Is your doctor mining your data?

You may want to think twice before telling your doctor a "little white lie" about your habits outside the physician's office. That's because we found some hospitals are getting analysis of big data to gain more insight into patients.
Sound creepy?  Well, hang on! Some experts say this analysis could actually improve your health or maybe even save your life!

Is this a new trend? Why do health care providers want this "360 degree view" of patients? For Lynn Crisci, who lives with chronic illness, doctor and hospital visits are routine. But she was surprised to hear some health care providers may be looking beyond medical records to unlock clues to help patients. "I don't feel it's the hospital's right to access more information than the patient has willingly given them."

Experts say a growing number of hospitals across the country are using big data to gain insight into patients. "This could be everything from buying habits to eating habits." That's according to Bill Moschella with Evariant. Industry insiders, like Moschella, stress this data about consumers is already collected and is commonly used by marketing companies. Information like what you buy, where you shop, even your social media use.

Ruth Padilla is a Hospital Consultant. She told us, "Hospitals are getting far more sophisticated with their data and I believe the trend will continue." But Pam Dixon with the World Privacy Forum added this, "There's no question about it. There are entire conferences that are dedicated to teaching hospitals how they can use big data."

Bill Moschella's company analyzes data for hospitals, and says some use it to identify high risk patients and reach out to them before they get sick. And in this age of health care reform, hospitals' are cutting costs to help people avoid repeat e-r visits. Moschella said, "The underlying concept is of course they really want to drive better reimbursements for themselves but of course this should lead to a better health care outcome for the patients who are receiving this treatment."

The way hospitals access and use data varies. Moschella says for his clients, doctors aren't told if you buy a lot of ice cream or cancel your gym membership. Instead, they may provide a report that says you could be at risk for certain diseases. It's something Padilla thinks could be helpful. "Physicians are strapped with time with their patients the more they know about their patients in advance of a visit the more they can probe into certain things that might make them more at risk for disease."

But what information is inaccurate? Dixon believes if hospitals are going to analyze data to determine patient risk they should share it with patients. She says whether that will become standard practice is still to be determined.
"The world where a patient who walks into the doctor's office and the doctor's done a huge predictive analytic work up on the patient, I don't think we're there yet. However, I do think that world is coming," Dixon said.

As for Lynn, she does have privacy concerns when it comes to healthcare and big data, but sees how extra information could potentially help patients. "It could reveal health hazards a patient wasn't previously aware of."

If you want to know what information your hospital or doctor is collecting about you experts recommend just asking. If you want to learn more about what information is shared with third parties, and what you can opt out of, click here for a link to the top ten "opt outs."