What Does All That Healthcare Data Really Mean?

Amid the push to open access to more healthcare data, government and industry officials caution that datasets must come with context.

By Kenneth Corbin (CIO (US)) on 04 December, 2014 

Bringing more data into the public domain may be a critical step toward increasing transparency in the famously opaque healthcare sector, but raw data alone will only go so far, experts warn.

At a conference on Monday at the Brookings Institution in Washington, industry and government officials cautioned that simply releasing data in bulk without context or meaningful comparative tools won't achieve the goals of lowering the costs of care, increasing operating efficiencies and, ultimately, improving care.

"We talk about transparency, and lately I find myself asking the question, what does that really mean?" says Stuart Guterman, vice president of Medicare and cost control at the Commonwealth Fund

See full article: http://www.cio.com.au/article/561001/what-does-all-healthcare-data-really-mean/