Data Data Everywhere: Access and Accountability? (Queen's Policy Studies Series)

by Colleen M. Flood

Hospitals, doctors' offices, and pharmacies are sitting on some very valuable information, your medical information. As health-care providers enter the digital world and computerize their patients' records in an effort to improve the efficiency and quality of care, they are also building a valuable health research tool. The files in their databases may contain the answers to many medical questions we currently face, but they also contain private information that could potentially be misused. Data Data Everywhere highlights the challenges that lie ahead and proposes a uniquely Canadian framework for striking a balance between the benefits of allowing researchers to access medical information and the privacy concerns of individuals. In addition to contributing toward a sustainable model for secondary use of data in health research, the book contributes significantly to research in this field and serves as an essential comparative reference for similar jurisdictions.

Colleen M. Flood is scientific director, Institute of Health Services and Policy Research, Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009