Primary and secondary use of data
Usage of data can be broadly classified into primary use, which is used for the original purpose, and secondary use, which is used for other purposes. In the case of medical data, data is generally classified into two categories: primary use, in which data is used for the original purpose for which it was obtained, such as treatment or health management of the individual, and secondary use, in which data is used for purposes other than the original purpose for which it was obtained, such as research on the incidence and causes of infectious diseases, cancer, and other diseases, and development of new diagnostic methods and drugs.
Primary use includes not only the use of data recorded in medical records at medical institutions for one's own treatment, but also the use of data acquired by the individual through wearable devices for one's own health management. Data sharing among medical institutions at the time of hospital transfer is also considered primary use because it is for the purpose of the patient's treatment. On the other hand, data acquired for primary use can also be an important source of information for detecting side effects of drugs or developing new drugs by aggregating data from many people and conducting statistical analysis. Such overall use of data for purposes other than its original purpose is called secondary use. However, it should be noted that the scope of primary use may differ depending on the situation.
Specifically, examples of primary and secondary uses of data include the following
- Use in the provision of medical and nursing care services to patients/users, medical and nursing care insurance administration, and ward management such as admission and discharge
- To collaborate with other medical institutions, etc., in order to provide medical care to patients (specific example: when a patient brings a letter of introduction, etc., issued to another medical institution)
- To seek opinions and advice from outside physicians, etc. in order to provide medical care to patients.
- To respond to inquiries from other medical institutions for the purpose of providing medical care to patients.
- Explaining the patient's medical condition to the patient's family, etc., when providing medical care to the patient.
- To be used by the national government or local governments for the regional cancer registry project based on the Health Promotion Act
- Use of results of precision examinations for local governments or screening organizations commissioned by local governments for the purpose of cancer screening accuracy control
- Exchange of information on child abuse cases with related organizations
- Provision of information to the national government, local governments, or third-party organizations concerning medical accidents, etc. that occur in the hospital for the purpose of improving medical safety, when such information includes names, etc.
- Provision of personal data of patients previously treated by a medical institution to another medical institution for research purposes
- When personal data pertaining to clinical cases of patients held by a medical institution is provided to a pharmaceutical company for the purpose of research to elucidate disease mechanisms related to diseases for which there are insufficient effective treatment methods or drugs.
