This morning, tech giant Microsoft Corporation will tell America that health
technology CAN protect privacy and ensure informed consent when they announce
the launch of HealthVault, an electronic health record system. Patient
Privacy Rights founder, Dr. Deborah Peel, will be standing with Microsoft to
talk about HealthVault’s privacy protections.

Microsoft has sought advice from Patient Privacy Rights about building privacy
protections into HealthVault. Today, the bar for privacy in electronic health
records has been raised exponentially: guaranteeing informed consent is NOT a
nuisance or impossibility BUT a requirement. We challenge other technology
companies to also give patients real control of their personal health
information.

Why would Patient Privacy Rights support an electronic health record?

* HealthVault requires consumers to give informed consent before any use or
disclosure of personal health information. No one: not insurers, employers,
hospitals, application partners, advertisers, data miners, or even Microsoft
will be able to access consumers’ electronic health accounts without consent.
* Microsoft has committed to independent third party audits to verify their
pledge to protect privacy.
* Microsoft is the first major multinational technology corporation to
collaborate with Patient Privacy Rights and use the 2007 Privacy Principles
created by the bi-partisan Coalition for Patient Privacy as the basis for the
consumer controls of health data stored in HealthVault.
* Microsoft’s application partners are held to the same privacy standards as
HealthVault.
* Advertisers are contractually required to protect any data transferred from
HealthVault.
* HealthVault’s privacy policies are simple and easy to understand.
* Microsoft’s new health search engine is not data mined and allows people to
search for health information anonymously.

While Microsoft assured Patient Privacy Rights that HealthVault’s privacy
protections are solid, no one should feel pressured to use HealthVault, or any
other electronic health record. You and you alone should have the right to
decide whether you are comfortable storing and sharing your health information
To learn more you can read Patient Privacy Rights’ Press Release and explore
Microsoft’s HealthVault.

Source: Ashley Katz
Patient Privacy Rights.org