It's common practice for banks, supermarkets and online retailers to
mine the data they collect on customers to rethink marketing campaigns,
make targeted offers and keep inventories up to date. It's far less
common in health care, where much of the useful data lies trapped in
paper records and notes, often scribbled in barely decipherable script.
The relatively slow pace with which many physicians and hospitals have
been moving this information into electronic systems creates a
competitive advantage for front-runners like NorthShore University
HealthSystem, Northwestern Memorial Hospital and Northwestern Memorial
Faculty Foundation, which invested early in health information
technology. They are now primed to mine their electronic medical records
to identify patients whose genetic makeup puts them at high risk of
developing diseases or predict hours ahead of time whether a
hospitalized patient is likely to have a heart attack.
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