Artificial Intelligence

We’ve talked a lot about how technology is transforming healthcare. From ambient listening devices to voice-based assistants, we’re seeing a data explosion. This shift (what many call a “data revolution”) is especially visible in the rise of AI scribes: tools that automatically generate clinical notes from doctor-patient conversations.The promise is big: faster diagnoses, more personalized care, and a lighter admin load for clinicians. But there’s a catch: most of this data never gets used.

We discussed how new technology is transforming healthcare: As the volume of electronic data continues to increase, many sectors refer to this phenomenon as a data revolution. And though this revolution promises faster diagnoses and personalized care, it comes with a catch: most of that data is never even used.Welcome to healthcare’s quiet crisis: the abandonment of unstructured data.

The way healthcare organizations collect and use critical data is changing, and changing fast. From smartwatches to AI-powered documentation, new technologies are transforming how patient information flows, creating new opportunities for continuous health monitoring, early intervention, and improved clinical outcomes. But with so many tools entering the space, it can be hard to keep up.

Clinical notes. Imaging reports. Lab results. Transcripts from patient conversations. It’s all full of critical insights, but none of it fits neatly into rows and columns – it’s all unstructured data.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: healthcare data has the power to transform care. It can personalize treatments and speed up diagnoses in ways we’ve only dreamed of.But here’s the part nobody really likes to talk about: most healthcare data strategies fail before they even get off the ground.

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) recently released its comprehensive Guidelines 01/2025 on Pseudonymisation, a document rich with practical insights into the application of pseudonymisation under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

On December 27, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its Office for Civil Rights (OCR), issued a proposed rule to enhance the cybersecurity measures required under the HIPAA Security Rule. This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeks to bolster the defenses of the U.S. healthcare system against the rising tide of cyberattacks, particularly those targeting electronic protected health information (ePHI). The changes aim to address critical weaknesses, clarify obligations, and align the Security Rule with modern cybersecurity practices.

Anonymized and pseudonymized medical data are at the heart of cutting-edge research and innovation in healthcare. By stripping away personal identifiers and adding additional privacy-preserving measures, these data allow for advanced studies without compromising the privacy of individuals.In Japan, as elsewhere, the path to leveraging this valuable resource has been complex due to the need to balance large-scale data use with privacy protection. Thus, under the Act on the Protection of Personal Information (APPI) healthcare providers have faced challenges in sharing and processing medical data for research and innovation purposes, primarily due to strict consent requirements.

As the world gears up for the AI Action Summit in Paris in February 2025, global policymakers, researchers, and industry leaders are turning their attention to a landmark publication: The International AI Safety Report 2025. This report, a collaborative effort by 96 AI experts from around the world, represents the most comprehensive scientific assessment to date of the risks posed by general-purpose AI—a rapidly advancing form of AI with the ability to perform a wide range of tasks.