Digital tools released by technology and healthcare companies can help patients manage data, but the new technologies have led to uncertainty around data privacy and control, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Tech companies like Apple and insurance giant UnitedHealth are introducing digital tools that improve consumers' access to their own medical records. Apple rolled out its health records app for iPhone, which lets users access their EHRs directly from their device, while UnitedHealth unveiled plans last year to launch an EHR system for its members and providers.
Healthcare companies are required to abide by patient privacy laws under HIPAA, but tech companies that gather data directly from consumers aren't necessarily required to follow the same HIPAA laws, The Wall Street Journal health insurance reporter Anna Wilde Matthews reports. The FTC oversees tech companies' use of consumer data, which data and health experts said will be a pressing issue for consumers, according to the report.
"Most laypeople think all of their health information is covered by HIPAA, and it's not," Joy Pritts, a former federal health-privacy official, told The Wall Street Journal.
Tech companies that do not fall under HIPAA regulations say, "they use consumers' health data only with permission," according to the report. Consumer data stored in Apple's health records is inaccessible to the tech giant, an Apple spokesperson told the publication.
With HHS' recently proposed interoperability rules, patients would be granted increased access to their health data, which could lead to increased competition for users and consumers among companies.
To access the full report, click here.