Inside STAT: Mayo Clinic patient data fuels AI companies, and consent concerns

(MOLLY FERGUSON FOR STAT)

Licensing deals struck by the Mayo Clinic has led to at least 16 companies gaining access to data from the hospital's patients. Details about patient care, including their diagnoses and results from some imaging tests, have been shared with health tech companies who are hoping to train artificial intelligence algorithms to better detect disease and the severity of illness. And yet, it's unclear whether patients are actually aware that their data has been shared in this way, even though the data is de-identified. Proponents of these deals say it's a part of innovation, but bioethics experts worry that patients' interests — especially since they are not often notified of new deals — are falling by the wayside. STAT's Casey Ross has more from Rochester, Minn., here.