Data Data Everywhere (Access and Accountability?)

Hospitals, doctors' offices, and pharmacies are sitting on some very valuable information - your medical information. As health-care providers enter the digital world and computerize their patients' records in an effort to improve the efficiency and quality of care, they are also building a valuable health research tool. The files in their databases may contain the answers to many medical questions we currently face, but they also contain private information that could potentially be misused. Data Data Everywhere highlights the challenges that lie ahead and proposes a uniquely Canadian framework for striking a balance between the benefits of allowing researchers to access medical information and the privacy concerns of individuals. In addition to contributing towards a sustainable model for secondary use of data in health research, the book also contributes significantly to research in this field and serves as an essential comparative reference for similar jurisdictions.

Contributors include Wendy Armstrong (Consumers' Association of Canada, Alberta), Penny Ballem (Consultant), David Henry (Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences), Alan Katz (Manitoba Centre for Health Policy), Pat Kosseim (Genome Canada), Shoo Lee (Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto), Steven Lewis (Consultant), Lisa Lix (University of Saskatchewan), William Lowrance (Consultant), Pat Martens (Manitoba Centre for Health Policy), Dale McMurchy (Consultant), Andrew F. Nelson (Health Partners Research Foundation), Robert Ouellet (Canadian Medical Association), Dorothy Pringle (University of Toronto), Robert J. Reid (Group Health Centre for Health Studies), Valerie Steeves (University of Ottawa), Terry Sullivan (Cancer Care Ontario), Simon Sutcliffe (British Columbia Cancer Agency), Robyn Tamblyn (McGill University), Jack Tu (Institute for Clinical Evaluative Studies), Don Willison (McMaster University), Michael Wolfson (Statistics Canada), and Glenda Yeates (Canadian Institute for Health Information).