Challenges of Big-Data in Healthcare

Central to challenges of healthcare data is securing patient privacy while still sharing clinical data for its value and insights. Certain groups attempt to exploit healthcare data for their own benefit and thus, are adding to misuse and privacy concerns appropriately feared by many. This also explains the strong resistance towards adopting big-data in the healthcare industry. Unlike shopping preferences, personal health information is highly valued as private information so there are groups wary and skeptical about using complex technology to store and disseminate their information. In addition, there are currently limited systems to aggregate data from various sources from siloed departments to a single source. It could prove highly beneficial to integrate pharmaceutical, provider, and payer data together but systems must be designed with this capacity.

Thanks to a variety of legislation and governmental incentives, the resources for transitions towards EHR was much less burdensome. For example, the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act in 2009 authorized $40 billion for providers to adopt EHR and train staff. However, the time and money required to train employees and build this infrastructure are still cumbersome. Raghupathi et al. states that big-data analytics in the healthcare sector should be "menu-driven, user-friendly, and transparent". Again, we recognize the necessity for transparency and a culture of openness with data-literate and empowered members owning a role in acknowledging avenues of improvement.