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We need tools to meaningfully interpret health data PETER ALPERIN, MD | TECH | SEPTEMBER 11, 2013 We generate it every minute of every day of every week of every month of every year. Data, in countless forms. Of recent and growing interest to a great many people is how this data can be use to improve health (not just sell people more stuff). Wear a FitBit or Jawbone? Amazing source of activity information. Check in on Foursquare? Insight into dietary habits. Post on Twitter? Sentiment analysis around mood. From credit card purchases to Facebook posts, the list goes on and on. Add to this the reams of information generated from an individual’s search history on Google and data entered when signing up for certain products (life insurance, etc.), and we have what some have termed the “shadow” health record. Collectively, it offers a rich and complementary trove of insights to the traditional health information that we physicians and others in the healthcare system document in electronic health records. The next challenge is figuring out what to do with all that data. We need the tools to collect all of the information in one place — a virtual clearinghouse where people can see and review all of the data that is being collected about them. Not only do they need to make sure that it is accurate, but also they could take the opportunity to get a glimpse into what others know about them, something amazing in its own right. From there we need tools to analyze the data. To this point, already there is an army of data scientists feverishly developing algorithms that make sense of information so it can provide useful insights: Does behavior on social media predict your mood? Do purchasing patterns point to certain dietary habits? Add this to electronic health record data and we can start to paint a much richer picture of an individual’s health. To make this happen, of course, individuals will need to give companies offering those services the necessary permissions to aggregate that information. Often, it can be a tough sell. However, in this case, the results have a clear and easytounderstand translation to personal use and benefit, not just corporate profit. What would be in it for a company that provided this service I am not yet sure. Further, since few patients or their primary healthcare providers are data scientists, such companies will need the analytical tools to help people meaningfully interpret their data. As of yet, this service doesn’t exist, but I think it will, and I’m convinced it will be big. From physicians combining these behavior measures with what’s already recorded in electronic records to make diagnoses to individuals harnessing the insights to make lifestyle changes, the possibilities are endless. Most importantly, the motivation to explore them could be great. After all, what could be more important than continuing to improve the way we understand ourselves? Especially so when wellness is the reward. Peter Alperin is a healthcare technology and data analytics consultant and former vice president, medicine and products, Archimedes .

Tools to meaningfully interpret health data 13-9-21

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We  need  tools  to  meaningfully  interpret  health  data  PETER  ALPERIN,  MD  |  TECH  |  SEPTEMBER  11,  2013    We  generate  it  every  minute  of  every  day  of  every  week  of  every  month  of  every  year.  Data,  in  countless  forms.  Of  recent  and  growing  interest  to  a  great  many  people  is  how  this  data  can  be  use  to  improve  health  (not  just  sell  people  more  stuff).    Wear  a  FitBit  or  Jawbone?  Amazing  source  of  activity  information.  Check  in  on  Foursquare?  Insight  into  dietary  habits.  Post  on  Twitter?  Sentiment  analysis  around  mood.  From  credit  card  purchases  to  Facebook  posts,  the  list  goes  on  and  on.    Add  to  this  the  reams  of  information  generated  from  an  individual’s  search  history  on  Google  and  data  entered  when  signing  up  for  certain  products  (life  insurance,  etc.),  and  we  have  what  some  have  termed  the  “shadow”  health  record.  Collectively,  it  offers  a  rich  and  complementary  trove  of  insights  to  the  traditional  health  information  that  we  physicians  and  others  in  the  healthcare  system  document  in  electronic  health  records.    The  next  challenge  is  figuring  out  what  to  do  with  all  that  data.  We  need  the  tools  to  collect  all  of  the  information  in  one  place  —  a  virtual  clearinghouse  where  people  can  see  and  review  all  of  the  data  that  is  being  collected  about  them.  Not  only  do  they  need  to  make  sure  that  it  is  accurate,  but  also  they  could  take  the  opportunity  to  get  a  glimpse  into  what  others  know  about  them,  something  amazing  in  its  own  right.    From  there  we  need  tools  to  analyze  the  data.  To  this  point,  already  there  is  an  army  of  data  scientists  feverishly  developing  algorithms  that  make  sense  of  information  so  it  can  provide  useful  insights:  Does  behavior  on  social  media  predict  your  mood?  Do  purchasing  patterns  point  to  certain  dietary  habits?  Add  this  to  electronic  health  record  data  and  we  can  start  to  paint  a  much  richer  picture  of  an  individual’s  health.    To  make  this  happen,  of  course,  individuals  will  need  to  give  companies  offering  those  services  the  necessary  permissions  to  aggregate  that  information.  Often,  it  can  be  a  tough  sell.  However,  in  this  case,  the  results  have  a  clear  and  easy-­‐to-­‐understand  translation  to  personal  use  and  benefit,  not  just  corporate  profit.  What  would  be  in  it  for  a  company  that  provided  this  service  I  am  not  yet  sure.      Further,  since  few  patients  or  their  primary  healthcare  providers  are  data  scientists,  such  companies  will  need  the  analytical  tools  to  help  people  meaningfully  interpret  their  data.    As  of  yet,  this  service  doesn’t  exist,  but  I  think  it  will,  and  I’m  convinced  it  will  be  big.  From  physicians  combining  these  behavior  measures  with  what’s  already  recorded  in  electronic  records  to  make  diagnoses  to  individuals  harnessing  the  insights  to  make  lifestyle  changes,  the  possibilities  are  endless.  Most  importantly,  the  motivation  to  explore  them  could  be  great.  After  all,  what  could  be  more  important  than  continuing  to  improve  the  way  we  understand  ourselves?  Especially  so  when  wellness  is  the  reward.    Peter  Alperin  is  a  healthcare  technology  and  data  analytics  consultant  and  former  vice-­president,  medicine  and  products,  Archimedes.