A rare public price for health data: what one patient record is worth
A filing with the US markets regulator puts a figure on de-identified patient records, and it is rarely this plain.
Picture made for ABURA Bureau.
Most data deals are private, so owners rarely see what a record is worth. On 23 October 2026 Tempus AI, a health data and software company, filed a notice with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that names the price: under a five-year order, it will license up to 500,000 de-identified records of patients with Alzheimer's disease and other neurological conditions at $100 for each record delivered.
The same filing describes a second agreement, for oncology data, software and services through 2031. Together the two agreements provide for $192.5 million in cash over about five years. The records are delivered at a rate of 100,000 a year, and the fees follow the records: no delivery, no fee.
For anyone who holds data, the lesson is in the structure as much as the price. The data is licensed, not sold; it is paid per record as it arrives; and the buyer gets a tool to question it, rather than a copy to keep for good. A well-kept, de-identified record has a market price, and the owner keeps the asset that earns it.
