Veracity in big data: How good is good enough. (December 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Reimer, Andrew P; Madigan, Elizabeth A
• Is Part Of: Health informatics journal. Volume 25:Number 4(2019)
• Page Start: 1290
• Page End: 1298
• Publication Date: 2019-12
• Subjects: clinical decision-making -- data quality -- databases and data mining -- decision support systems -- electronic health records; Medical informatics -- Periodicals; 610.285
• DOI: 10.1177/1460458217744369
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1460-4582

Abstract

Veracity, one of the five V's used to describe big data, has received attention when it comes to using electronic medical record data for research purposes. In this perspective article, we discuss the idea of data veracity and associated concepts as it relates to the use of electronic medical record data and administrative data in research. We discuss the idea that electronic medical record data are "good enough" for clinical practice and, as such, are "good enough" for certain applications. We then propose three primary issues to attend to when establishing data veracity: data provenance, cross validation, and context.