The Top Big Data Issues in Healthcare: How They Affect Patient Care

The Top Big Data Issues in Healthcare: How They Affect Patient Care

In recent years, big data has become a vital tool in the healthcare industry for improving patient care. However, with its benefits come certain challenges that need to be addressed. This article will address the top big data issues in healthcare and how they impact patient care.

Issue 1: Health Data Privacy and Security

In the healthcare industry, patient data is highly sensitive. The increasing use of electronic health records (EHRs) and the expanding reliance on interconnected medical devices increases the challenge of data privacy and security. Hospital administrators and IT professionals must ensure that patient data is protected from cybercriminals, whose intent is to leverage this information for fraudulent purposes. It is necessary to enhance security measures to provide data protection from theft, unauthorized disclosure and leakage of sensitive information.

Issue 2: Data Integration and Standardization

With the increasing adoption of EHRs, healthcare organizations must undertake the herculean task of integrating all the patient information stored in disparate systems to create a comprehensive and standardized view of the patient. These silos of data are typically generated by various sources, from different departments, and may contain data that follows distinct standards and formats, making it difficult to find, extract, and standardize all the needed information. To tackle these challenges, healthcare organizations should strive to establish clear data management policies and procedures, which would allow them to standardize different data sources, de-duplicate redundant data, break down silos, and finally consolidate the data into a single, complete view of the patient.

Issue 3: Data Governance and Regulatory Compliance

The recording and analysis of big data come with strict privacy and legal requirements and obligations. There are legal implications of confidentiality and ownership of data, which vary between individuals and institutions. The healthcare industry must comply with different regulatory requirements such as HIPAA(Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), GDPR(General Data Protection Regulation), and others. The responsibility for policy enforcement of data compliance and governance initiatives falls on the health care organizations. They must take a proactive approach to educate employees and perform rigorous monitoring to keep compliant.

Conclusion

In today’s world, the role of big data analytics is expanding in healthcare to improve patient care and outcomes. However, sustainable data management policies are critical to overcome the challenges that come along. Health data privacy and security, data integration and standardization, and data governance and regulatory compliance are significant challenges the healthcare industry faces. As the industry falls deeper into this technical era, the accomplishment of these goals will be key to a successful future.

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