ARTICLE SUMMARY:
Massachusetts General Brigham Health System is building one of the most comprehensive longitudinal MSK databases in surgery, which it is using to develop predictive analytics and clinical support tools that can help providers make more effective clinical decisions. The multiyear effort is perhaps the most advanced of its kind and indicative of resources and timelines needed for high-quality computational approaches to improving patient care.
While spine surgeons have been eager to develop predictive analytics and other decision support systems that have the potential to improve clinical outcomes, the carefully curated data that is foundational to such work is often lacking. To address this challenge, some experts are reforming the clinical trial process. (See “The Controversy over Decompression vs Fusion: What Data Tells Us,” MedTech Strategist, December 30, 2021.) Others are building enhanced registries and databases using innovative healthtech strategies to scale them and make them accessible. (See “Can Big Data Bring Precision Medicine to Spine Surgeries?” MedTech Strategist, November 22, 2021.)
