One of the core tenets of the emerging notion of VRM is that we, the customers née users, should be in control of our own information. That is, we should decide what we tell to whom, under what circumstances. Additionally, we should be able to hold onto our own info (and, if a third party needs to hold onto our info on our behalf, we should be able to export it and move it elsewhere, easily).
Mike at Techdirt points to an article about how to create a personal health record (PHR) that gets to this idea in, of all places, the slow-to-change U.S. healthcare industry.
From an abstract, theoretical perspective, the PHR idea makes perfect sense. However, there are so many aspects of this that (I think) would be hobbled by the notoriously risk-averse healthcare industry. In particular, a number of questions come to mind, including:
- Will doctors accept the information in a patient’s PHR at face value, or need to re-run all test results to “cover themselves” for liability reasons anyway?
- What are the implications if someone gets ahold of my PHR? For example, can the information in my PHR be used to discriminate via insurance premiums?
- What if an unauthorized third party gets ahold of my PHR? What are the consequences of the theft of one’s medical history?
- More broadly, how does one select which portions of a PHR to share with which caregivers? Do I want everyone to have access to everything? (I think the answer is “no.”)
Anyone out there experimented with this at all? If so, would love to hear your stories.