Sale of health records
Newspapers around Australia have reported the increasing practice of selling private medical information.
Companies providing general practitioners with discounted database software, are collecting the information entered onto the database for sale to pharmaceutical and other companies. The information sold has been stripped of identifying features such as names, addresses and Medicare numbers, leaving data such as patients' postcodes, gender, test results and the drugs prescribed. Patients are said to have been made aware of this practice by posters in the relevant GP offices, and may opt out of the scheme if they wish.
The information is only coming from private sector medical centres. Under the new regime this may constitute an additional use of the information - beyond the use for which it was collected. The medical centres may have to ask the express consent of the patient to continue passing the information on.
