In a recent @Health_Affairs Blog post, @HealthPrivacy, @SavageMeHealth, and I search for the right prescription for health data privacy. The AMA's new Privacy Principles served as food for thought. healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hbl… (1/4) In our post, we detail the laudable advances put forward in the @AmerMedicalAssn's Privacy Principles, including principles on: increasing transparency, increasing health equity, and precautions against digital phenotyping. (2/4)

Wearables and in-home sensors offer great promise for affordable, accessible, equitable, high-quality care. But the data creates a safety issue that extends beyond the body. Want to learn more? Check out @GoldsackJen @_DiMeSociety and my latest blog bit.ly/2YeTcDL Professional codes of ethics, laws, and regulations set patient privacy protections within healthcare. For good reason: patients should control access their health information.

But shaky data rights in the U.S. mean health tech could unwittingly putting patients' data at risk.

Consumers feel like they have little control over data collected on them. Users of #reprohealth apps have reason to be wary. @ConsumerReports tested 5 apps and found shortcomings in the way all handle the sensitive user data they collect. cr.org/periodtrackers Repro health apps are offered as an empowerment tool for consumers eager for power and agency over their health. Yet at the same time, many health apps do not have proper privacy standards in place, which too often results in sensitive health data falling into the wrong hands.

Your regular reminder that HIPAA + other health privacy laws don’t apply to DTC genetic testing companies. When you take a test, you share your family genetic info. When you test your kid, you make a choice about their privacy that can't be undone when they're older.

https://twitter.com/PrivacyProject/status/1197925082892525568

https://twitter.com/HealthEDena/status/1195008567109025792?s=20

.@CRAdvocacy supports @ab824, which would help ensure that the pathways for entry by affordable generic alternatives stay open, so that budget-conscious consumers will have choices, and will not have to continue paying unjust monopoly prices for the medications they need. 1/4

https://twitter.com/healthaccess/status/1167112057549815808

What we're talking about here is prohibiting anti-competitive "pay for delay" schemes, where brand-name prescription drug makers effectively pay-off makers of more affordable generic (or biosimilar) alternatives so the brand-name drug maker can prolong its monopoly profits. 2/4

Wellness programs are promoted as improving wellness, and they’re having a moment. But, they may not be a fair deal for enrollees. @ConsumerReports explains why wellness programs may not be all they appear. consumerreports.org/health-privacy… Last year, 82% of larger companies & 53% of smaller firms offered some type of wellness program kff.org/health-costs/r…

This Data Privacy Day, it’s time for a deep dive on your health privacy. #PrivacyAware 1/7 Patients have the right to their med records but getting their hands on it can involve jumping through hoops – it doesn’t have to. Patients have the right to their health data. HC providers must respond to requests for med records within 30 days. #PrivacyAware 2/7

Did someone say #RateReview? Here's a site we set up a few years ago. consumersunion.org/rate-review-re… Haven't had time to update this year, but the info about how rates are reviewed still holds. Check out our blog series and the comments we submitted in California.

https://twitter.com/ConsumersUnion/status/993864197871108097

Want to have your say about proposed rates in your state? Here's some guides: consumersunion.org/rate-review-fo…. A state can actually block unfair increases with "prior approval" rate review.