Want to put your doctor's stethoscope in a twist? Ask them to hand over a complete copy of your medical records. Then watch as they nervously demur, citing state laws, cost, and fuzzy hospital policies.
Jamie Heywood wants those obstacles legislated out of existence so we can access our own health data almost as easily as ordering a pizza. And he hopes consumers will in turn share that data with one another via online communities such as PatientsLikeMe, which he cofounded in 2004.
PatientsLikeMe allows people with chronic diseases to create public profiles listing their symptoms, medications, and other details long deemed too sensitive to share.
The declaration's third tenet, in particular, is bound to vex secretive doctors and hospitals: "We the people have the right to take possession of a complete copy of our individual health data, without delay, at minimal or no cost."
Heywood admits that there may be pitfalls---the prospect, for example, that employers could weed out workers with rare diseases. But by his estimate, tens of thousands of lives are lost each year because health data doesn't flow freely.
Automated summary from: Wired
