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The previous section of this article paused during a discussion of the accuracy and uses of devices. At a panel on patient generated data, a speaker said that one factor holding back the use of patient data was the lack of sophistication in EHRs. They must be enhanced to preserve the provenance of data: whether it came from a device or from a manual record by the patient, and whether the device was consumer-grade or a well-tested medical device. Doctors invest different levels of trust in different methods of collecting data: devices can provide more objective information than other ways of asking patients for data. A participant in the panel also pointed out that devices are more reliable in the lab than under real-world conditions. Consumers must be educated about the proper use of devices, such as whether to sit down and how to hold their arms when taking their blood pressure...

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If there were any doubts about the value of data analytics for healthcare organizations to turn data into actionable insights, a new book from the American Health Information Management Association attempts to put those doubts to rest and provide step-by-step instructions for analyzing data and using statistical techniques. The co-authors of the book—David Marc and Ryan Sandefer, faculty members at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn.—argue that proficiency in data analytics is increasingly important for all health information managers and health informaticians as the industry embraces quality improvement initiatives...

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