BUPA Health Dialog wants to mine anonymous clinical data in the
national e-health records system to drive "more effective, routine,
targeted prevention activities" for at-risk patients.
An arm of giant insurer Bupa, Health Dialog offers "evidence-based
wellness, prevention and chronic disease management services" based on
proprietary health analytic and decision support tools.
BHD has told the Senate inquiry
into the Gillard government's personally controlled e-health records
program it can analyse system-wide data, including claims and usage
information, to "identify local, regional, state and national
variations" in healthcare usage, effectiveness and efficiency.
"Our population analytics services can focus on individuals at greater
health risk, (those) who are most likely to benefit from health coaching
or other interventions," its submission to the Community Affairs
committee says.
"The predictive modelling tools we employ enable health planners and
policy-makers to take a practical and informed approach to solutions
along the continuum of care."
Coaching services, provided by specially trained nurses and other
medical professionals, support patients in understanding their medical
conditions and treatment options, changing their behaviour and achieving
personal health goals.
"We believe the PCEHR will help to alleviate current limitations in the
availability and use of relevant information in the health system,
(which) undercut both experiences and outcomes as well as the system's
capacity to achieve value for taxpayers," BHD said.
"But we note the legislation does not regulate (the use of)
de-identified information. We believe it is essential that de-identified
clinical data held in the system is made available to organisations and
researchers for secondary uses that will deliver improved health
outcomes."
Acknowledging community privacy concerns over the use of data captured
in the PCEHR system, BHD says it is only advocating the use of data
"that has been anonymised through the removal of personal information
such as names and dates of birth".
BHD said it is "uniquely positioned to develop and implement
sophisticated data mining tools" that enable the development of targeted
and relevant community health programs.
"These tools can be used to search for evidence-based clinical terms in
population medical records to identify important gaps in care," it said.
"For example, the percentage of diabetics who do not have an annual eye
examination to detect retinopathy and prevent blindness; the percentage
of persistent asthmatics who do not have an annual clinical review; the
percentage of people with heart disease who do not take recommended
statin medication or the percentage of individuals at risk of seasonal
influenza requiring immunisation.
"This use of data would allow health professionals to make interventions
within the right cohorts and enhance the way we manage chronic
diseases."
BHD said de-identified data could also improve equity, access and cost
effectiveness across the Australian health sector by applying "a lens of
unwarranted variation" that allows providers to easily map and rank
anomalies caused by delivery system failures.
The Community Affairs committee is conducting a broad-ranging inquiry
into the PCEHR Bill and related matters, including potential risks to
patient safety and privacy. It is due to report by February 29.
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