Harmony of data integration: Combining 2 billion claims and EHR records

The complexity of the data integration challenge in healthcare, is often ethereal, or even escaping. It is near impossible to instinctively grasp the sheer magnitude of data, the complexity of connecting it, and the value of simplifying it. Years of experience in the industry make it easier. But it requires a deep understanding of numbers that have been proven outside of human capabilities to understand. In this work the artist takes an emotional and stunningly beautiful approach to helping the reader see how 2 billion health records across 58 data sources, 3,909 tables, across 1 million patients, and 27 different vendor systems can be simplified.

The artist’s use of a chord diagram helps emphasize the connectivity and relationships between the source data and Arcadia data warehouse. The imbalance between the almost 4 thousand source tables and the 27 destinations creates an emotional connection with the movement and flow of data that even those familiar with a chord diagram may find jarring.

For those who want to look further, the artist shares two other dimensions in the data. The size of each data source is represented as an outer ring, and the size of each of the 3,909 tables in depicted in the bar charts surrounding the edge of the chord diagram.

Through this work, the artist hopes the viewer leaves with a clear understanding of what are otherwise staggeringly incomprehensible amounts of data, and an emotional connection to what happens when you simplify and unify healthcare data.

Details

D3.js SVG, with Illustrator
Data from Arcadia integration logs, with metadata from leading EHRs and health plan claims data.