Medical data

National Biomedical Data Bank

Main article: National Biomedical Data Bank

2024: The medical data market size in Russia reached 4.2 billion rubles

According to a Kept study, the volume of the medical data market in Russia as of 2024 was estimated at 4.2 billion rubles, with a CAGR of 8-10%.

2018:13 US medical centres agree to keep patient health data on Apple devices

On January 24, 2018, Apple and 13 well-known medical institutions, including the American medical centers of Johns Hopkins and the University of Pennsylvania, entered into an agreement that will allow Apple to store electronic data on the health of patients in these clinics on their devices - of course, with their consent.

Perhaps this step portends radical changes in the system. health care USA It can contribute to the emergence of revolutionary new ways to apply health data and provide patients with unprecedented opportunities.

Over the previous decade, electronic health records had become widespread, but there was growing public discontent that data could not follow patients through the health care system and were not available for closer analysis in order to improve the quality of care and conduct research. Most efforts to remove restrictions on the use and sharing of health data focus on allowing doctors and clinics to share information among themselves. This activity continues, but has not yet led to noticeable successes.

Public discontent, however, has increased interest in a new approach to handling medical data: to transfer it to patients and allow them to control their use themselves, that is, to share the data with whom they consider it necessary.

Several tech companies, including Google and Microsoft, made similar attempts in the early 2000s but failed. At the time, electronic medical records were not as widespread, only used by a few doctors and hospitals. Medical centers were reluctant to share the available data, considering it valuable confidential information. Technologies that could allow third parties to access electronic records held in hospitals and by doctors were underdeveloped. Electronic health record solution providers were not interested in providing third-party access as demand was low and data sharing could play into the hands of competitors.

Today, most of these obstacles have disappeared. Electronic health records and digital health data are ubiquitous. Various federal regulations and regulations require health care providers to share data with other providers and patients at risk of high penalties. The Argonaut Project, a private initiative group, has developed recommendations for a standardized open source software interface (API) that provides free access to information that is stored in the provider's database. This and other APIs are the key to the gates to electronic data storage, which is full of the healthcare industry. Notably, the US federal government now requires all electronic record providers to include open source APIs in products subject to government certification.

In a world where patients have free access to their own electronic data through the mediation of companies like Apple, there will be incredible opportunities to improve the health care system and human health. First, the availability of data patients need for further treatment will no longer depend on the bureaucracy of large health centers or clinics where staff are scarce. This can improve the quality of service and reduce the cost of repeated and optional examinations.

Second, removing restrictions on patient data would allow third parties to use them (with patients "consent) to provide new useful services to help patients better monitor their own health and manage their care. Client-oriented applications like these - if intuitive, practical and accurate - could potentially revolutionize patient-provider interactions and provide them with opportunities never seen in the history of medicine. Imagine a digital medical consultant, similar to Yandex.Alice, who can answer consumer questions based on his health data analyzed by artificial intelligence. The health care industry may begin to function as traditional economic markets.

Nevertheless, there are certain barriers and difficulties on the way to this future.

First, a large number of hospitals and doctors will have to follow the example of 13 medical centers that joined the agreement. We see encouraging signs that many will, but for health care providers and their IT partners to invest in these new partnerships, they must have a clear business case. Perhaps the most convincing incentive could be high consumer demand. But for it to arise, in exchange for giving access to their data to third parties like Apple, consumers must get something valuable. This means that Apple and its future competitors will have to develop attractive client-oriented applications that can easily and cheaply solve patients' problems. For 2018, such applications simply do not exist.

Secondly, free access to data opens up frightening opportunities for fraud and abuse of confidential information. Most consumers will want to transfer responsibilities for the use, storage, management and analysis of their data to third parties. It is important to make sure they are trustworthy or unscrupulous companies will sooner or later take advantage of patients' inexperience. Health data is highly valued on the black market, and even honest but inexperienced operators can create huge problems if they do not protect information appropriately. Public and private organizations are working on a voluntary but legally valid code of conduct that could regulate the actions of database operators. Its introduction will be the first step towards protecting patients from scammers.

Third, once more companies start developing medical applications for patients based on their health data, the quality of these programs may come up. By providing advice, they must guarantee their reliability. By promising certain services, they must provide them. Some apps may fall under the control of existing regulators, such as the Food and Drug Administration or the Federal Trade Commission. Otherwise, the question of how to ensure the correctness and reliability of the advice that consumers receive will inevitably rise at the government level.

Despite these challenges, the announcement of collaborations between leading American healthcare and technology providers signals the advent of a new era in health care and medicine. This partnership will not solve all the problems, but will stir up the US health care system. And this shake-up is absolutely necessary for her^[1].

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