A Healthy Amount of Privacy: Quantifying Privacy Concerns in Medicine

26 Pages Posted: 24 Feb 2017 Last revised: 24 Jun 2020

See all articles by Ignacio Cofone

Ignacio Cofone

Oxford University Faculty of Law

Date Written: December 1, 2016

Abstract

With recent developments in e-health, concerns have been raised regarding the privacy of patients who are monitored with such treatments. I propose a simple method to incorporate these concerns into a standard health impact evaluation, based on Quality Adjusted Life Years and the Incremental Cost-Effectiveness Ratio. This method provides a way to objectively value privacy concerns and balance them with health benefits. Hence, it can guide doctors and policymakers into incorporating privacy considerations and making better choices regarding e-health programs. This method can also be tested on existing economic evaluations to compare outcomes and gauge the extent to which privacy issues in medical treatments should be taken seriously.

Keywords: Patient Privacy, Privacy Loss, Information Privacy, Data Protection, E-Health, QALY, ICER

JEL Classification: K32, I18

Suggested Citation

Cofone, Ignacio, A Healthy Amount of Privacy: Quantifying Privacy Concerns in Medicine (December 1, 2016). Cleveland State Law Review, Vol. 65, No. 1, 2016, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2922734

Ignacio Cofone (Contact Author)

Oxford University Faculty of Law ( email )

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