The
Australian
Medical
Association
(AMA)
has
called
on
governments
to
legislate
stronger
protection
for
health
data,
particularly
from
the
tech
sector
and
insurers.
The
AMA
issued
a
data
governance
position
statement
[pdf] in
which
it
said
that
a
“connected
healthcare
system”
would
improve
patient
outcomes,
but
must
be
“based
on
the
principles
of
“data
safety,
data
quality,
data
privacy
and
data
portability.”
Protection
and
data
ownership
should
be
based
on
the
General
Data
Protection
Regulation
(GDPR)
models
of
the
EU
and
UK.
The
position
statement
noted
the
expansion
of
multinational
technology
companies
into
Australia,
and
called
on
the
government
to
protect
Australians’
health
data
by
legislating
to
protect
patients’
ownership
of
their
health
data.
“The
AMA
considers
the
use
of
patient
health
data
to
increase
the
profits
of
privately
owned
entities,
that
are
custodians
of
patient
data,
[to
be]
unethical
use
of
data
and
is
strongly
opposed
to
this”,
it
wrote.
The
only
acceptable
reason
for
disclosing
and
sharing
patient
data,
the
AMA
said,
is
a
patient’s
health.
Initiatives
it
identified
as
allowable
include:
“health
research,
health
policy
analysis,
health
service
program
development
and
delivery,
best
practice
health
care,
public
health
initiatives
and
the
identification
of
unmet
health
service
demand.”
The
insurance
industry
is
singled
out
as
needing
a
policy
response,
to
make
it
clear
that
insurers
are
custodians
of
patient
data,
rather
than
owners
of
it.
“As
data
custodians
they
must
not
be
allowed
to
share
or
use
these
data
outside
the
limits
set
by
the
national
legislation,”
the
AMA
wrote.
Software
companies’
penchant
for
giving
themselves
broad
rights
in
contract
terms
should
also
be
reined
in.
“Clinical
software
providers
must
not
be
allowed
to
impose
conditions
on
doctors’
access
to
patient
data
or
impose
shadow
ownership
of
data
by
entering
clauses
in
agreements
with
medical
practices,”
the
AMA
wrote.
“Such
behaviour
is
unethical
and
must
be
deemed
illegal.”
About Author
