One of the companies that sells and supports EMR software in primary care practices in Ontario is also selling health data on the side. The company anonymizes the data — strips names and other identifying information from the health records — and then sells it to IQVIA, a U.S.-based health data giant. Of the large EMR software companies in Ontario, OSCAR EMR, Telus Health Solutions, QHR Technologies and P&P data systems all denied selling anonymized patient records. Legally, it appears that EMR companies do not have to inform patients that they are selling their anonymized data. Like hospital data in Ontario, EMR data from primary care clinics should only be collected by a public organization and used for research and public health purposes.

Source: thestar February 20, 2019 18:56 UTC