Not all data is meaningful data

At a HIMSS21 Views from the Top session, experts explained how to maximize the value of available information by optimizing data supply chains.

Whether it's from telemedicine, wearables and or electronic health records, a growing amount of healthcare data is becoming available on both an individual and population-wide level. 

"But just because you have data," pointed out Michael Meucci, chief operating officer at Arcadia, "doesn't mean that it's meaningful."  

In a HIMSS21 session here on Thursday, Meucci and his co-panelists explained how an optimized data supply chain can save stakeholders time and resources – and allow them to maximize the value of information as an asset.  

As Meucci explained, traditional, supply-chain driven data projects usually involve building new pipelines for each need.

"It takes 12, 15, 24 weeks at times," he said. "And at the end of the day, the end product may not actually be what you wanted because you were constrained by the data … coming through that data pipe."

Alternatively, an optimized data supply chain involves pulling the entire source into a schema-less lake, thus increasing its liquidity.