How CIOs are working on the Data Act
As required by current regulations for private healthcare, elderly healthcare management company Karol Strutture Sanitarie collects patient data in their medical records, allowing them to use it even after hospitalization. The data is, in fact, recorded by medical devices, remains in the logs, and is shared with the suppliers or manufacturers of these devices.
“The Data Act impacts data sharing,” says Massimo Anselmo, its director of information systems. “An important aspect is, for example, our ability to use patient data for research purposes after anonymizing them, in line with GDPR. The Data Act helps us because it defines more clearly how to use this data, and we’re currently trying to understand if, compared to the past, there’s more data we can make available to patients. So not only the results of a diagnostic test, but specifications of the machine used. Most of the medical machines are owned by us, but with the Data Act, we’ll always have a relationship with the manufacturer to analyze the logs and verify their correct functioning or schedule maintenance. I also foresee an intervention on contracts with suppliers, together with the legal office, and on rental machines to control which data are shared and for how long.”
The impact on Karol’s data governance won’t be a major upheaval either, adds Anselmo. “I’ll have to work, above all, on monitoring data traffic and protecting communications, while isolating some data and regulation of access,” he says.
