eHealth revolution could be a boon for patient privacy if the right protections are built into new health information systems; however there are growing worries that privacy and security are being overlooked by designers rushing to deploy eHealth systems. In the UK, for example, there has been ongoing controversy surrounding the National Health Service's pursuit of a 'summary care record'. Or take the case of Germany, where the government recently suspended the national e-health card due to criticisms from doctors and experts about the security of data.
In these resource-constrained contexts privacy is often mistakenly viewed as a luxury – as a potential impediment to helping sick people get better. These regulatory and governance failures therefore demand that we develop a comprehensive strategy for ensuring that the privacy of patients is protected and that their medical data is adequately secured, no matter the jurisdiction or context. Providing effective healthcare and upholding patient privacy should not be seen as mutually exclusive objectives. With the right systems both goals can be achieved.
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