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Microsoft Working On Health Information 'Vault' System
josmar52789 wrote with an article from the New York Times, discussing Microsoft's new push into the consumer health care market. The plan is to offer personal health care records online via a system called HealthVault. Numerous big names in the medical field have signed up for the service, including the 'American Heart Association, Johnson & Johnson LifeScan, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, the Mayo Clinic and MedStar Health'. The ultimate purpose of the service is to provide an online accessible but highly secure service to patients and medical facilities: "The personal information, Microsoft said, will be stored in a secure, encrypted database. Its privacy controls are set entirely by the individual, including what information goes in and who gets to see it. The HealthVault searches are conducted anonymously and will not be linked to any personal information in a HealthVault personal health record. Microsoft does not expect most individuals to type in much of their own health information into the Web-based record. Instead, the company hopes that individuals will give doctors, clinics and hospitals permission to directly send into their HealthVault record information like medicines prescribed or, say, test results showing blood pressure and cholesterol levels. "
Microsoft is starting its long-anticipated drive into the consumer health care market by offering free personal health records on the Web and pursuing a strategy that borrows from the company's successful formula in personal computer software.
I'll bet this sentence is not going to go over too well with the slashdot crowd.
meaning, that is.
Read radical news here
Well, yes, there's a potential problem any time you put enough personal information into one place: sure, it's more convenient for the appropriate people to access, but it's also more convenient for someone to steal.
My bigger concern, however, is that this is Microsoft proposing this. It makes me want to vet the idea for possible abuses. Beyond the obvious privacy concerns, is Microsoft going to make it accessible only to Windows Vista machines, thereby forcing the entire medical system and any potential clients to upgrade, followed by years of lock-in?
Even if such a system is going to be set up, I'd rather someone with a good track record build something that makes use of open formats and protocols. I'd like to know that my family's medical records aren't going to go up in a puff of smoke because Windows Update decided my Office license wasn't "genuine", or something other bizarre thing.
This sounds like a horrible idea to me from other standpoints too:
1) Medical professionals never like patients to have full access to their records, as if a patient misunderstands something on their file, their life could be at stake based on the decisions they make.
2) The US has this thing called the PATRIOT act, and MS has agreements with some agencies allowing back-door access to data they host. Let's just say that I highly doubt this information will be protected from people working for US "security" agencies.
3) The system appears to be designed so that MS can sell aggregated data to drug companies and insurance companies. Seems to me though that even with aggregated data, you could reverse-mine it to have a reasonable suspicion regarding individuals (you'd know trends, which would help in searching for more specific details)
Anyway, the whole thing could be really useful if used correctly, but there are so many ways it could be misused even if the system doesn't have a major security breach that I for one would never use it.
Doctor: I've examined you, and reviewed your MSMedicalHistory(tm) and it looks like you are in fine health, though I see your blood pressure is slightly higher than last time.
Patient: Well, work has been a bit stressful, should I worry?
Doctor: Not at all. It is still good for your age. Have you tried Halo 3?
Patient: huh?
Doctor: Video games are a great stress reliever. If you don't have an Xbox 360 with Halo3, I can put in an order for one for you. Have you had any other problems?
Patient: Sometimes I get a headache from staring at the computer too long.
Doctor: Hold on -- there, I've adjusted your screen resolution and font size on your home and work computers.
Patient: Umm.....