For many, smarter healthcare through the use of computers is an exciting idea. This has been the case since the sixties, and I belong to the current generation of people who try to make this happen.

There are so many misunderstood things about making computers help clinicians. It would take a lot of space to discuss these things, a luxury neither the blogger nor the reader can afford, so let’s stick to a key component of making CDS happen: data.

One form of CDS that benefits from data is based on building mathematical models using the data, then using these models to assess clinical scenarios. The more data you have, the more robust and accurate your decision making models are. This is why the big data hype is acting similar to rents in London: there appears to be no limit to its rise. Big data is basically breaking very large amounts of data that would not possibly fit into a single computer to smaller chunks and process it using hundreds and if necessary thousands of computers. It is not conceptually new, but it became easier and cheaper in the last decade. With this improved approach to processing larger data, the possibility of better decision making models arise, and (some) clinicians, vendors and investors begin to think: “This is it! We’ll now be able to have sci-fi smart computers”. Not so easy.Read More »