NRC Handelsblad, 30 April 2014: 'Give doctor and patient their own records back'

Some quotes from opinion piece Bart de Koning:

"Patients should decide together with their doctor who gets access to their records (...).

Fortunately, we do not have to stand idly by as the National Switch Point undermines medical confidentiality: it can be done better and smarter. Patients should be able to decide together with their doctor exactly who gets access to their records. On the initiative of Civil Rights Protection Foundation and Privacy First Foundation, a group of concerned citizens started an internet campaign for medical privacy last week. Current systems by which healthcare providers share medical data are unsafe because they do not set hard limits on access to someone's medical record. Data is accessed by thousands of healthcare providers, and which ones they are or what data is involved is not clear in advance.

A better alternative is a system of specific consent. In this, doctor and patient together determine who has access to the record. With specific consent, effective exchange of data between healthcare providers is perfectly possible. A system of fine-grained specific consent is technically and practically feasible, and prevents confidential data from coming under the eyes of unauthorised people through carelessness or malicious intent. But then the software for it must be available and policymakers, ICT suppliers and insurers must cooperate in its implementation.

The campaign is now endorsed by a good number of civil society organisations, academics and healthcare providers.(...)"

Source: NRC Handelsblad, Opinion section, 30 April 2014.