E-Health - Data incorporations through Technology

Delivery of healthcare is critically dependent on access to data, however much of this data resides across many data repositories and organizations, and is often highly protected and private.

The Environmental Drivers

Restructuring of the Health System (world wide) to meet the demands of ageing populations (major economic impact)

Funding agencies driving multi-disciplinary research initiatives and solutions to healthcare priorities and data sharing needs

Increasing pace of growth of the scientific knowledge base (e.g. genomics data) increased need for linking data across disciplines

Development and application of high-cost medical technologies and need for Cost/benefit analyses (global benchmarking)

Declining availability of specialist skills and thus improving productivity through advanced systems becomes a priority

Private-sector healthcare providers taking over more routine procedures from Public providers and data access issues

How do we answer a Health Query?

Identification of the real question

Design of the study

Collection of the data

Analysis of the data

How Easy is Health Data Incorporation into various Modules?

There are a hell lot of issues, like:

Patient Data is usually spread across several databases like:

• Hospital administration and clinical databases

Pathology and Pharmaceuticals databases

Absence of a common person identifier

• New identifying number or ID per institution or service provider

Privacy and Security

• Patient concerns

• Legislative requirements

• Data ownership concerns

No way to easily manage access to data in multiple databases

• Involves significant time and manual handling of data between computer systems

Data quality and consistency

• Data entry errors

• Non-standard coding and formats

Current Efforts and Practices

Data Linkage Units

National Data Network (NDN)

Various software solutions

Electronic Health Records

Clinical Information Systems

Current Technological Breakthroughs and Advances

Web Services

Easy federation of data and services

XML

Mechanism for text based exchange of data

Ontology

Relating concepts using semantic descriptions

Discipline based

Need domain expertise to define the ontology of data sources and fields

Removes ambiguity and provides base line agreement on terms

Integration of heterogeneous data sources

Wrapper technology allows any data or service to be incorporated

Query optimizer

Targeted at life sciences

SRS

Integrates data sources and analysis tools

Flat File, XML and relational data base

Any command line analysis tool

Integrates over 1000 data sources and 250 analysis tools

Wide usage in biotech and pharmaceutical industries

Meta data driven approach

Web service based with powerful web service API and web interface

Use Meta data to describe

The data source

How data elements interact with the system

The behavior of data

Relationship between data

Innovations that caught my attention recently-#Healthtech

No. 1- Lyme bacteria use the same technique as White Blood Cells to navigate and move in blood vessels In an interesting case of convergent evolution Lyme bacteria use the same technique as White Blood Cells to navigate and move in blood vessels.To zip through the bloodstream and spread infection throughout the body, the bacteria that cause Lyme disease take a cue from the white blood cells trying to attack them. Both use specialized bonds to stick to the cells lining blood vessels and move along at their own pace, biologist Tara Moriarty and colleagues report September 6 in Cell Reports. “It’s really an amazing case of convergent evolution,” says Wendy Thomas, a biologist at the University of Washington in Seattle who wasn’t part of the study. “There’s little structural similarity between the molecules involved in these behaviors, and yet their behavior is the same.” No.2- Wearable Robot for people who lost their hand function This wearable robot helps disabled patients re...

PDAs in Healthcare -Passe or in Vogue

The PDA is a very small and portable, handheld computer, which has many more functions than a calculator, and the capacity to store information much like a Personal Computer (PC). Basic functionality available on most PDAs includes an address book, schedule, calendar, note pad, and e-mail. The PDA is convenient to use in clinical and field situations for quick data management, and the information can be synchronized with a PC . By means of a wireless network, information can be exchanged anytime from anywhere to and from a PDA, and the network will provide immediate access to all kinds of necessary clinical and administrative data . Health care professionals need access to information several times a day, and the PDA has the potential to provide this. For the PDA, there are numerous documents and medical software applications available, with a wide variation in quality. A large number of medical students take advantage of the PDA for educational purposes and patient care with great sa...

Mhealth - Counterfeit Drugs India

WHO tells a story “By April 1999, reports of 771 cases of substandard drugs had been entered into the WHO database on counterfeit drugs, 77% of which were from developing countries. (Data analysis showed that in 60% of the 325 cases for which detailed data were available, an active ingredient was lacking.)” Bad medicines don't just threaten lives; they undermine the entire medical system . What is being done? There are distinct aspects to deciphering and de-complexifying the counterfeit pharmaceutical supply chain. One that is probably more in use today by almost all pharmaceutical companies worldwide is the product-based tracking methodology which incorporates the use of high technology systems to identify counterfeit products in the market. These technologies include tamper-evident packaging, holographics, bar codes and the more recent RFID. Indian Scenario People buy two tablets and never a strip. The unique number idea doesn’t work here. Chemists know that t...

Data Revolution in Healthcare and Lifesciences Industry

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