Paper short abstract:

Clinicians often base their understanding of information on an incomplete grasp of reality on the ground which may lead to poor health outcomes. But new technological innovations and big data if utilised and harnessed effectively have the potential to improve health outcomes and address inequalities

Paper long abstract:

The global healthcare landscape is changing. Healthcare services are becoming ever more digitised with the adoption of new innovations and mobile technologies. This has resulted in creating huge amounts of data which goes beyond the hospitals' wall. So-called big data is able to provide a stronger evidence base for more effective and efficient medical interventions. Therefore, there is growing enthusiasm for harnessing big data sources for the purpose of improved care and better management.

Big data has been used in different areas of healthcare including data-driven medical research and public health infrastructures, clinical health care, and self-care practices. Focusing on clinical health care domain, this paper analyses the introduction of Electronic Health Records (EHR) in Iranian hospitals. EHR are intrinsically big because of their complexity and number of patients and amounts of data on each patient.

Iranian ministry of health has recently introduced a cohesive national EHR system, known as SEPAS. Electronic health files have been created for at least 70% of the people in every province and provide real-time and patient-centred records. Although a few studies have been conducted about Iranian EHR, the focus is mostly on collecting and storing data rather than on datafication. Using qualitative exploratory research design, one hospital in Iran, is selected to conduct an empirical study to assess this system. This provides an opportunity to understand potentials and challenges of datafication in healthcare as well as understanding how datafication transforms the roles of different actors.