A Comparative Study of Financial Value and  Ownership of Electronic Health Records: A Reflection on American and Iranian Law

Mirshkari, Abbas; Azadbakht, Shobeir; Pishnamaz, Seyed Amin

doi:10.22034/jpl.2025.720740

A Comparative Study of Financial Value and Ownership of Electronic Health Records: A Reflection on American and Iranian Law

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

Abbas Mirshkari ¹

Shobeir Azadbakht ²

Seyed Amin Pishnamaz ³

¹ Assistant Professor, Department of Private and Islamic Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

² PhD student in Private Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Allameh Tabatabaei University, Tehran, Iran

³ PhD student in private law, Faculty of Law, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran

10.22034/jpl.2025.720740

Abstract

The use of electronic health records has become prevalent due to the penetration of technology into the healthcare systems of various countries. This widespread use of electronic health records has raised ambiguities regarding their legal status. In this context, two questions can be asked: Firstly, does an electronic health record possess financial value? Secondly, who do these records belong to? it seems that medical information, except in specific circumstances, does not possess financial value, but once this information is processed and compiled into an electronic health record, it will normally be property Also this record belongs to the patient himself. On the contrary, in American law, while there is no doubt that the electronic health record is considered property, this record and its information belong to the hospital and the doctor who collected it. Anyway, the mission of this article is to answer these questions in an analytical-descriptive way and with a comparative view of American law.

Keywords

Medical Information

Property

Electronic Nedical Record

Government

Database

Personal Data

National data