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Data Liquidity


Right from the get-go, I was intrigued by this post which used the phrase "Data Liquidity" since this term is new to me, but I grasp a meaning for it right away. The post points out the importance of interoperability for care continuity and how this impacts value and quality driven care.

As a technologist, ideas and concepts like this always interest me and it represents an area I've dealt with as a software engineer responsible for tying systems together into a coherent whole. I understand the need for continuing technology improvements in this area. But an even more frustrating and worrisome impediment to data liquidity are institutional barriers. I have often run into mazes of siloed data, groundless HIPPA fear-reactions, lack of data management infrastructures, turf wars and other strictly institutional impediments.

I understand that hospitals and healthcare systems are large and complex organizations. But I find that often the data management policies in business, such as financial institutions, are much more well developed.

Think of but a few questions:

  • What data do we have - is it all known and cataloged?
  • Who owns the various data in the organization, what group (or person) is responsible for it?
  • Who has ultimate accountability for the organization’s data?
There is a growing maturity model which can guide the creation of a coherent data management plan. Without the institutional planning and strategy behind trying to achieve data liquidity, the technical portions are the least of the problem.

I would suggest the following series of articles:

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