[mdlug] A plan to digitize health care - My Apology

[Dan DeSloover]

Most of the vendors will do a one-time, no-frills data dump for free, but
after that nothing. The idea being the dump will be used to switch
vendors, and after that the doctor's office won't need the vendor anymore.
They don't do it gladly and they tend not to advertise it, but that's been
my experience.

Some vendors may charge for tech time to do the dump, but in many cases
it's worth it to pay the fee to get out of a bad situation. How badly does
the doc want out? A contract is a contract.

Do some vendors attempt to hold data hostage? Absolutely, but I believe
it's morally bankrupt and is just one of the hurdles a national health
care data exchange will face.

Mark Thuemmel wrote:
> Sure Dan, the vendor will just automagicly produce the data for the Dr
> in any format he wants at any time for free.....owns may be one thing,
> but "be able to get a data dump" is another....
>
>
>
> Dan DeSloover wrote:
>> Absolutely, it's written into HIPAA. A patient owns their individual
>> record and the doctor owns the entire data set.
>>
>> allen wrote:
>>> Is it as cut and dried as that?
>>>
>>> The reason I ask is the last time I read about ownership of personal
>>> data the issue was far from settled and pretty contentious. Or is data
>>> ownership clearly established for medical data only?
>>>
>>> Allen
>>>
>>> Dan DeSloover wrote:
>>>> Interesting. The software company does know that the data belongs to
>>>> the
>>>> doctor and the patients, right?
>>>>
>>>> While the company may have a proprietary interest in database, schema
>>>> and
>>>> client interface they don't own the data.
>>>>
>>>> Any doctor's office caught in this kind of trap should be able to get
>>>> a
>>>> data dump (into CSV, HL7) and then immediately switch practice
>>>> management
>>>> systems.
>>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> ----
>> Dan DeSloover
>> dand at zifferent.net
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> mdlug at mdlug.org
>> http://mdlug.org/mailman/listinfo/mdlug
>>
>
>


----
Dan DeSloover
dand at zifferent.net