I Really Think This Is Going Too Far In Terms Of Use Of PBS Data. What Do You Think?

This appeared last week:Medicare data used to recruit people with bipolar for researchBy Kate AubussonJuly 29, 2019 — 12.00amA letter sent to almost 50,000 patients prescribed lithium inviting them to take part in a bipolar study has raised questions about how Medicare stores and uses private healthcare information.UNSW psychiatrist Professor Gordon Parker first became aware of a study investigating the genetic s of bipolar when a former patient sent him an angry email accusing him of breaching her privacy.  “She was furious with me, believing that she was contacted by Medicare because I had blown her confidentiality,” he said.But the letter had been sent by the Department of Health Services (DHS) on behalf of a research team at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute inviting recipients to partic ipate in a study exploring potential biomarkers for bipolar disorder.“The [DHS] has sent you this letter because its records show that you may have been prescribed lithium at some time... This is the initial part of the post - read more by clicking on the title of the article. David.
Source: Australian Health Information Technology - Category: Information Technology Authors: Source Type: blogs