Oct 21, 2016: IHL "Fireside Chats" Sino-U.S. Physician Panel: Big Data & Clinical Practice

On October 21st, 2016, the new session of IHL Fireside Chats Sino-U.S. Physician Panel was successfully held at Columbia University Medical Center. The topic of this panel: Big Data & Clinical Practice, was one of the most discussed and interested lately. How should clinical workers incorporate data analytic methods into the improvement of the quality of care? How could clinical benefit from the application of big data science? IHL invited 6 physicians and researchers with different background to join the discussion. The panel was moderated by Wei Zhou, MPH, Clinical Analyst at NYU Langone Medical Center and Columbia University Alumni. In addition, the meeting was telecast live on the Internet for the first time to allow audiences from across the world to attend.

The panelists include:

David P. Roye Jr., MD, St. Giles Professor of Pediatric Orthopedic Surgery at Columbia University Medical Center;

Guibing Fu, MD, Associate Director of Orthopedic Department at Shenzhen Childrens Hospital, China;

Hiroko Matsumoto, PhDc, Director of Research at Weinberg Family Cerebral Palsy Center at Columbia University;

Kevin Wang, Quality Officer of Orthopedic Department at Columbia University Medical Center;

Chong Weng, MD, Attending Orthopedic Surgeon at Zhengzhou University No.1 Affiliated Hospital, China;

Mr. Handong Ma, Co-Founder of Shanghai Synyi Medical Technology Co., Ltd.

At the beginning of the discussion, Mr. Wei Zhou, the moderator, gave some short yet informative background introduction on the state of the art in clinical big data research. Panelists then shared two cases of they brought from their own departments subsequently to compare the different patterns used to implement data sciences in clinical practice in Chinese an American hospitals. The panel then started a hot discussion on clinical database building, clinical risk assessment, and decision optimization. U.S. professionals also shared their insights into the application of big data in surgical risk assessment. 

After the discussion, panelists answered several questions raised by the audience. Dr. Guibing Fu, director of orthopedic at Shenzhen Childrens, pointed out that The model U.S. hospitals built up to assess surgical site infection is a perfect example of how big data can help improve clinical practice. The power of data sciences should be borrowed to solve more clinical problems. His perspective was well agreed by all the other panelists. No matter whether we are talking about big data or medical precision data, there is definitely a huge potential we can apply them to improve the quality of clinical care. Yet, we have to admit, there is still a long way to go. Concluded David P. Roye, MD, at the end of the meeting.

Full footage of the panel will be accessible online shortly. Please follow IHL on social medias to keep up with our latest activities.