Hackathon WSIS action lines and SDGs, e-health data policy

Event report

[Read more session reports and live updates from the WSIS Forum 2016.]

The session presented a technical demonstration of healthcare devices, followed by a discussion of three major policies issues on healthcare by participants.

Dr Malcolm Clarke (Department of Computer Science, Brunel University, London) talked about how patient data can help cure disease. However the policies on protecting patient data have been a concern. Clarke presented the IEEE 11073 Personal Health Device Standard, a system between a computer device and a medical device. The characteristics of the device, which initiates sending observations and contains sources of data, were mentioned.

Medical devices need to have patient data to monitor the health of the patient. The devices will have sensors to collect the information needed. All the data will be managed from a personalised device which is neither a mobile phone nor a computer.

Participants discussed three major issues with regard to policy: what policies are needed to protect patients’ data, what policies are effective to treat patients remotely, and what polices are needed to design a healthcare app for next year’s hackathon at the WSIS Forum.

Suggestions on policies to protect patient data were whether the government has the responsibility to protect patient data as the data needs to be collected for further treatment. Should patients be allowed to disclose their personal data to the hospitals or doctors so that we can develop a cross-national data share? For effective remote treatment, the policies depend on the type of disease the patient has. A policy to protect patient data within the local community was suggested. Suggestions for the healthcare app were to develop an evidence-based app, accessible offline with appropriate technology such as SMS format in order to have a large number of users.

by Aye Mya Nyein