Doctors expect patient-generated data to be a top information source in 5 years time
Four in ten doctors expect patient-generated health information from devices such as fitness trackers and smart scales to be among the most useful sources of health care data in 5 years time. According to the recent NEJM Catalyst Insights Report this, along with genomic data, will help pave the way for personalised cost effective medicine, powered by data.
The report is based on a survey of health care executives, clinical leaders and clinicians. Those interviewed indicated that currently, clinical data (95% of survey responses), cost data (56%) and claims data (45%) make up the top three most useful sources. In five years time, however, claims data will be replaced in importance by patient-generated data (40% up from 30% today) and genomic data (40% up from 17% today). This points to a big data future options specific to each patient’s needs.
“Over the past few years, executives, clinical leaders, and clinicians have been hopeful about the hype but disappointed by the lack of breakthrough progress from big data,” said Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips, chief clinical officer for Providence St. Joseph Health, who authored the report.
“But as we found in our latest Insights Report, the landscape is shifting from one of cynicism about overblown expectations to a more realistic vision of what data can do to transform care delivery.”
The current state of data usage in patient care is not held in high regard. While less than a third of respondents say big-data applications are useful today, more, 44%, are excited for future applications. Fewer than 20% of respondents still think big data is mainly hype.
“The landscape is shifting from one of despair over the unfulfilled promises of big data to a more realistic vision of what sophisticated analytics can do to transform health care delivery.” Amy Compton-Phillips, MD & NEJM Catalyst said.
Combining information from devices, patient feedback, and patient biomarkers will be powerful and will catapult care forward in a way we can’t attain today.
“We have entered an exciting era where big data has the potential to become a game changer for health care. Providers are poised to put data into the hands of consumers and payers to drive a value-oriented care delivery system that enlightens patients about their health and the path to affordable care,” Comton-Philips added.
More information on the report can be found here.
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