What do the experts claim regarding the data? *
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Answer:
Confidentiality and Privacy of Personal Data
Earlier chapters introduced the Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee's conceptualization of health database organizations (HDOs), outlined their presumed benefits, listed potential users and uses, and examined issues related to the disclosure of descriptive and evaluative data on health care providers (institutions, agencies, practitioners, and similar entities). This chapter examines issues related to information about individuals or patients—specifically, what this committee refers to as person-identified or person-identifiable data. It defines privacy, confidentiality, and security in the context of health-related information and outlines the concerns that health experts, legal authorities, information technology specialists, and society at large have about erosions in the protections accorded such information. It pays particular attention to the status that might be accorded such data when held by HDOs.
Existing ethical, legal, and other approaches to protecting confidentiality and privacy of personal health data offer some safeguards, but major gaps and limitations remain. The recommendations at the end of this chapter are intended to strengthen current protections for confidentiality and privacy of health-related data, particularly for information acquired by HDOs.