More than 50% of healthcare firms grapple with data privacy: report

The second concern is insufficient data quality and lack of standardisation.

More than half (56%) of pharmaceutical firms and clinical research organisations are struggling with data privacy and security, an L.E.K. Consulting study revealed.

"Ensuring that the data originator acquired the data in a compliant way and that it has been anonymised according to the right norms and regulations is paramount," read the report.

The other two challenges in data collection for the healthcare industry are lack of data quality and completeness as well as lack of standardisation and/or scope.

"Data sets with inputs standardised across data originators and geographies allow linkages with other data sets and are highly valued but hard to obtain," read the report.

Data users are also seeking other tracking opportunities including linking outpatient and inpatient visits and imaging centres and laboratory results.

In terms of geographic coverage, the study also shows that interest in obtaining clinical data from Europe and Asia-Pacific is significantly higher than data from the US, as these regions are typically less represented in data sets.