3. Legal Bases of the National Claims Database
10.3820/jjpe.17.117
- VernacularTitle:3．ナショナルデータベースの法的検討
- Author:
Etsuji OKAMOTO
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
database;
privacy protection;
secondary use;
health insurance claims;
the Statistics Law
- From:Japanese Journal of Pharmacoepidemiology
2013;17(2):117-134
- CountryJapan
- Language:Japanese
-
Abstract:
Japan's national claims database(NDB) was established and its data became available for research purposes. However its potential for research use is considerably limited due to privacy protection requirements and security rules. For example, tabulations containing figures smaller than 10 are not allowed to be published due to the minimal cell size rules. Strangely enough, a similar statistical survey named Health Insurance Claims Survey(HICS) is not subject to such restrictions. Such difference in research use derives from different legal bases: NDB based on the Administrative Personal Data Protection Law while the HICS based on the Statistics Law. The vectors of the two laws are opposite: the Administrative Personal Data Protection Law intends to protect privacy while the Statistics Law intends to enhance data use. Application of the Statistics Law to NDB would be desirable to enhance research use but that would also restrict the government from using NDB data for other purposes such as detection of fraud and abuses. The government has multiple and mutually overlapping statistical surveys on health insurance claims since long before, all of which are subject to the Statistics Law and there is a call for unifying them with a single NDB to avoid duplication and waste. The author proposes, however, that it would be desirable to maintain multiple databases subject to different legal bases to enhance both research use while securing the discretion of the government to use NDB data effectively. Hindrance against effective use of national databases due to legal constraintsfor privacy protection is not limited to Japan. An excerpt of a recent survey results by OECD on national databases and legal restrictions on their secondary use was added for reference. (Jpn J Pharmacoepidemiol 2012; 17(2): 117-134)
