The Complications With Data in a Digital Healthcare System

A panel of experts at the MedTech MVP 2023 conference in Minneapolis met to discuss the issues and benefits of data becoming a product. As the healthcare industry further embraces a digital transformation, data is becoming more important. New devices aren’t just capable of performing complex tasks, they’re also able to collect and analyze data about patients and the procedures or treatments they receive.

While this creates a lot of exciting opportunities, it also raises several questions related to data privacy and ownership.

The panel included Eric S. Heinz of Heinz Ventures, LLC, Andrew Savarese, vice president of digital surgery at Cambridge Consultants, Krishna Srikrishna, a surgical robotics data analyst at Medtronic, and Brian Stellmach, vice president of digital solutions at Asensus Surgical, Inc.

The panel was quick to point out that when it comes to data, the healthcare industry faces issues that other digital industries do not. Health privacy laws make the sharing of data much more complicated compared to industries that are less regulated.

The problem is that data can be a powerful asset, especially for programs built on machine learning. The more data that is collected, the more likely better products can be developed.

Collecting data isn’t the only problem, it’s also using it. As the panel was quick to point out, data is an asset that loses value over time if it isn’t used. This means that for the healthcare industry to truly benefit from digital data collection, it needs to continuously bring in more.

One of the major issues holding back data usage is ownership. The HCPs performing the work may feel ownership of the data since they’re doing the work that collects it. The device or software creators, however, could argue that their product actually collected the data, giving them ownership. Most importantly, however, is the patient. Since the data is built off of their health, they play an important role in determining when and where that data can be used, if at all.

Patients are primarily concerned about privacy, which can make even the most generous patient hesitate to allow their data to be shared, even if their name won’t be attached.

This isn’t a small issue. A surgical robot, for example, can collect tens of millions of pieces of data from just a few procedures. Those data points can also be used for a variety of different dimensions. In order to make sense of this, the panel suggested that the industry a common method of collecting and storing the information, making it easier for everyone to share and utilize it.

There are a lot of benefits to data sharing in the healthcare industry. It’s a complicated issue, but that doesn’t mean that the industry shouldn’t work towards a solution.

One solution suggested by the panel is to educate patients on how the data is benefiting them. This can help the industry build a standardized model for data collection, which can also improve patient confidence. When they know that everyone handling the data is using the same processes, it’s easier for them to trust that it will remain private.