Dabrock: Patients must remain sovereign over their data

15.12.2017 11:34

The new issue of the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Physicians' magazine "KBV Klartext" focuses on the topic of big data in the health sector. “Going back to a pre-big data era is not realistic. Rather, we have to ask ourselves what goals we want to use these technologies for," emphasizes Prof. Peter Dabrock, Chairman of the German Ethics Council, in an interview.

This is particularly true for the healthcare sector. It is crucial to adapt previous rules to the changed conditions: “If we want to use the advantages of big data in the health sector, then we have to admit that we can no longer simply continue with the well-tried paradigm of informational self-determination and the old data protection principles. The Ethics Council therefore suggests switching from 'data protection' to a new concept of 'data sovereignty'. We call this 'informational freedom determination,'” explains Dabrock.

This requires new technical options that allow individuals to intervene in the utilization process of their personal and, above all, health-related data at any time. Citizens should also have the opportunity to “proactively make themselves available as data donors,” Dabrock continued. The Ethics Council further explained this in its statement on “Big Data and Health” published at the end of November. In doing so, he took up a suggestion from the KBV, according to which citizens should be allowed to donate health data on a voluntary basis and make it available for research, for example. However, this must be done while maintaining strict and effective data protection with a specific purpose for the data.

The full interview with the chairman of the German Ethics Council is in the current edition from “KBV Klartext”.

Other topics in the issue include doctor-patient communication, bureaucracy in the doctor's office, proposals from the KBV to replace budgets in statutory health insurance remuneration, the reform of emergency care and the discussion about psychotherapist training.