MDT Survey: Data-Driven
Medicine Slow to Gain
Momentum
By Tierney King, Associate Editor
At the beginning of 2018, instead of having our trusty editor try to pre- dict the future of medical technol-
ogy, he invited readers to participate in an
online Roundtable Survey to help us delve
into the unknown. Now, we’ve followed-up
with another Roundtable Survey to see
what direction Data-Driven Medicine and
outcome-based healthcare strategies have
taken as we near the end of 2018. The
results, from 117 readers surveyed, indicate
Data-Driven Medicine remains on the
cusp of healthcare integration, while out-
come-based patient strategies have become
more prevalent.
Data-Driven Strategies
Still trending, Big Data, artificial intelli-
gence, and deep learning continue to play
a vital role in revolutionizing medicine and
the healthcare industry. Today, digital data
provides critical information to healthcare
providers, patients, pharmacies, and insur-
ance companies. This information not only
comes from inside the clinic, but also from
outside clinic walls with wireless devices
like wearables. These technological tools
have increased the quality of patient care,
but have also raised concerns of security for
patients. With a plethora of “what-ifs” and
apprehension from healthcare companies
and patients, there are still advocates stand-
ing behind Big Data and its ability to help
save lives. Here, we delve into our Round-
table Survey results of where the health-
care community stands when it comes to
Data-Driven Medicine:
Q1: Since the beginning of 2018, what
kind of growth have you seen in Data-Driven Medicine?
• 36.8% - We have seen more interest in
Data-Driven Medicine
• 23.9% - Our company has increased its
usage of Data-Driven Medicine
• 44.4% - No change: we are not using
Data-Driven Medicine at this time, and are
uncertain if and when we will implement it
Q2: What effect is Data-Driven medicine having on your company’s products
and business strategies?
• 21.4% - Data-Driven Medicine is already
having an impact on our products and
services
• 25.6% - We are using Data-Driven
Medicine, but don’t have enough data to
gauge its impact
• 13.7% - We expect to implement Da-
ta-Driven Medicine within the next year
• 39.3% - We do not plan to implement
Data-Driven Medicine anytime soon
Respondents see definite shift toward outcome-oriented healthcare strategies
Figure 1: Almost a third of respondents surveyed say their companies are not involved in
digital medicine, with a dearth of standards and best practice guidelines cited as contributing
reasons.
