There has been a lot of discussion recently in regard to the ownership of patient data in the electronic health records of providers, and the rumblings continue as I speak with folks at this year’s mHealth Summit, though the issues of ownership and privacy are readily confused. Privacy and ownership are two closely related concepts. Both are relevant in the context of mobile health, for different reasons. I suggest that patients should expect that in a well functioning and affordable health care system, their commercial ownership (i.e. the right to profit from its use) and privacy expectations cannot be absolute. They must be tempered by the needs of a well run and affordable system. This is a fundamental policy issue that must be resolved before additional barriers to a connected health world are created.

See on wirelesslifesciences.org