As more health and health care goes digital, patients are navigating how to access and use their data in unprecedented ways. While the technology is moving quickly to meet patient needs, the legal aspects associated with individual data ownership are still developing. Through a partnership with MassChallenge, MITRE is piloting innovation in the form of a model “Patient Data Use Agreement” with several start-ups that aim to build their business and data offerings in ways that put patients in the digital health driver’s seat.
Through its standing Bridging Innovation Initiative, MITRE builds pathways that connect the government with the high-tech ecosystem to discover, accelerate, and deliver innovative solutions emerging from start-ups and other non-traditional sources. This past January, MITRE expanded this work to include a specific pilot approach with the MassChallenge HealthTech program in Boston. The pilot, led by Mary Quilty, Bridging Innovation Lead for MITRE’s engagement in MassChallenge HealthTech, brings MITRE research to start-ups and aims to establish an integrated, programmatic partnership by which additional MITRE research initiatives can enter a virtuous cycle with start-ups and the broader healthtech ecosystem to drive speed to impact.
A key strength of the pilot involves leveraging a long-standing internal MITRE Innovation Program that provides seed funding to MITRE researchers tackling challenges facing government and industry. One researcher, Katherine Mikk, JD, elected to leverage the pilot to gain real-time, real-world user feedback on her model Patient Data Use Agreement, a templated legal document that can simplify the complex issue of patient data ownership for entities exploring the collection and management of data at the patient level.