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Hospitals and doctors are beginning to utilize data that can be gleaned from their patients’ fitness trackers and apps to formulate treatment plans, but most are proceeding with caution while key questions are being worked out.

Professor Nicolas Terry of IU McKinney commented on this trend for a news story compiled by the Associated Press.

The story examines liability should someone fail to notice a health problem that was discernible through a patient’s data, whether fitness tracker and app data is reliable, how physicians would be compensated for reviewing fitness data, and privacy and security concerns, which is one of Professor Terry’s areas of expertise.

Data entered into a health care provider’s electronic record system is protected by strict federal privacy laws, but that protection doesn’t extend to the creators of fitness trackers and apps. Professor Terry points out in the AP story that if the creators of the devices and apps don’t promise to safeguard the information, they may sell it and share it as they see fit.

Professor Terry is the Hall Render Professor of Law and executive director of the Hall Center for Law and Health. His research interests lie primarily at the intersection of medicine, law, and information technology. His recent scholarship has dealt with health privacy, social media and health, big data, and health care fragmentation. He is one of the permanent bloggers at HealthLawProf and at Harvard Law School’s Bill of Health.  His recent publications are available on the Social Science Research Network, and he can be followed on Twitter @nicolasterry.