Big data is one of the biggest topics in technology and continues to be an important conversation in the healthcare space.
While at HIMSS this year, I sat down with Dr. David Rhew, chief medical officer and vice president of healthcare at Samsung Electronics America, to talk about how data can best benefit patients.
Specifically, I asked him how data can change the way healthcare providers evaluate brain injuries and perform cognitive assessments.
“One of the really exciting things that we’re starting to recognize is that technology can be used to better assess brain injury, as well as treat it,” Rhew said. “One of the partners that we work with closely has developed a technology that allows us to … assess concussions. They’ve looked at eye tracking, and they found that the ability to quantify the degree to which [a patient] goes off the eye tracking allows [doctors to determine] the severity of the concussion.”
In addition to establishing a baseline for recovery, the repetition of these types of exercises has been found to actually increase how quickly someone can recover from their concussion, which can get them back to living their lives faster than would have been previously possible.
“That’s what’s really exciting,” Rhew added. “When we can start applying technology to diagnose, quantify and potentially improve care. Drawing insights from all of this data will really be the key.”
This is one of the most exciting emerging areas in all of healthcare — I’m excited to see how it transforms the industry in the coming years.
Read the in-depth case study on how Quadrant Biosciences is transforming brain health testing.
