I’ve written numerous times in the past few years about the tremendous potential for health data to drive changes in both the care given to patients and the way medicines are researched. Heck, it could even facilitate a fundamental change in how we perceive healthcare and support a shift towards prevention rather than cure.
I’ve long been a believer that the true potential of this will come when traditional health data, such as electronic medical records, is merged with both genomic data and user-generated health data from apps and wearables. If this data can be aggregated at a population level then it could deliver tremendous insights into the health of a region.
Whilst no city has yet turned themselves into a living laboratory, the Canadian province of Ontario is perhaps the first to venture in that direction. The region operates a single-payer healthcare system that ensures that large quantities of health data are within their remit. It’s also home to Toronto, one of the leading cities for AI research in the world.
Living laboratories
The region has been working with the MaRS Discovery District to develop a platform that will give access to vast quantities of health data to approved companies. The project, known as Project Spark, has been initiated by MaRS and Canada’s University Health Network.
“SPARK is a pathway, it does not develop digital health solutions: it helps those who do,” the team say. “SPARK makes it easier for digital health innovators to flow provincial health information into the hands of patients and their health service providers.”
The team plan to develop an API to allow developers to access data from the government’s vast repository, whether to build an app, conduct research or develop a new AI-based product. What’s more, the team also hope that the project will give Ontarians much better access to their health records.
Suffice to say, the project is currently only focusing on mobilizing the data that already exists within the Ontario health system, it isn’t seeking to augment that with various forms of user-generated health data. As the platform develops and proves its worth however, that seems a natural next step.
There are currently around 100 companies queuing up to get access to the 14 million records within the system. It isn’t immediately clear yet quite what governance rules exist around the use of this data. Have the patients given consent for their data to be used in this way for instance, or what commercial arrangements exist to ensure that companies don’t get incredibly rich on data whilst both individuals and health authorities get nothing.
The project is at an early stage so it remains to be seen just how it unfolds, but the fact that they are venturing down this road is promising and it will be a fascinating project to keep tabs on.
