schwit1 (797399) sends word of a new and exciting use for all of the data various entities are collecting about you. From the article:
You may soon get a call from your doctor if you've let your gym membership lapse, made a habit of ordering out for pizza or begin shopping at plus-sized stores. That's because some hospitals are starting to use detailed consumer data to create profiles on current and potential patients to identify those most likely to get sick, so the hospitals can intervene before they do. Acxiom Corp. (ACXM) and LexisNexis are two of the largest data brokers who collect such information on individuals. They say their data are supposed to be used only for marketing, not for medical purposes or to be included in medical records. While both sell to health insurers, they said it's to help those companies offer better services to members.
Re:Doesn't give warm fuzzies
By plopez
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2014-Jun-26 09:58
• Score: 4, Insightful
• Thread
Couple that with "eventually consistent" databases and you have a recipe for disaster.
Re:Time to Legislate Data Mining
By gstoddart
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2014-Jun-26 10:05
• Score: 4, Insightful
• Thread
We could start by requiring mandatory reporting to a central agency
We can call it Big Brother. That's a nice name which implies someone looking out for your welfare, right?
a way for that central agency to send a
unsubscribe back to the data collector.
Sorry, citizen, all information once collected can and will be used against you.
In order to maximize corporate profits and governmental control, this information is vital to national interests.
Re:Doesn't give warm fuzzies
By L4t3r4lu5
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2014-Jun-26 10:16
• Score: 5, Interesting
• Thread
One step further; You're with a friend and stop at a convenience store, he asks you to get a pack of smokes. Your insurance states you're a non-smoker. They use this data to refuse a claim in the future.
Re:Doesn't give warm fuzzies
By digitalchinky
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2014-Jun-26 10:17
• Score: 4, Interesting
• Thread
I write medical imaging software, surounded by dozens of doctors every day that are not just out of earshot of the patients but sometimes not even in the same country. My sample size is obviously not representative of much at all, though at least in my tiny corner of the world the situation is the total opposite of what you describe. These people sigh and get upset when they see terminal disease, they cry when children are dying, they don't enjoy seeing people hurt and don't waste a second if it means life or death. They are often detached but they still care.
Don't mistake the human factor for doctors that are worried about getting sued because someone broke their pinky finger and had to wait for the guy having a heart attack to be treated first.
Re:Doesn't give warm fuzzies
By CreatureComfort
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2014-Jun-26 10:21
• Score: 4, Informative
• Thread
Nurse Joke: "You know what you call the guy who graduated last in his class at medical school? Doctor."
Angie's List was created because separating the lousy doctors from the very few good ones is almost impossible. The AMA has lobbied successfully to make it illegal for a patient to find out the malpractice history of physicians.
If you're looking for a new doctor, the best thing you can do is talk to some local nurses. They know which ones are on the ball, and which ones are flat out dangerous.