life sciences with Epstein Becker Green in D.C. Sharing of medical information that doesn’t identify the patients can improve medical outcomes, reduce costs, and create greater efficiencies, he said.

“Making sharing of such de-identified health information subject to patient authorization and attaching monetary interests that vest with patients could result in significant consequences to patient health, efficient operation of the healthcare system, and overall digital health innovation,” Shah said. “Requiring patient authorization to use de-identified data would likely reduce payors’ and providers’ abilities to conduct health care operations analyses to improve care delivery and cost.”

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