The healthcare industry has emerged to be very data-intensive.
How much, you ask?
Well, it would require 2.3 zettabytes of data (or 2.3 trillion DVDs) to capture fully the data that the industry generates every year.
And barely any of this gets utilised for better patient outcomes. A measly 3%, to be precise. This is where health informatics comes into play.
So, what is medical informatics? Simply put, it is the meeting point of healthcare and data analytics. It is a multidisciplinary field wherein the data generated by digitised healthcare records, systems, and processes is fed into big data analytics, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled systems to generate insights that could benefit the patients and other stakeholders of the industry. It goes beyond simply capturing and storing data to actually utilising it to generate actionable insights. Informatics applies to all areas of the healthcare field in many different ways, for professionals ranging from medical coders to those with a Master of Nursing. All that under-utilised data could be put to great use.
What are the origins of Medical Informatics?
The introduction of computing to healthcare was a precursor to the development of medical informatics. Then, as more and more computers proliferated in hospitals, a slow but steady transition from paper-centric to digital models began. Lockheed was an early pioneer, introducing one of the first systems called Technicon Medical Information System (TMIS), deployed at El Camino Hospital in California as early as 1965. As computers evolved from an industrial to a more personal level, attempts were also made to standardise Electronic Health Records (EHR). This led to the creation of health data standards like HL7. Since then, technological advancements have spurred the growth of informatics. The development of Big Data Analytics as a field made informatics a reality. Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) are making data analysis and data generation more accessible and rapid. Lowering costs of cloud data storage has made informatics financially viable.
Why is Medical Informatics gaining prominence?
You would have already read about the tons of unused data being produced by the industry. There are several other meta trends that are accelerating its importance:
- Patients and citizens across Australia are embracing the digital revolution. The number of Aussies with a MyHealth record grew from 20% in 2019 to a whopping more than 90% in 2023. With more patient data getting digitised, the scale of data generation is set to explode.
- Healthcare data is becoming more interoperable. It means that data generated from different sources or providers can now be used together. Australian authorities have taken a proactive approach and outlined a national vision to share consumer health information in a safe, secure, and seamless manner. Forty-four actions across five priority areas relating to identity, standards, information sharing, innovation, and measuring benefits have been zeroed in to implement the vision.
- Advances in predictive medicine have improved the use case for informatics. Predictive medicine basically relies on your past historical data, genetics, and lifestyle score to identify and resolve future health problems before they occur. With AI galloping ahead with an ever-expanding set of capabilities, predictive medicine will play a major role in making informatics mainstream.
- The COVID-19 pandemic caused a major scare to humanity. Medical informatics can also assist in epidemic tracking. An active informatics system has the potential to help trace major outbreaks of infectious diseases more rapidly.
- More and more doctors are embracing data-backed decision-making. Informatics will play a major role in the background by presenting doctors with patient historical data, similar trends in larger datasets, and a collection of personalised insights, all in one place.
- The space of clinical trials is also slowly adopting informatics. Digital solutions like remote trials will need better integration of data. With an increasing focus on precision healthcare, expect solutions like medical informatics to gain a greater foothold in the sector.
How Medical Informatics Can Help Advance Healthcare
Informatics will transform the way you think healthcare will operate in the future. Here are some areas to keep a keen eye on:
Processes & Efficiency
First off, informatics can have a positive impact on streamlining the administrative tasks of healthcare providers. A more digital and systemic approach to maintaining patient records, scheduling appointments, and billing customers will allow health professionals to spend more time with patients.
R&D of Pharmaceuticals
Informatics also holds immense value for pharma companies. This involves using informatics in the Research and Development (R&D) phase of medications. By analysing huge sets of data on effectiveness, side effects, and patient outcomes of different medications under development, informatics can help identify which treatments work best for a specific set of people, leading to safer and more effective R&D. Pharma companies spending billions of dollars on finding the next big medicinal breakthrough can have a more data-centric and informed process.
Telehealth & Wearables
Telehealth is already on the rise. Medical devices and wearables have made generating and accurately tracking patient data more accessible and affordable. Now, all that data you generate can be put to better use through medical informatics.
Healthcare Compliance Standards
Compliance with regulations is better as well. This is possible because informatics allows relevant authorities to oversee how hospitals and clinics are operating, treating patients, reporting adverse events, spending resources, and managing patients' data. Legal entities can also use this information to determine whether hospitals and clinics are meeting their legal obligations or if insurance companies are providing the applicable coverage. This is a major win for patients.
Genetic Research
Genomics would also be a major beneficiary of this trend as scientists and researchers would be better equipped to extract from mammoth datasets to understand better the genetic basis of diseases, bacteria, and viruses. Identifying common trends in the genomes of a huge population would be relatively easier.
Informatics is set to take centre stage in healthcare. What started as a movement to bring computing to healthcare has now morphed into a much bigger trend to mesh analytics with healthcare data. Auxiliary fields like pharma, genomics, clinical research, and predictive medicine are also set to reap the benefits. With patients demanding more personalised care and the required technology developing at a conducive rate, the platform is well and truly set for rapid adoption and deployment of medical informatics.
