September 2009

A Senior IT Executive Perspective on Data Growth in Hospitals

This paper, from the Global Information Industry Center at the School of International Relations and Pacific Studies, at the University of California, San Diego, reports on the results of interviews with eight senior IT hospital executives and two medical insurance organization CIOs on the subject of data management in the hospital industry. The executives were asked to talk about their current amount of data storage, its growth in the past several years and their expectations for data storage growth in the future. They also discussed the value they saw in current and future data and the issues they face in the management of this data. All saw very significant growth in data in the next several years caused by six major factors. These are the growth in the volume as well as the technology of imaging, expanded use of electronic medical records, increased use of Web 2.0 software, growth in decision support capabilities, the development of new health information networks and the advent of genetic testing. The executives saw significant value in today's and future data both for patients and the healthcare system. Finally, they noted many issues, both current and future, in the management of data.