E-Health. Good or Bad?

The recent Australia government announcement that over half a billion dollars will be spent on an e-health system has raised many more questions.

The idea of a universally accessible, with your permission, system of health records is an interesting concept. It will allow doctors to see what medications patients are on, what treatments they have had and the results of any tests. This kind of information will improve the abilities of doctors to see changes overtime and will cut down on mistakes made because of the lack of information.

But does it go against our individual privacy? What kind of information will the system have about us?

Having worked in the health system dealing with patient records I understand the fear that this kind of system can cause. Already many hospitals, GP's and community health teams use dedicated electronic patient record systems. But the problem we face in healthcare is that increasingly the information is held in many different systems which means that doctors and other healthcare professionals need to access multiple systems in order to find out the required information. This takes time and does not allow for broader patterns of healthcare outcomes to be assessed very easily.

I think this announcement is a step in the right direction but I think we should be more concerned with what the system will ultimately look like. I have used several different e-health solutions and all leave something to be desired. They are ugly. Hard to use. And overall limit the possibilities of good information being recorded. Old paper records still are better able to record good and thorough information.

This debate really needs to focus on getting the right outcomes for the sharing of patient information in the best possible way. Personal health records are already being shared between institutions everyday and there  has not been a problem yet.

Data driven self

Can keeping data on yourself (finances, thoughts, time spent, health) give you a better sense of self. That's the question that this recent article in the New York Times seeks to answer. The answer seems to be yes.

We use data in other aspects of our lives such as business and science. With the increasing push of personal computing and smart phones we are now able to track what we do in many different ways. This is leading people to make rational choices about what they do that is free from the usual blind spots we give ourselves.

On a personal level I believe that this information is giving people the power to make lasting changes to the way they live that is free from outside influences and is therefore specifically targeted at their needs and wants. It seems now is the time to stand up and take back data for ourselves.

Via New York Times

Information Overload???

A very smart post from David Allen, the king of GTD (Getting Things Done), discusses what exactly email overload means. In his view we don't so much as live in information overload as we live in meaning overload. Now at first glance that might look like semantics, and it is a little, but the difference is how we might overcome this problem.

His example of walking in the forest provides a clearer reason for his distinction. He says that when you take a walk in the forest you feel relaxed and calm even though you are experiencing a lot of different information come in. In this way the information overload is actually a good thing.

What then does he believe is the solution to the email problem? Being able to decide quickly what meaning they have to you. Do they have meaning as long term information storage? Or do they require specific actionable tasks from you? Once you decide on the meaning you know what to do with it.

So meaning about things is more important then the information itself. It's good, according to David Allen, that we live in world with such rich information all around us.

I think this is a pretty radical idea. And maybe explains some of our need to increase the amount of information we live with on a day to day basis.

The power of ideas

Data is everywhere. In particular as technology increases we are able to increasingly gather more and more data about everything we do in life. This information can be used both for good reasons and bad. This video is about the gamification of everything. The last 8 minutes in particular outline some of the ways in which Carnegie Mellon University Professor, Jesse Schell, believes we could see our everyday data used to encourage us to interact with the world around us.

Wii Games - E3 2010 - Guitar Hero 5

Long time no post

It's been ages since I have done a post. Rest assured, now that we are in the new year much more time and effort are going to go on here. I will be especially focusing on some of the bigger picture stuff with some clearly defined goals.

But in the mean time...  I have become obsessed with lifestreaming...... not just simple stuff either.... more stuff like this. It is basically a little wearable camera that takes photos in increments without any user interaction. the results are fascinating. If I could I would have bought one today.

BEN

Data Visualisation of the Week

A map exploring housing affordability in New York. Fascinating

National Authority protecting citizens

Who protects our data? Who advocates for better data management?

I was surprised to see that Sweden has their own data protection board. I think more countries should follow their lead. Here in Australia who have the freedom of information act but do we have someone who audits companies and organisations to determine if they are correctly handling citizens data.

Here is a good website that lists each countries data protection policies

http://www.privireal.org/content/dp/countries.php