Every time you read about health care IT investments, the 2 big things that standout are the budgets, measured in hundreds of millions, and the time, measured in years for roll-out. The big issue that is rarely raised is, what effect has past investments had on health care?

An immediate standout is the data generated. Modern data systems are very powerful and capable of serious number crunching. Given the popularity of hospitals, especially for the sick, there is plenty of data generated by people afflicted by complex and not so complex needs.

On the face of it, data systems should represent a godsend for busy clinicians, but the complex world of health care, with its numerous issues does present a double edged sword. The trouble with data, is that it has to be understood and acted upon. The more data, means the more resources required in order to do something. The conflict arises with clinicians gaining more complex patients (drugs, injuries, chronic disease etc) who now generate more data (pathology, medication, care plans, tests) for the clinician to hunt down across multiple systems and to make sense of.

With all the issues facing health care, this is not to discredit data systems, who knows what the world would be like without them. But! Having an ultra powerful tool does not represent gaining a feasible solution. While it looks good to media outlets, that spending on health care IT is into the hundreds of millions, I would like to see more questions raised on the delivery of clinically relevant solutions.