Abstract

A 3-panel comic illustrates an offer of data to pay for health care services.

 

Figure. Is Big Data the Currency of the 21st Century?

Media

Digital illustration.

Caption

Availability of large amounts of many patients’ personal and health data has made some artificial intelligence applications in health care possible and has enabled growth in personalized medicine. Big data’s capacity to divert attention from a patient’s care might be ironic, then, when considered in light of its overwhelming value to organizations competing in a health care marketplace with few cost controls.