I agreed to participate in a pay for performance program with one of the big insurers and backed out when the deidentified data included first and last name and date of birth. Supposedly a third party was going to do the de identifying but a google search showed the third party (an entity frequently a government contractor) was wholly owned and operated by the big insurer. Turns out that what they were doing was against state law but some sort of fancy footwork went on. Most docs in my area dumped their data and got an enhancement in their reimbursement. Any respect for privacy, patient info protection, or upholding basic tenets of our professional ethic is/will be removing us from the game/practice of medicine/healthcare system. It is now all business. Government controlled business with that government picking insurance and pharmaceutical and device/ technology winners and losers. What do we do about this. Now I'm really depressed!
