The consideration of privacy and policy implications for big data is essential to designing patient-centered health technology. A literature review demonstrated a significant gap to moving forward with information technology in healthcare. Ovid Medline and Google Scholar were searched to identify papers related to health technology, patient outcomes, and policy implications of Big Data. The findings of this research showed that despite a robust legal framework and clear outline of the legislation, there exists an innovative opportunity for health technologies to evolve and become patient-centered by integrating privacy and policy knowledge in health information technology. This historical legal analysis is valuable to health system leaders, decision-makers, health technology companies that are creating innovative platforms, and clinicians in both Canada and the United States.
Keywords: big data; data linkages; health technology; patient outcomes; privacy.