Learning Objectives
| Learn about how health data is shared |
| Gain insight about the benefits of sharing health data |
What is Health Data Sharing?
Health data sharing refers to the exchange of health-related data between different entities (e.g., health care providers, organizations, research institutions, public health bodies) to improve patient care, health outcomes, and public health.
Why is Health Data Shared?
Sharing health data is important because it helps health care providers make better decisions about your care. When your complete health history is available, it saves time, as new providers can quickly access your data without you having to repeat everything. This sharing also reduces mistakes, like giving the wrong medicine, and allows health care providers to work together more effectively. Additionally, by looking at shared data, health officials can spot trends in the community and respond to health issues more quickly. Overall, sharing health data ensures everyone gets the best care possible.
Benefits of Sharing Data
| Better Care | Health care providers can access all your health data, which helps them make better decisions about your treatment. |
| Faster Access | When you visit a new health care provider, they can quickly see your medical history, so you don’t have to repeat everything. |
| Fewer Errors | With complete information, there’s less chance of mistakes, like prescribing the wrong medicine. |
| Reduced Duplicate Testing | When health care providers can access results, duplicate testing is not needed. |
| Improved Coordination | Different health care providers can work together more easily to take care of you. |
| Health Monitoring | Health officials can use shared data to track health trends in communities and respond to issues quickly. |
| System Monitoring and Planning | Information can help monitor existing services and programs and plan for new ones. |
| Public and Population Health | Organizations and government departments/agencies can learn important information about the special health and social needs of different groups and communities. |
Health Data Linkage
Health data linkage is the process of connecting different health records that belong to the same person.
Here’s how it works:
Collecting Data: When you go to different doctors or hospitals, they create health records for you. These records include your medical history, test results, and treatments.
Finding Matches: Health data linkage looks for records that belong to you from different places. For example, it finds your records from your family doctor, a specialist, and a hospital visit.
Combining Data: Once the records are matched, they are combined into one complete record. This gives health care providers a full picture of your health.
Better Care: With all your health data in one place, doctors can make better decisions about your care. They can see everything they need to know about your health without missing important details.
Keeping It Safe: The linking process keeps your data private and secure, so only authorized health care providers can see your combined health record.
Linked Data for Population Health
Linked health data helps improve the health of groups of people by bringing together health data from many individuals.
By looking at this combined data, health experts can find patterns, like how many people have certain diseases in a community. This helps them identify common health issues and plan better services, such as health education or treatments. They can also see if their efforts are making a difference over time.
Overall, linked health data is a valuable tool for understanding and enhancing the health of entire populations.
The course was developed in collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada.