Consumer Trust Core to Health Privacy
Microsoft Consumer Affairs Director Frank Torres writes on the Microsoft on the Issues Blog:
Information about our personal health is arguably the most sensitive data we own. From chronic conditions to medications to genetic makeup, our personal health information reveals intimate details about who we are, what we do, and what we may be like in the future. As a result, ensuring its privacy and confidentiality is a principle that simply cannot be compromised.
The Congress has started an important conversation about how to balance progress and privacy: Progress toward building an electronic health system and protecting the privacy of those who are part of it. As part of that conversation, Michael Stokes, Principal Lead Program Manager for Microsoft HealthVault, testified earlier this week before of the Senate Judiciary Committee to provide our view of how this can be done at a hearing titled “ Health IT: Protecting Americans' Privacy in the Digital Age .”
Microsoft has been working closely with the advocacy groups focused on patient and consumer privacy. We share the same focus on placing consumers in control of their health information, and making that information secure and private.
At Microsoft, we envision a healthcare ecosystem that places patients at the center of a protected and connected network, with everyone having the right information at the right time to make the best health decisions. Health data is the precious asset that drives the system.