Big Data in Healthcare: What Potential Does It Have for the Industry?

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You may have heard the term “big data” thrown around, but what does it actually mean for healthcare? As it turns out, big data analytics is transforming the industry in ways you may not expect.

Analytics is revolutionizing patient care and business operations, from predicting outbreaks to personalizing treatment plans. This article will share some of CHI Software’s experience and unique insights from our industry research.

You’ll see and learn how putting data into action can impact everything from clinical trials to hospital workflows. We’ll also discuss the challenges health care faces when implementing analytics. Let’s not waste a minute!

The Growing Role of Big Data in Healthcare

Big data is transforming the healthcare industry in major ways. Hospitals, doctors, and insurance companies use advanced analytics from huge amounts of data for different purposes. But to get a better overview, let’s start from the beginning — what is big data in health care exactly?

Big data in healthcare refers to collecting and analyzing all sorts of information stored in clinics and hospitals that are too complex to grasp and understand using manual tools. Such data includes patient images, nursing notes, medical equipment reports, social media, etc.

• Based on our research, only 10% of respondents didn’t manage their data regularly as of 2023. 7% of them manage data randomly without a structured approach, and 3% ignore data administration in any form due to its complexity.

• In addition, almost 30% of our respondents believe that data analytics and machine learning are in high demand but have low supply now.

• At the same time, Roots Analysis states that the global market of big data in health care will likely grow with a 19.06% CAGR from USD 67 billion in 2023 to USD 540 billion in 2035.

The reason behind this leap may not be apparent, but Roots Analysis points out that with the expanding use of electronic medical records and wearable devices used in the healthcare sector. The more organizations adopt them, the more data is generated daily. On average, one hospital can generate 50 petabytes (50,000 terabytes) of data every day!

Moreover, this amount is expected to grow with a CAGR of around 35% until 2025. Those who can effectively analyze this data will be able to manage operations and decision-making more successfully and, hence, outrun competition. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. Let’s look at all the benefits more closely.

Benefits of Big Data in Healthcare: The Revolution Is Happening

Big data health systems offer significant benefits to healthcare organizations. We’ll divide them into two categories: operational, which helps improve hospital workflows and patient experience, and strictly medical, which helps doctors in making decisions.

Operational Benefits

Streamlining Hospital Operations

Hospitals generate vast amounts of clinical data from patient records, prescriptions, medical devices, and more. Analyzing this data helps identify inefficiencies and optimize hospital operations.

For example, healthcare systems for data analysis can predict patient volume and enable better resource allocation. It can also minimize wait times by forecasting which departments will be the busiest.

Enhancing Patient Experience

With the power of big data analytics, health care providers can elevate the overall patient experience. Big data is one of the superior care components, which leads to improved outcomes and greater satisfaction in interactions with medical professionals. Regular checkups and doctor appointments can become a pleasant routine for thousands of people.

Lowering Healthcare Costs

Data mining can detect patterns in patient data to reduce unnecessary tests and procedures. For instance, analytics may reveal that certain blood tests or scans rarely provide helpful information for a given condition. By eliminating unnecessary treatments, hospitals can potentially lower costs.

Studying data helps prevent patients from returning to the hospital by identifying those most likely to have issues after discharge. Preventing readmissions can lead to significant cost savings.

Strictly Medical Benefits

Improving Health Indicators

Discovering the potential of big data analytics has been a game-changer for public health outcomes, from tackling diabetes and mental health challenges to lowering suicide rates. A recent study in the Journal of Medical Internet Research highlighted the role of big data analytics in diagnosing illnesses and managing chronic conditions.

Personalizing Patient Care

Advanced data analytics in healthcare transform raw data sets into insights that help doctors make better treatment decisions. Algorithms can detect patterns linking symptoms, conditions, medications, and patient outcomes. Doctors can use these patterns to select the most effective treatment plan for a patient’s individual circumstances.

Predictive modeling can anticipate a patient’s future health risks — and armed with these insights, doctors can develop personalized prevention and wellness plans.

Enabling Precision Medicine

Precision medicine uses data analytics in healthcare to understand how a person’s genes, environment, and lifestyle influence their health. Analytics help identify subgroups of patients who share biological or environmental characteristics that affect how they respond to certain treatments. Doctors can then tailor treatments based on a patient’s genetic profile and health data. Precision medicine powered by big data has the potential to revolutionize how we prevent and cure diseases.

There’s more to learn and try out in this niche. Our original article contains info about trending technologies to manage healthcare and how to cope with possbile big challenges. Enjoy your reading!