The DRDY pin indicates that a new data is ready to be readback. In theory, you don't need the pin, however there is a a risk of being/getting out of sync with the ready if you are not using the pin. For example, you can use a timer as you seem to indicate, but if you are not synchronized to the DRDY pin, you may be slightly off on the timing, and therefore eventually and periodically you would miss a sample; which may or may not be a concern for you.
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