On camera
Click here to view video
To make studio and satellite
arrangements contact the
br>(765) 494-2096. After hours,
call (765) 412-0864.
Jeffrey S. Vitter
(765) 494-1730
sciencedean@purdue.edu
Related Web sites:
Jeffrey S. Vitter photo:
https://www.purdue.edu/uns/
images/+mugshots/vitter.j.jpeg
Purdue Expert - June 30, 2008
Personalized medicine, causes and prevention, health-care trends
Written news tip below:
Consumer empowerment, education critical to future health-care system
Video at left, expert discusses:
• Personalized medicine, patient empowerment
• IT improving health care
• Information security and health care
News tip: Consumer empowerment, education critical to future health-care system
WEST LAFAYETTE - Improved information technology will give patients a greater role in deciding their health-care options, but it also will create challenges, says a Purdue University science expert.
Jeffrey S. Vitter, the Frederick L. Hovde Dean of the College of Science, says part of the problems associated with health care come from patients having to deal with an ever-changing system that is difficult to understand.
"Information technology greatly increases the transparency of medical informatics and health-care systems so that people can understand what is involved in their care," he says. "This helps them to make better decisions regarding costs and take ownership of their own health care. What that means in terms of IT is that we need systems that let people access more information and store it securely so that people can have confidence that their proprietary data will stay private."
Informed consumerism - patients having control of their own data and making their own decisions - will be key to improved sustainable health-care systems in the future, but education is needed, Vitter says.
"Education is fundamental," he says. "We can develop IT techniques for patients to make decisions, but for them to use the information effectively, they need to really understand what the data means. Not all people have the same background and, thus, we need to provide effective educational opportunities."
Personalized medicine will allow diagnosis and treatment of disease based on individual patient characteristics, he says.
"In order for personalized medicine to be successful, multiple health-care providers at different locations will need to access information in a patient's records," Vitter says. "This is an enormous challenge because there is no universal computer network for health care in the country."
In addition to performing data analysis in ways that do not expose private information, secure methods for sharing information are necessary, he says.
"Information and the security of that information are critical to personalized medicine," Vitter says. "No matter how good the system, if people do not trust it, they just won't use it."
More about Jeffrey S. Vitter
Frederick L. Hovde Dean of the College of Science, Professor of Computer Science
As dean of the College of Science, Jeffrey S. Vitter has primary oversight over the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security, one of the world’s leading centers in information security. His college also partners with the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering and leaders in the field of health care.
Vitter sits on the board of directors of the Computing Research Association and co-chairs the government affairs committee.
Writer: Elizabeth Gardner, (765) 494-2081, ekgardner@purdue.edu