The Journal of mHealth Vol 2 Issue 4 (August) | Page 23

Data Protection: How Technology is Revolutionising Healthcare
existing quarantine on the spread of the illness.

But quarantines aren’t just about collecting accurate data and analysing it. Putting a community into quarantine is always a last resort
by governments and will only be used when it is necessary for the
greater good like with an outbreak of Ebola or the Black Death.
The reason it is a last resort and its use it highly regulated is that it
involves qualitative factors, namely human behaviour, relationships
and emotions. Health care professionals may advise family members to inform them about a sick relative, but many families will
ignore instructions and try to care for the infected person themselves, until perhaps they too fall victim to the same condition.

Data can also be used to identify who the social influencers

may be in a given area, and healthcare professionals can focus
on convincing these people about the merits of the quarantine
measures being enforced. There’s no guarantee that their influence will convince all families to abandon what they see as their
duty, but it may help to persuade some.

Real-time data saves lives
The important thing to remember about data is that it is useless
until it has been analysed and applied to fix a problem. Historical data can be a useful tool for predicting future trends and
analysing past behaviour, but anonymised real-time data allows
organisations to act immediately by providing people with timely
medical care, information and protection from infection. n

Data Protection: How Technology is
Revolutionising Healthcare
By Dale Jessop, CTO, Exco InTouch

Every week, news stories around the
world emerge of data security breaches.
Sadly, these are becoming ever more
prevalent and sizeable, and no industry
is exempt - including healthcare1. Ensuring privacy and security is paramount
both in terms of data protection for the
patient, as well as enhancing patient confidence in trial participation.
But now, some good news: the clinical
trials and healthcare arena is undergoing
a very noticeable technological revolution. With gathering pace, the pharmaceutical industry is beginning to embrace

technology in a move that is both as
encouraging as it is overdue. Digital
solutions are now becoming essential
both for eCOA (electronic Clinical Outcome Assessment) and ePRO (electronic
Patient Reported Outcomes) capture,
as well as the healthcare sector, as the
industry has realised that it can lead to
increased adherence, better health outcomes and, crucially, billions of pounds
saved worldwide.
The need to protect patient data and
provide the most secure environment
possible during a clinical trial and real
world healthcare situation has, quite
rightly, never been more vital. This is, in
the main, due to multiple, often complex
regulations across different geographic
territories, such as compliance with
HIPAA, Safe Harbor and EU Data Protection, which are central to safeguarding
data privacy in clinical and commercial
health services.
This comprehensive approach provides confidence for patients that their
data will be safe, which, most crucially,
reduces a major barrier to enrolment
in multi-country programs. The advent
of global clinical studies has meant that
sponsors need to consider the legislation that vendors are expected to adhere
to in order to provide the level of confidence to all stakeholders. Therefore, it
is imperative sponsors ensure that the
vendors they contract with abide by the
respective legislation that governs their

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