Doctors would be able to use the data to gain a head start in treating and isolating outbreaks of infectious disease - an area where speed is crucial if death rates are to be minimised.
My life science and healthcare clients are continuing to look for innovative and practical ways to integrate genomic data with clinical records to identify new approaches for treating patients.
When treating a particularly vulnerable population, informed consent becomes more important, and if data are being collected, there are fairly stringent obligations on the part of the researcher.
Aetna Health is using big data analysis to come up with personalized treatment plan that assesses patient risk factors and focuses on treating one or two things that will have the most impact (statistically speaking) on improving their health.