My first reaction to seeing this infographic on the convergence of personal medical data and technology is a negative one. Maybe it’s the roller coaster of privacy policies from Facebook, Google and others that have jaded me a little.
Considering the tug-of-war that’s occurred between social networks and what we like and what we’re doing, I can only imagine the stakes would be even higher when it comes to our medical data.
On the flip side, however, I could see huge benefits in manipulating the medical information of the masses for the greater good.
Take a look at this and tell me what you think:
[Click for Larger]
Technology and personal data are here to stay and the dance of privacy and ownership of that data will continue.
How do you feel about this?
[via Insurance Quotes]
Trey B says
Anyone seen the H+ digital series? So torn between spooky and cool.
Jason Cox says
As a physician, I find so much that is untrue about this infographic. I normally love them, but this one is riddled with erroneous data. The main problem is the whole premise is just untrue. There is no computer or program yet created that actually makes a DIAGNOSIS. They can save and store and share data. But they in no way take the data and make the leap to what is wrong with the patient. There are only a few cases in medicine where this is even really possible. All of the testing to get to the point of making a diagnosis has to be decided upon by a physician. And while physicians make errors, a computer is only as good as the data entered. And patients LIE. Frequently. Or don’t know what data is relevant.
So the whole premise of this article is just plain wrong. And the way it is presented makes it clear this is anti-physician propaganda. Sadly that permeates our media and culture much like anti-1% and anti-success propaganda.
Beware what you read on the internet.
Eric Dye says
Great feedback, Jason, thanks!
thyrkas says
This infographic is not helpful for a number of reasons, including all the reasons that Jason Cox listed above.
Here is one statement in the infographic I disagree with: “Healthcare is often the practice of medicine rather than the science of medicine.” Healthcare is used to treat human beings; human beings are not simply a collection of data that can be reduced to a scientific formula. It might be more cost effective to do an AlivCor ecg everyday for a year than to do one at the hospital, but how is that helpful? A physician eventually has to interpret those ecg’s to aid the patient in understanding what is going on with his or her heart. The computer in an AlivCor can only analyze the heart rhythem, not diagnose or treat.
Big Data is not the answer to the problems facing medicine.It may be a tool to assist in solving some problems, but it is not the be-all and end-all that its proponents say that it is. Humans are far more complex, varied and unpredictable than any computer can be programmed to deal with. Thirty years in and around hospitals and patients has shown me this.
Eric Dye says
Great points!