Devices & Diagnostics, Health IT

Less privacy but more effective treatment: What are trade-offs of personalized health movement?

There’s a huge amount of interest in advancing personalized medicine to offer patients more effective […]

There’s a huge amount of interest in advancing personalized medicine to offer patients more effective treatment based on their genetic makeups that could also significantly reduce healthcare costs. There is also an increasing prevalence of mobile devices to help people track and report  details of their personal health with the goal of supporting remote monitoring. But to what extent will privacy concerns challenge the growth of these areas?

That’s one of the questions alluded to in a new infographic. It calls attention to issues at the intersection of healthcare and IT that play out in a new book by digital futurist Fard Johnmar (@fardj), the founder and CEO of Enspektos and marketer Rohit Bhargava (@rohitbhargava).

People are confiding more personal information than ever through digital health channels. Telemedicine for behavioral health is improving access in areas underserved by psychologists and providing an attractive alternative for some people who might not want to visit an office.

A report by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions last month called attention to cybersecurity threats in medical devices and the threat it poses to patient safety from spyware and malware to the improper disposal of patient data or information, including test results or health records.

The changes to the HIPAA Omnibus final rule implemented in September means hospitals and some of the health IT companies they work with share liability for data security breaches over protected health information. That’s also prompted more interest in cloud-based solutions with encryption options to support the secure transmission of patient information.

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