This year as CEO of the Health Information Management Association of Australia, HIMAA, I have had the opportunity to attend a number of national and international events related to our healthcare system, aged care system, digital health and AI.
As I reflect on what I have heard and the conversations I have been part of, it strikes me that we continue to have an unsung hero in our midst.
This hero is somewhat assumed, present in all settings and interactions, part of every interoperability message, database and AI action. The true hero of all digital systems and the underpinning of modern life itself – DATA.
Like a drop of water at its inception, a single piece of data created to describe and represent facts at a point in time finds itself part of a small trickle as it co-exists with other data, is joined together with other data like a stream, being pushed forward into rivers and eventually the ocean, where it loses its source identity and integrity (where did it come from? where was it first collected? What were the parameters of it? What is the quality?) to be ubiquitous – it’s just “data”. It’s pushed around, is the fuel for systems, and is the reason for decisions. Our health and care ecosystems can’t exist without it.
There is an insatiable thirst for more data, more meaningful data, more precise data, more access to data. Remote monitoring, precision medicine, data integration and interoperability, the application of AI are all fueled by this thirst.
Means to an end
And yet, data is not the end game, it is a means to an end. It provides and enables the rationale behind insights, knowledge and decisions.
As a result of data, decisions are made every day that affect patient outcomes, health and care outcomes, funding and services.
I have heard an increasing recognition of the importance of data and its integrity, sentiments shared by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority, the Australian Digital Health Agency, and the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.
Australia’s ongoing aged care reform demands an increased focus on data capture, integrity, use and reporting to demonstrate accountability and improve operational efficiency.
Data integrity
In the midst of ongoing technological advancement, if we don’t have data integrity all the effort is in vain, including AI.
There needs to be integrity of pre-existing/re-used data, and newly created data including by technological means. Practices and methods at data creation, transformation, exchange, and analysis are vital to data integrity.
Dialogue, shared experience and research need to occur to determine and publish best practices for data integrity in the health and care sectors within the context of technological advancements.
I believe it is time to give more attention to, value, and advocate for our unsung hero of the health, disability and ageing sector, data, to ensure its integrity, to optimise its value, and to achieve its purpose – better health and wellbeing for all.
