AI-Driven Medical Care? A Health Data Reality Check

The Health Datapalooza tech conference highlighted the fragmented and non-standardized nature of US healthcare data, with experts noting that many electronic health records cannot communicate with each other and different versions of interoperability standards have emerged. The problem is compounded by “structural issues and biases” in data and a lack of a framework capable of evaluating where data comes from. Furthermore, the public is increasingly being exposed to dangerously inaccurate health misinformation, or "malinformation", which can be promoted faster than the truth can be verified. To combat this problem, the FDA has launched an anti-misinformation campaign, while former FDA chief Dr. Robert Califf has created a new national coalition to fight health care misinformation. Meanwhile, the Coalition for Trust in Health & Science has formed, made up of over 50 health care organizations, with the aim of fighting back against misinformation in as close-to-real time as possible.