Newer technologies in healthcare are generating vast amounts of data. This data has to be captured, stored, curated and analyzed continuously which has poses unique challenges for healthcare providers. This problem will be compounded with digitization, the Internet of Things and newer sensors. Big data can come to the rescue of healthcare providers in effectively managing data resources.
Big Data is here to Help
Healthcare data is produced from large variety of sources such as electronic health records, diagnostics, imaging data, genetic data, clinical records, clinical trials, adverse events reporting, sensors, probes, wearable devices, etc. In 2020, worldwide digital healthcare data is expected to reach 25 exabytes as per a survey in the Nature magazine.
Healthcare providers are increasingly seeking data driven solutions to transform the way they operate their business. More and more providers are seeking evidence based decision making processes in healthcare which can be compiled from aggregating individual datasets generated and analyzed by analytical algorithms harnessing big data. Healthcare providers are already under pressure from competition, regulatory, patient sentiment and intimacy and brand aspects.
Big data based analytical solutions and new healthcare domain specific solutions are increasingly available now in the market. These newer products offer greater insights and actionable intelligence into how healthcare providers are managing patient care, cost, and outcomes keeping in view the vast data generated in healthcare which can be actively mined.
Big data based analytics solutions can be utilized to provide payment innovation, optimal use of available resources, cheaper diagnostics and remote care as well as for proactive identification of potential problems in patient care based on historical data and data pattern identification by big data based machine learning algorithms. In near future, patient clinical records can become easily portable across providers bringing in greater accuracy, transparency in decision making and convenience on part of patients to move from one provider to another.
Big data analytics can also enable providers to combine and correlate data from parts of healthcare spectrum such billing, claims, patient history, sentiment data, third party providers, pharmaceutical data, etc. to get a 360 degree full spectrum holistic view of patient data. Thus, healthcare providers must adapt big data based analytics to realize quick returns in terms of better patient care and achieving cost efficiencies.
What to look for big data analytics solution in healthcare?
Prime objective of selecting big data analytics solution must be improving patient care through effective data mining of clinical and other sources of patient related data. This goal can be followed by goal of achieving cost efficiencies.
Actually these two goals are complimentary in nature as better patient care very likely will result in cost efficiencies for the healthcare provider. Big data analytics can be used to create knowledge based expert system which can be employed to avoid costly medical errors and litigations.
A report of the Institute of Medicine Committee on the Quality of Healthcare in America estimated that hundreds of patients die each year due to medical errors. Big data based analytics can be of immense help in reducing occurrence of such errors through identification of anomalies or patterns. Healthcare providers can develop coordinated approaches which can provide equal and timely access to caregivers with accurate patient data anywhere in a secure manner to make right clinical decisions.
