Using data for quicker disease insight
An inventory of AI applications in health and care in the Netherlands in 2020 by KPMG, commissioned by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, already showed that there’s still something to be gained in several areas. Many initiatives aimed at combating the covid pandemic are fascinating to highlight, such as the use of intensive care data for quick insights with the help of machine learning. An important observation here is the drive of doctors in times of crisis to show how cooperation can lead to bundling of insights and learning from each other’s practice variation with the integration of technology under high work pressure. Nevertheless, many points remained open during the discussion. For example, how to arrange permission to use data in the development of technology (an algorithm). What to do about additional administrative burden in the current work process with systems from which data are usually difficult to retrieve (irrespective of the quality, integrity, provenance, availability and so on), the importance of prospective randomized research in the way in which data are now made available retrospectively. The importance of a joint, seamlessly, and sustainably supported data curation process is thus clearly on the agenda.
Cybercriminals force us to step out of neutrality
European frameworks and legislation such as GDPR can help maintain confidentiality in the doctor-patient relationship. Various forms of breach can be identified: from data breach such as failure to deliver (on time), loss, unauthorized inspection, use or misuse for purposes other than primarily providing care without consent, varying from research, quality registration to development of services in the broadest sense. One step further and we come to cybercrime. The cybercriminal also seemed to plunge into healthcare during the pandemic, unfortunately not with the best of intentions. Healthcare had the highest number of data breaches of all sectors in 2020 , Based on the 2021 Identity Breach Report, the healthcare sector did experience a 51% increase in the total volume of records exposed when compared with 2019. Our profession is threatened by the cybercriminal who operates in a purely financially driven way, as well as public health. The most important areas appeared to be ransomware and disinformation in the era of digital everything, which puts public health and my profession at great risk.
Digital pandemic preparedness turned out to be an issue. Just think of some examples like the PII breach at the GGD, the organization of the entire process of testing and vaccination, misinformation about vaccination and social distancing, digital delivery of covid passports, adoption of covid contact app Corona Melder1 and the Apache Log4j vulnerability found just before the end of 2021.
Measure everything?
Until now, the privacy of the employee has remained underexposed. Installing a temperature scan at the door, logging activity in applications, up to and including a smart toilet and a genetic test ‘from immense involvement’ of the employer. In addition to weighing up the importance, it is important to carefully discuss the objective and conditions. Ideally, the stakeholders themselves determine how they can improve quality in their work. A good example is how doctors in the group of Professor Adler-Milstein at UCSF measure their own behavior while working with the EHR (electronic medical record) to build supportive tools, e.g. decision support.