You don’t own me... or my data: 3 ways to empower the healthcare industry for more appropriate, effective and impactful use of data.

I’m constantly amazed at the speed with which certain technologies gain mass adoption. Generative AI, which seemed unimaginable at this scale just a few months ago and has now permeated our everyday lives, is a great example. Why is it that seemingly sci-fi-level technologies like ChatGPT are accelerated and adopted at the speed of light while others, like seamlessly moving health data from one system to another, still seem light-years away?

I’ve talked to many industry experts about how healthcare can quickly ramp up its technical capabilities to improve both patients’ and clinicians’ overall experience – including on a recent ViVE panel with:??Centene’s?Anika Gardenhire, Highmark Health’s Onyinyechi U. Daniel, PhD, Invitae’s?Deven McGraw, and Health Enterprise Partners’?Ezra Mehlman.

I’ve boiled these rich discussions down to 3 main directives. (If you have any to add, please share in the comments).

1.?????Be transparent

Too many consumers don’t trust data collectors right now. Maybe they aren’t clear on what data companies are collecting about them, what they are doing with it, or whom they might turn around and sell it to. A rich and comprehensive set of health and related data, however, is vital to better understanding not only entire populations of people but also down to the individual. Those insights can help us construct more relevant and personalized ways to take control of our own health. But if consumers are going to trust the health care industry to provide these types of life-changing solutions, companies must be open and transparent about what data they’re collecting and why, how the data is stored, shared and kept secure. Consumers may also want to know what rights they have over their data once it has been collected. For example, do you have a process in place to delete a person’s data if they ever choose to “opt out” in the future Demonstrating that you’re here to serve their interests – and keeping that promise each day – is the first step to consumers hitting that “Accept” button.?

2.?????Advocate for the importance of a more comprehensive view of relevant data sources – this is much bigger than the EHR

Our laws and regulations have made significant progress towards greater interoperability between clinical software platforms and even some medical device platforms. But what about smart watches and other wearables? Apps that track your sleep without contact, connect with your weight scale, or let you enter how you’re feeling or what you ate today? This data is key to completing a full picture of you – and then giving you the best options to optimize and maintain your health and wellness. Our standards, regulations and laws should reflect and enable that, of course while putting privacy and data security first.

3.?????Think scale

Say you’ve:

-???????Built a secure way to collect, store, and share data with the right people

-???????Gained users’ trust and permission to do so

-???????Are enabled by regulators to easily pull in relevant data from other sources, clinical and non-clinical, to best serve your users

Now what? Go big! The more data your users allow you to collect and safely store, the most robust analyses you can perform, to spot trends, identify best treatment practices, understand when people are most likely to encounter difficulties or drop out of a service or program – and turn those well-supported, evidence-based insights into actions.

I have the privilege of working at a company that is already well along this journey. ResMed has more connected medical devices in patients’ homes than any other company. With over 14.5 billion nights of sleep and respiratory care data, we approach data collection first with ethics, privacy, and security as top priority, and we’re committed to only using health data to make patients’ lives better and our research more impactful.

Data is becoming the most powerful currency in healthcare systems across the planet. And the insights we derive from these data have the potential to significantly improve the lives of people, the health of patients, the experiences of those who care for them, and the efficiency of care and therapy delivery. Interoperability of health data has been a priority in the industry for years, but adoption is still too slow. It’s time to ditch the fax machines, build trust alongside new capabilities, and use the amazing advancements in tech to put people in control of their health and their lives like never before.??