Balancing data privacy in healthcare with the need for care personalization

Understanding data security and privacy concerns in healthcare

Cyberattacks in the healthcare industry have been on the rise in recent years, in some cases impacting patient outcomes. This has led many organizations to reconsider budgets and re-evaluate approaches to security and data protection.

Given that many of the breaches that occur are HIPAA data breaches, it makes sense that one 2023 poll found up to 95% of patients surveyed were concerned their medical records could be at risk.

According to a 2022 survey of U.S. patients by the American Medical Association, 92% of respondents believe privacy is a right when it comes to their health data. Delving into their comfort level with sharing their personal health data, the survey found:

• 64% to over 75% said they were most comfortable sharing their personal data with a doctor’s office or hospital.
• Over 67% said they were least comfortable sharing their information with tech companies.
• Nearly 70% say they hesitate to sign up for health apps and technologies that might use their data.
• 94% of patients said they felt that companies that collect, store, analyze or use health data should be held accountable by law.

Nonetheless, even as they express concern over their personal data, consumers report higher levels of trust in healthcare to protect their privacy than in other industries, such as technology and retail, according to a McKinsey survey. This may be, in part, because healthcare organizations tend to “underuse” what patient data they have compared to other industries of data collectors. More than half of respondents in the McKinsey survey expressed interest in using their personal health data to create a more streamlined and personalized care experience by:

• Helping to manage chronic conditions.
• Delivering personalized health and wellness insights.
• Receiving targeted care and product recommendations.

As payer care management organizations seek to further personalize their educational support and outreach, these reactions show they need to be mindful of data sharing and vendor access, especially regarding PHI.

Strategies for personalized care while protecting PHI

With various technology requirements, state and federal privacy laws, and employer policies, the solution partners that payers consider need to offer integration options that can support flexible PHI data access. Partners like UpToDate^® allow health plans to tailor and integrate content operations into existing workflows without accessing sensitive data to deliver personalized member experiences.

Using consumer education to improve health literacy

Health plans that are looking to proactively address outcomes should consider how educational content can help members better understand their diagnoses, recommended treatment plans, and overall holistic care journeys.

Since nearly half of patients report that they do not get all of their questions answered during provider encounters and 80% say they often or sometimes have follow-up questions, health plans that distribute personalized, engaging health content can help fill this gap and give members an opportunity to self-manage their health at home.

Member education materials can be distributed without accessing PHI through solutions that allow:

• Aggregate-level data analysis to understand usage patterns and engagement trends.
• Privacy-minded options that support insights without measuring member-specific activity.
• Flexible delivery models.

Scale resources for different outreach needs

Member content and engagement can support different resource needs to help care managers efficiently manage outreach at scale and tailor content for different risk levels without requiring patient-specific PHI:

• Self-service resources for all members: General health and wellness; chronic condition content.
  • Integrate materials into payer health libraries and digital applications.
• Automated engagement for members with rising risk: Content supporting health awareness campaigns and key metrics.
  • Integration with member engagement platforms for batch deployment.
• Care manager support for higher risk members: Educational resources supporting engagement efforts.
  • Integrated content within workflows for care managers to build member experiences.

eBook: The power of personal content journeys

Content that combines personalization with privacy enables payer care management teams to tailor educational workflows to the member populations that can benefit the most from the resources. Learn more in our new eBook, “The power of personal content journeys for members.”