Medical profiling and online medicine: the ethics of 'personalised healthcare' in a consumer age
Report
Published 12/10/2010
- To identify and consider the ethical, legal, social and economic issues that arise in the application of new health and medical technologies that aim to deliver highly individualised diagnostic and other services.
- To describe and analyse, by means of case studies, developments in medical research and practice and other factors giving rise to the development of personalised healthcare.
- To consider, in particular:
- Arguments about the scientific significance, reliability and predictive value of particular personalised services
- implications for equity in health in relation to who will benefit most from particular personalised services, and for whom they may be harmful
- the impact of personalised services offered by private providers
- the tensions that might arise between increasing expectations for highly tailored care with the need to provide healthcare for all in the NHS
- the extent to which personalised services can be offered as part of a fair and efficient operation of private and public healthcare systems
- confidentiality and privacy issues in relation to the control, transmission, and storage of personal health data;
- any impacts on the doctor-patient relationship
- whether current regulation is appropriate