In medicine, you gather information to make a patient care decision. Lynne Nowak brings that same discipline to data. Nowak, Chief Data & Analytics Officer at Surescripts, practiced internal medicine for nearly 15 years before she led data teams.
On the Tech Teams Today podcast, she explains why “can we?” is only half the question when it comes to data ethics. “Should we?” matters just as much. “You have to think about how these results are going to be used,” she says, “before you even start asking the question.”
Key takeaways
Decide how an answer will be used before you ask the question. An accurate prediction isn’t useful if there is no responsible way to act on it.
Having the right to use data is only the first test.The next is asking what unintended consequences could impact patients and partners.
Treat AI like a really good intern. It speeds up the work, but it still needs a human in the loop to check its assumptions and catch its mistakes.
Dean Riggott Photography
Surescripts
