Does Your Nurse Purchase Pornography? When Patients Access the Same "Private" Data as Care Providers...

As a caregiver, do you feel it's you're patients' right to know you're spending habits, medical history, or even your internet browsing habits?

While many in the profession whistle past the privacy graveyard and seem to almost champion the idea of hospitals such as "Carolinas HealthCare System" using data vendors like Acxiom or LexisNexis to provide risk profiles based on a patient's credit card purchases and loyalty program habits, it's important to know that the same data may be available to be packaged as a way for consumers to make decisions about their healthcare providers.

Data is for sale, that's a fact. While a few enthusiastic "big data" analysts may see this as a boon for the bottom line of a hospital, it's important for everyone to remember that the data brokers are not exclusive agents and the same data that is available for sale to the largest healthcare providers is also available to well-funded young entrepreneurs who feel it's their duty to build apps that let you take a deeper look into the private lives of the doctors and nurses they hire.

The editors of NVN have actually just (June 25, 2014) participated in a conference call with the founders of a stealth start-up looking for angel investors.

While the management teams' experience is very compelling (it's assembled insiders with hands-on experience at executive levels of some of the largest data vendors, several "lead gen" entrepreneurs skilled in monetizing private data via new media website and app publishing schemes, a team of accomplished app developers, and several "big data" project managers. It was actually their philosophical goal and quirky 'real life' examples that seemed to stun and intrigue the other potential investors on the call...

While they didn't focus exclusively on healthcare (they seem to have an insatiable desire to expose the private data of teachers and politicians as well), I couldn't help but note a few specifics especially when they began touting their potential ability to expose browsing habits and internet search histories:

"Does your caregiver purchase media similar to that of admitted marijuana or cocaine users?"

"Is the home healthcare nurse you've hired a Christian or a Scientologist?"

"What types of websites does your doctor or nurse visit frequently?"