Without Sharing, Big Data Is Nothing

Industry insiders say developing open data exchange was the key to unlocking big data’s potential

With all the hype surrounding big data, pinning down its ideal usage is important for planning the development and expanding uses. What goal should the healthcare industry have in mind as it explores the possibilities for improved care and lowered costs that big data presents?

“People that talk about big data often talk about…creating an open source network that somehow aggregates all this data and we can get better outcomes,” Zach Landman, MD, and CMO at DoctorBase, told Healthcare IT News in a recent interview.

Landman went on to draw an analogy to Facebook.  He suggested that “more and more people over time could potentially be open to the idea of sharing their information for the greater good,” although he noted that it is unlikely that patients would agree to share their patient data in a public manner similar to how people share personal information on the popular social network.