HCI-DC 2014: Advancing big data

Big data is technology that brings data and architecture together so some analytic platform can turn data into wisdom, said John D. Halamka, MD, CIO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, speaking at Health Care Innovation Day, an event jointly hosted by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and the West Health Institute.

While many devices are producing “incredible amounts of data, there is no platform integrating that in a way that patients and families can use to make decisions.”  

“We need a revolutionary approach,” said Alistair Erskine, MD, chief clinical informatics officer of Geisinger Health System.

Competition is one obstacle facing big data and healthcare, Erskine said. “Healthcare remains a cottage industry, dependent upon experts and mired in legacy systems.” Also, big data requires big storage. Business leaders are skeptical about spending money on algorithms. Plus, there is a shortage of people who understand data science so there is fierce competition for them. Despite the “extraordinary effort to digitize information,” there remains lazy or dark data. A vast amount remains unrecognized for its potential to be used elsewhere.”

Security also is a problem. “As we expand our ability to process big data, security must be implemented. Data still needs to be available but secure and audited and protected and have a retention program. Use and usability has a long way to go before adequately teasing out signal for the noise."

Gregory Moore, MD, PhD, chief emerging technology and informatics officer and director of Geisinger’s Institute for Advanced Application, asked whether stakeholders are ready. The average Geisinger family practitioner, if he or she were to do everything expected for each patient including routine checks, wellness initiatives and chronic disease management, ends up with 18-20 hours of work a day. “We have reached human limits. The culture now is ready for innovation. We’re ready for technology solutions to come into our environments and help.”

“We’re working on wellness,” said Halamka. If information on the patient experience across settings is aggregated, “we can proactively reach out to patients. We have to completely rethink the appropriate practical uses of data to survive as a business.”

“Data visualization is critical,” said Moore, noting that a lot of startup companies are working to help people and providers look at their data at a glance and get a sense of how a patient is doing. “The future is very bright for that.”

Patients are in control of their data, he added, and, “to the extent that we can have a platform so patients can share data much more quickly than the healthcare systems can.”