If 'clean,' big data can improve US health care

[Commentary]Less medical privacy may be good for your health. A growing body of research has found that information Americans share on social media websites about their health and lifestyle is more up to date and accurate than what they share with doctors, employers, insurance companies and government agencies.

In other words, we're more honest with our friends than we are with those who control our access to medical care. While that may simply reflect human nature, it has huge implications for health care as patients and providers look to the analysis of so-called big data to improve diagnosis and treatment. The findings suggest that improvement in medical services may depend as much on widespread availability of accurate patient data as it does on advances in technologies and procedures.

"The little secret of big data is that a lot of it isn't clean," says Eva Ho, a partner with the early-stage venture capital firm Susa Ventures and a former executive at both Google and Factual, an upstart Internet-search company. In health care, that means a patient's medical records can be filled with outdated or conflicting information that makes an accurate diagnosis more difficult.