chapter one

1 Why health data is different

 

This chapter covers

  • Why precision and trust are critical when it comes to health data
  • The healthcare IT regulatory landscape
  • Why health data is poised to grow

Data is at its very core a series of measurements and observations intended to represent reality. Health data is uniquely complex as the reality of healthcare is both multimodal and longitudinal. To put it in plain English, health data is complicated because healthcare is itself complicated. Behind every clinical measurement and observation is a human being whose personal story is being retold by data. Whether it’s a newborn’s Apgar score, trending HbA1c levels over years in a person with diabetes, colorectal screening results or an oncologist’s silent note that a patient’s treatment plan has shifted from curative to palliative, health data chronicles a deeply human story. While other industries may focus predominantly on quantitative data, the breadth of health data spans the gamut of:

  • Patient demographics
  • Physiologic parameters
  • Administrative codes
  • Laboratory results
  • Clinical dictations
  • Diagnostic images
  • Pathology reports
  • Medication records
  • Genomic sequences
  • Social Determinants of Health and more

1.1 Fragmentation and disconnected systems

1.2 The two pillars: precision and trust

1.2.1 Data precision is the foundation of safe and effective care

1.2.2 Health IT regulation: a question of trust

1.2.3 How a law becomes developer-facing requirements

1.2.4 The legislative pathway to HIPAA

1.2.5 There’s more to being HIPPA-compliant than just HIPPA regulations

1.2.6 The Arc of Health IT Policy (1996–Present)

1.3 Why Health IT is poised to grow and expand

1.4 What you will need

1.5 Summary