Plans to put health records online concerns Britons

BEIJING, August 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Politicians in Britain

are proposing to allow public medical records to be stored online by companies

Google and Microsoft, but some campaigners say it could put personal information

at risk. The opposition Conservative party say the internet service would give

patients greater freedom over their health data, allowing them to check and even

edit their NHS record online. But critics backed by the British Medical

Association (BMA), say the information could be vulnerable to hackers and the

plan would make it more difficult for doctors to access information in an

emergency.

Even amongst the party's own ranks there has been some

opposition with former shadow home secretary David Davis saying Google was 'the

last company' he would trust with such sensitive data. There are also

suggestions that Conservative leader David Cameron is too close to the company

since his adviser Steve Hilton is married to Rachel Whetstone, Google's vice

president of global communications and public affairs.

The plan would allow primary care trusts to decide which

of the rival systems to use and Google will not be the only option, the

Conservative party says. Meanwhile Google has pledged not to use the data for

its own gain such as to advertise drugs. The voluntary plans would also be more

secure than the current centralized scheme which may be accessed by thousands of

National Health Service (NHS) workers, the Conservative party claims. Their plan

would only allow patients and local primary care physicians to see information

online. Records would be accessed securely via personal computers in the same

way as bank accounts with patients able to add details of symptoms and side

effects and update their records with blood pressure and cholesterol levels. The

current Government's Connecting for Health system is four years behind schedule

and will not be operating until 2012. It has so far cost in excess of 12.4

billion pounds (20.4 billion U.S. dollars).

Conservative party health spokesman Stephen O'Brien said,

"Giving patients greater control over their health records is crucial if we are

to make the NHS more patient-centred. Labour's attitude to our personal data is

misguided. They seem to think they own it and have been appallingly careless in

looking after it."

But the BMA says it is concerned the system could put

patients at risk. Dr Vivienne Nathanson, the BMA's head of science and ethics,

said, "The security of web-based medical systems is of great concern, as are the

implications of data being held by the private sector. We are concerned by the

suggestion that healthcare staff could be restricted from accessing important

clinical information."

Google already runs a service called Google Health in the

United States where patients may access their medical records. Under the banner

"Take charge of your health information", Google says it provides a safe, secure

and free online account where an individual may "organize health information

from doctors, hospitals and pharmacies in one place."

The facility also enables some or all the data to be

shared securely with another family member, doctor or caregiver. Launched in

2008 Google Health is an opt-in service, meaning it can only access medical

information volunteered by individuals. It does not retrieve any part of a

person's medical records without his or her explicit consent and action.

According to its Terms of Service, Google Health is not

considered a "covered entity" under the Health Insurance Portability and

Accountability Act of 1996. As such HIPAA privacy laws do not apply to it. But

it appears the public are not shunning the service of placing medical data in

the computer cloud. The Cleveland Clinic, which partnered with the service,

found that its patients were eager to use the Google health records. And in an

article covering Google Health's launch, the New York Times discussed privacy

issues and said that "patients apparently did not shun the Google health records

because of qualms that their personal health information might not be secure if

held by a large technology company."

Dozens of medical organizations in the U.S. have since

partnered with the online health data base including the American Heart

Association, Quest Diagnostics and CVS Caremark, a provider of

prescriptions.

(Agencies)