I have always been a little bothered by EHRs selling doctor and patient data. In the FFS, it is happening all the time. Here are some example articles:
And..
There is HUGE money in this data. So, the question for you is, “Is your DPC EHR selling you and your patient’s data?”
I asked Josh Umbehr, MD about Atlas and he says there is nothing in his contract allowing them to sell data. He promises that docs own all their own information. (If someone sees something else in their contract then contact me).
But what about others? Look at the first article on Amazon. Do you think they will be mining and selling One Medical’s data?
But all this got me thinking. If you don’t have Atlas (I have no allegiance to any company and Atlas does not advertise here) then have you checked your EHR contract? Recently, this line from a DPC EHR company contract was sent to me:
Provider will provide XXXXXX access to utilization data, administrative data, and/or aggregated medical records if needed to administer the provision of this Agreement based on its participation in any Direct Care Services Agreement.
That provision sure makes it seem like some third parties are getting access to you and your patients’ information. (I will keep the name of the company private but you can check your contract to see if you have a similar stipulation.)
Here are my questions:
- Does this bother you?
- Does this sway you on whether to use that EHR?
- Have you even looked at your EHR contract?
I am not trying to start a war here and, again, I have no “favorite” EHR. I am using this DPC News platform to be a voice for the purity of Direct Primary Care. Personally, I have not seen any benefit over the years from companies using EHR data. And when I used to pitch my DPC practice to patients, it was a selling point that their data was 100% private. So, I am in favor of keeping this information from other “wanting” parties.
What is your opinion?