The Stories Data Can Tell You
December 12, 2019
PM360
December 12, 2019
By Chemelle Evans and Jenn Mason
https://www.pm360online.com/the-stories-data-can-tell-you/
Summary
The data revolution has launched a disruption of giant proportions in all industries. Medicine and biopharma are finding themselves in the midst of it, and leaders are working hard to get their operations up to task for the avalanche of data that screams to be processed. The most effective data operations are those that account for the human element in all its facets and that systematically include qualitative information.
The potential of data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence is dominating much business talk, including in medicine and biopharma. Many novel therapies and diagnostic procedures came to fruition because we’re now able to efficiently process large quantities of data—and the future promises personalized medicine and overall better treatment decisions. Of course, these blessings are paired, in the minds of many people, with fears of job loss, of Big Brother-like data trawling, of machines becoming our boss, and of large-scale reality distortion through inaccurate data.
Some of us welcome the data revolution with open arms, while some of us dread what it will mean for jobs and society. Whichever way we may feel about it personally, competitive businesses must harness the insights data can generate. And ironically, in order to harvest the full potential of data, we must recognize how important the human element remains in generating and interpreting the data.
Machines can do many things, but for the time being, it remains our responsibility to gather the right data, to treat sensitive data safely and with respect, to interpret the data in useful ways, and to interact with patients like only humans can interact with one another. [read more…]
