I argue that treating patient data as private property precludes forming comprehensive databases required for many of its most important public health and safety uses. Private ownership will also allow data monopolies that will increase the price of data and limit competition in the market for...

This article contrasts the prevailing model for assessing and improving medical care - the quality of care paradigm - with an alternative approach - the patient accountability paradigm. The first approach is technocratic: it measures and promotes the quality of medical care through technical and...