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To me (because I'm a dork about this stuff), the single most under reported story in healthcare today is the power Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook wield as a result of HIPAA. (Yes, you read that right.)
Imagine if Amazon was able to demand, on your behalf, a history of every item you've ever purchased with a credit card. That'd be super valuable data... but no credit card company would ever comply with the request.
Alternatively, HIPAA empowers Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook to *demand* America's healthcare industry do exactly that—divulge ALL the data they maintain on behalf of any consumer who authorizes such a request. Failure to comply with the request is a violation of the law.
What happens when you say NO to a consumer who wants their medical information? Nothing good. hipaajournal.com/hospitals-fail…
Once the information is delivered, the receiving companies are under no obligation to abide by HIPAA. They simply house/process or analyze the data resulting from valid requests.
That is, just because you use Gmail to ask for your health records doesn't mean Google's subject to HIPAA (they're not).
So HIPAA enables the large consumer internet companies, acting on behalf of digitally engaged consumers, to aggregate and analyze a giant amount of high value data.
Imagine being the CEO of a big health system, and having Amazon make an appointment to warn you they're about to deliver 1.6 million HIPAA requests from your patients across America. Yipes. Trust me, that day is coming.
