What is Synthetic Data

Synthetic data is artificially generated information that mimics the statistical properties of real-world datasets without exposing any actual patient records. Unlike de-identified or anonymized data—which starts from real data and removes or masks identifiers—synthetic data is created from scratch using mathematical models or machine learning algorithms.

In healthcare, synthetic data allows researchers and developers to work with realistic patient cohorts while ensuring compliance with privacy regulations (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR). Because no real patient information is present, you eliminate the risk of re-identification and can freely share datasets across teams and environments.

Key characteristics:

• Statistical fidelity: Maintains distributions, correlations, and structure of the original data
• Zero real records: Contains no PII or PHI, reducing regulatory burden
• Flexibility: Can be scaled up or down to match specific research scenarios