What is identified as the key challenge for a Clinical Data Warehouse (CDW) specifically?
Answer
Semantic complexity and data context retention
While data integration is a challenge for all warehouses, the CDW faces a unique hurdle related to meaning and context. Semantic complexity refers to ensuring that data elements, especially those derived from narrative text or specialized clinical terminology, are interpreted correctly and consistently. Data context retention means preserving the 'why,' 'when,' and 'what happened next' surrounding a medical event (like the diagnosis leading to a drug administration), which is essential for accurate analysis but difficult to embed systematically into data structures.
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