Medical Records: Top Secret
From the article:
[…] In a digital age when we can transfer money to purchase a house online or view a college transcript by logging on to a secure website, why is it so often difficult for patients to gain access to their medical data? And who controls our health information?
“You should be able to walk into a provider’s office and say, ‘I want a copy’ — you are legally entitled to that,” said I. Glenn Cohen, a professor at Harvard Law School, noting that there were only a few exceptions, such as for prisoners. But the reality is that many hospitals and doctors have created a series of hurdles that must be cleared before patients can get their information. And many of those hurdles, experts say, are based on the economics of medicine.
“The medical record is held hostage,” Professor Cohen said. “The reason is often to keep a customer or keep a patient from leaving the practice.” […]
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bioethics health law policy i. glenn cohen public health regulation