PDRI-DevLab is hosting a Spring 2024 Seminar Series featuring its staff and affiliates.

Topic: Privacy at What Cost? Saving the Lives of HIV Patients with Electronic Medical Records

Presenter: Leandro Pongeluppe (joint with Laura Derksen and Anita McGahan)

Session Details: We show that the use of electronic medical records (EMRs) can prevent AIDS deaths by enabling patient tracing, and that patients who initially state a preference for privacy benefit most from improved tracing. EMRs allow healthcare providers to access patient data and trace lapsed patients, preventing community spread and unnecessary deaths. An event study using data from 106 Malawian clinics shows that, after five years of EMR implementation, clinics have 34 percent more patients in care and 28 percent fewer annual deaths. These effects are concentrated among younger patients, and among patients who initially state a preference for privacy.

This session will be a workshop and participants are requested to read the paper beforehand.

For more information, reach out to pdri-devlab@sas.upenn.edu