hospital—and application complexity made for further complication.


Medical Advances Fuel Complexity A recent study published in the


Journal of the American Medical Association, showed that beyond mere storage, healthcare data systems in healthcare are lacking when it comes to optimal handling of complex information— particularly “omics” data. Existing data systems aren’t


sophisticated enough to make optimal use of ever-expanding patient information, the report showed. That problem that will only be exacerbated as data grows apace—fueled by innovations such as next-generation genomic sequencing—and becomes cheaper and more available to healthcare providers. As genomics, epigenomics,


proteomics and metabolomics advance, the study shows, the ability to store large-scale raw data for future reference with patients is critical.


Health Information Killing Storage Capacity “Areas of DNA that were once considered genetic ‘junk’ are now known to play important roles in gene regulation and disease,” said Justin Starren, chief of the division of health and biomedical informatics in the department of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “We need dynamic systems that can reanalyze and reinterpret stored raw data as knowledge evolves, and can incorporate genomic clinical decision support.” Or consider newer 3D imaging,


which about one in five hospitals is making use of these days. “It’s very data-intensive,” said John


Hoyt, executive vice president of HIMSS Analytics. “3D mammography uses eight and a half times more storage than 2D. It just eats up disk space.” Having grown exponentially


over the past decade, the amount of healthcare data is supposed to triple in the next three years, according to storage giant EMC. Beyond that, it’s been predicted that it will eventually grow to a mind-boggling 15 zettabytes in the not-too-distant future. For comparison’s sake, the entirety of the


IMAGE © FOTOLIA FRESHIDEA AND SANTA PAPA CONNECTION/HEALTHCARE IT 2014.Q2 3


World Wide Web is estimated to be just 4 zettabytes.


Keeping Pace with Demands Even on a localized and much


more manageable level, the challenge is acute. “That would be on my mind if I was


a CIO—what in the world am I going to do three years from now because I’m doubling my data,” said Hoyt. “There’s not enough good real estate inside the hospital, so get out of the building.” Some have argued that storage


issues might be an impediment to progress in healthcare. Hoyt doesn’t think so. To the extent that the challenges remain for providers on that front, they “will be money, but not the technology,” he says. “The technology responds.” And so it has been, as shown, for


instance, by the big movement toward cloud storage and virtualization, and phenomena such as big data-as-a- service, which is pegged for big growth in the next three years, according to a 2012 report from TechNavio. “With the technological


advancements in the field of healthcare, the required space for


patient data storage is increasing exponentially,” explained a TechNavio analyst. “Healthcare providers have increased the medical records and samples of patients. Many healthcare organizations have realized recently that they are running out of space to store their assets. “Therefore, the healthcare sector is


witnessing the emergence of healthcare data-as-a-service. Cloud computing enables healthcare providers as well as patients to access medical information at any time and from any location. However, many such organizations are still analyzing the feasibility and relevance of such cloud computing solutions in their IT operations.” “The mass storage industry is responding to the demand for storage, because it’s everywhere,” says Hoyt. “It’s not just medical. Everybody’s demanding it.”


ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mike Miliard is Managing Editor at Healthcare IT News. Mike covers topics such as health information exchange, privacy and security, analytics, and ICD-10.


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