How Cloud Computing Enables Interoperability
CMS has signaled a renewed focus on interoperability, a welcome development for healthcare professionals anxious to more easily exchange insightful data. But there’s still the matter of how well the people involved in various collaborative “Big Data in Healthcare” initiatives operate together.
At some point for most of us in our careers – usually early on – we’ve encountered a project that was initially heralded with a great deal of fanfare, only to ultimately fizzle out after failing to gain enough buy-in. For all the excitement surrounding Big Data projects, many are at similar risk of a premature end if stakeholder concerns aren’t addressed at the outset:
- Who will host the data?
- How will data privacy concerns be handled?
- How have restrictions on data use been addressed?
- Do existing consents allow for data sharing?
- Will the data need to be de-identified? If so, using which methodology?
- Who will be responsible for acquiring, maintaining and distributing it?
- How will the data be protected as it’s routed to its new home?
- How well will it be protected in its new home? Who will have access to it?
For this to work, a neutral ground is usually needed, offered by a trusted third party.
The cloud: breaking down barriers to data exchange
In healthcare, massive amounts of data are not stored in pre-defined, structured tables. Instead, they are often composed of text, notes, numbers, images, formulas, dates, and other facts that are inherently unstructured. In fact, certain kinds of data sources are being created so quickly that there is no time to store it before the need to analyze it.
Savvy healthcare executives see Big Data as an opportunity to break down the paradigm of siloed data. They know that isolated data can be inefficient. Yet even while supporting the vision of Big Data, many healthcare leaders are traditionally reluctant to share data outside their own firewalls. Due to competitive considerations and confidentiality risks, there must be a level of trust in the quality and security of the receiving organization’s health data management systems for the data owner to be willing to share it. No one wants to risk a HIPAA privacy or security violation at the hands of another entity.
‘Dirty’ data can yield hidden treasures
To make an effective Big Data play, data sharing arrangements must be made, data flows defined, data analytics engines and the underlying infrastructure created, and the proper data governance must be agreed upon by all relevant stakeholders. It is at this stage that a trusted third party data warehouse environment is critical for success.
…Story Continued On Original Site
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About the Author Faris Islam
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