Why Healthcare Data Won’t Magically Create Value-Based Care

“Recent technological breakthroughs have exponentially reduced the cost of data storage and compute, making it easier and less expensive to store more data than ever before,” reads a passage defining big data on Oracle’s web site. “With an increased volume of big data now cheaper and more accessible, you can make more accurate and precise business decisions.”

Data silos and poor interoperability are still obstacles on the technical side, but they are not what keeps healthcare from gradually realizing value-based care. One might even imagine that technological challenges might just resolve of their own accord if systems and processes shifted to value-based models.

In the meantime, perhaps we can agree that more sophisticated healthcare IT platforms and more hand-wringing about interoperability, while necessary, will not magically fix what ails the healthcare system.