Use of health data – extremely expanded and clearly wide: benefits for both business and public sector
Health data remains one of the most important data available to the state. Already for some time, the State Data Lake has been increasingly complemented by new health data, enabling the public sector and business to take various decisions, which are useful and generally interesting for the public. They can be used in conducting scientific experiments, implementing various innovations, and shaping health policy.
Millions of health data are accumulated in Lithuanian information systems every month. Over a year, eHealth is supplemented by around 100 million electronic clinical documents.
Some time ago, reusing health data required contacting data controllers and entering into data provision (sharing) agreements with each of them. Information system managers were often hesitant to assume the potential risk of the consequences of improper handling of personal data, and therefore did not always provide available health data for reuse. Furthermore, health data managers were often under-resourced to process, compile and properly communicate health data in a secure environment. Currently, this can be done in a single procedure (the “one stop shop” principle), i.e. applying to the State Data Agency (Statistics Lithuania).
As Julius Juodakis, representative of the State Data Agency, noted at the Conference “Set data free – let them work” organized by the State Digital Solutions Agency, access to health data for re–use can be obtained by all natural and legal persons (operating in our country).
Provision of health data for re–use is subject to fee payment, which is intended to cover data providing costs, and does not generate profits to the institutions providing such data. Scientists, students, business companies, pioneers, leaders, everyone who wants to use health data, should fill out an application on the Official Statistics Portal. Employees of the Agency assess whether the data requested can be provided, and if yes, prepare them for safe use.
More information on the reuse of health data can be found here.
In addition, close and intense collaboration with our country’s health authorities has led to the fast–growing number of depersonalized health data opened to the public on the Open Data Portal. At the moment, 126 free and accessible health data sets have been opened on the aforementioned Portal, which enables and facilitates a more detailed examination of the activities and nature of the country’s health institutions.
Such data allows for the creation of products of public importance, i.e. so–called public dashboards, where the dynamics of various health phenomena in Lithuania can be seen. These are no longer abstract numbers, but summarised conclusions. For example, a dashboard of patient queues has been created, which shows queues to see doctors, their availability, how queues to visit doctors get longer in summer time, etc. Internal dashboards are also generated. They are needed by decision-making bodies for which it is important to track a multitude of indicators.
You can find the Lithuanian Open Data Portal here.