By Sharon E. Miller, Jedidiah J. Grisel, and Erin Schafer
This article is a part of the November/December 2019, Volume 31, Number 6, Audiology Today issue.
The term “big data” refers to large datasets that are too complex for traditional data-processing software and instead require sophisticated machine-learning analytics. The use of big data in health care is receiving increased attention by consumers, researchers, and funding agencies as analyses of these data promote evidence-based decisions by physicians and providers (Ristevski and Chen, 2018).
Big data applications have yet to be fully realized in the hearing health-care field. However, auditory researchers, clinicians, and industry are beginning to collaborate to build large datasets. One such growing audiology-related database is managed by the Auditory Implant Initiative (Aii), a non-profit organization with a mission to improve cochlear implant care through research, collaboration, and outreach. The Aii, along with a multidisciplinary board of directors, manages the web-based HIPAA-Secure, Encrypted, Research, Management and Evaluation Solution (HERMES) database (Schafer et al, 2016) that serves as a data repository for multiple cochlear implant centers.
The HERMES database serves three important functions, as follows:
- Individual cochlear implant centers and clinics use the virtual HERMES database to organize and track patient data including hearing history, demographic and surgical information, and pre-and post-implant performance.
- Secure and password-protected data may be accessed by multiple providers (e.g., the audiologist and surgeon) at different sites, resulting in a virtual care team.
- By using HERMES, the centers and clinics agree that their de-identified patient data may be entered into an aggregate dataset that may be used by Aii and other investigators for research and analytics.
This article will provide a description of the aggregate data in HERMES, an overview of research conducted with the database, and a discussion of how this database model may be replicated in other aspects of audiology.
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