Data work in healthcare: An Introduction

Why data work in healthcare? Healthcare organizations across the globe are currently grappling to implement tools and practices to transform data from “refuse to riches,” a movement propelled by mass adoption of electronic health records (EHRs), sensors, and servers that can hold an ever-expanding volume of digital data. Allegedly, “By digitizing, combining and effectively using big data, healthcare organizations ranging from single-physician offices and multi-provider groups to large hospital networks and accountable care organizations stand to realize significant benefits.” The potential is “. . . to improve care, save lives and lower costs.” As a consequence, organizations are struggling under massive institutional pressures to make healthcare “data-driven” against the messy reality of creating, managing, analyzing, and using data for management, decision-making, accountability, and medical research.