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What is big data and how can it help the healthcare industry?
What Is Big Data?
“Big data is a term that describes the large volume of data – both structured and unstructured – that inundates a business on a day-to-day basis. But it’s not the amount of data that’s important. It’s what organizations do with the data that matters. Big data can be analyzed for insights that lead to better decisions and strategic business moves.”
The insights gained from big data can allow businesses to solve problems that could not be tackled with traditional software or analytics. In healthcare, these new insights can help researchers gain a deeper understanding of data in order to improve the results of clinical trials, boost the productivity of healthcare professionals and improve revenues of the practices themselves.
Big data relies on three Vs:
- Volume
- Velocity
- Variety
Volume
This is the amount of data generated, such as through mobile apps, websites, portals and online applications.
Velocity
Velocity is how fast data is generated.
Variety
This is the generation of both ‘structured data’ and ‘unstructured data’. Variety is about being able to translate data into specific categories.
How Healthcare Uses Big Data
Product Development
Discovering and developing new drugs and other health-related products takes an amazing amount of time and money.
Big data can help reduce the time involved in a number of different ways. This, of course, serves to reduce the costs involved.
Product development involves lengthy trial and error experimenting, which requires much time. Big data removes the guesswork allowing research and development companies to get results more quickly and thus develop more precise products faster.
Patient Outcomes
Big data improves patient outcomes because it helps doctors and other medical professionals be more efficient and accurate with their diagnoses and treatments. With the improved data analyzing methods big data provides, doctors can hope to find solutions to treat rare and serious conditions that would otherwise seem incurable because research can progress at a faster pace.
Driving innovation
This is perhaps one of the largest uses of big data in healthcare. Without innovation, there would be no advancements in medicine at all. Big data will speed the rate at which new drugs can be discovered and the quality of care is improved.
The goal of efficiently using big data is to understand what is going on, identifying problems, and finding innovative solutions to them that will help reduce costs.
Who Benefits From Big Data Analytics?
Providers (Clinics, Hospitals)
The insights generated from big data analytics enables healthcare providers, such as clinics and hospitals, to improve patient care.
Patients
Patients will benefit from big data in healthcare more than anyone else. They can enjoy better overall care, live healthier lives, save money on insurance and so much more.
Manufacturers
Big data analytics will enable device manufacturers to create better, innovative products to solve health issues. They will benefit from devices relevant to their needs.
Pharma
A 2013 study, published by Nature Review Drug Discovery, found that only 10% of medicines in development ever reach patients. With this in mind, big data in pharma will benefit from better research and development, resulting in more effective drugs and shorter production times. Pharma companies will also save on the costs related to drug development.
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