Although an old concept, it stands true to say that the collection and analysis of data will improve patient outcomes.
Healthcare systems must track and collect data efficiently, but this can be a difficult task when a large proportion of the population do not have medical insurance or access to medical facilities. Consequently, their data cannot be collected and stored. This is a common problem in the U.S. where approximately 33 million Americans have no medical insurance at all.
This contrasts the healthcare system in Israel where almost 100% of the Israeli population have medical coverage. This allows them to collect very comprehensive data on every aspect of healthcare, and digitise this data to provide greater medical insights.
Kahn-Sagol-Maccabi (KSM), the research and innovation center of Maccabi, one of Israel’s leading health maintenance organisations(HMO’s), has access to 30 years’ worth of medical data.
Dr. Tal Patalon, head of KSM, added, "our innovation and big data is based on advanced data sources and AI technologies; it has led us to found Israel’s largest Biobank, with over 800K samples collected; develop our epidemiological research department; and forge clinical research collaborations that result in significant life-changing achievements”.
Dr. Patalon believes that multidisciplinary teams can provide the largest leap in our understanding of health. Combining hands-on clinical experiences with insights from data scientists is what makes up the essence of the small-big data approach.
At the heart of digitising health information, clinical insights are extracted and used by doctors, hospitals and academics.Crucially, clinical insights are not only shared between stakeholders, but when done at the right time, the data can be used appropriately to improve health outcomes and achieve desired results.
Notably, Dr. Patalon points out that each patient’s health journey can no longer be determined by just a medical chart. While traditional country doctors would normally identify patterns in their own practice, their observations can now be combined with data insights to generate novel results.
It is interesting to note that Israel is still progressing and considering the best way to make a clinical impact on a patient, whether it may be by providing new research insights or introducing smart medical devices.
Source: Forbes
Image Credit: iStock
