Chicago-based Rush Health is facing a lawsuit that alleges that the health system shared patient health information with Google and other third parties, Bloomberg Law reported July 25.
The lawsuit, filed by Rush patient Marguerite Kurowski in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, alleges that patient information entered into Rush Health's patient portal was shared with Google and other third parties.
The suit also alleges that Rush Health violated the Illinois Eavesdropping Act.
Judge Matthew Kennelly of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, said July 24 that Ms. Kurowski "successfully stated a claim for breach of contract regarding the health system's information disclosures to Google and others, regardless of whether those disclosures violated other privacy laws," according to the publication.
Rush Health isn't the only health system facing suit for healthcare data sharing.
Hospitals and health systems around the country are facing similar suits due to pixels being allegedly installed on hospital sites and patient portals. These pixels allegedly send patient information, such as IP addresses, physicians' names and search terms, to companies like Facebook and Google.
Nonprofit news organization The Markup found that out of 100 top hospital websites, 33 had installed a tracker called Meta Pixel.