Big Data Trends in Healthcare

Since people are becoming more and more conscious about their health and well-being, they are investing more in better tools and applications to monitor their health and are making regular trips to the doctor for check-ups of follow-ups. Because of this, as well as the many, many cases of illnesses and injuries, there is a constant flow of information when it comes to the healthcare industry. Since this data pertains to people’s lives, it is highly sensitive and must be handled with care.

By carefully recording, storing, reading, and analyzing medical data, there have been many positive developments in the industry. They will continue to happen if everything is managed well. There is a need to focus heavily on factual data or evidence to ensure that the patients are being looked after well, receive the right diagnosis and treatment, and that there are no unnecessary expenses.

A trend is essentially a gradual change or shift in movement, condition, or output, and when it comes to the health care industry, there have been many data trends, owing to the developments in technology. Some of them are as follows: –

• Patient-Oriented Care: The main objective of the healthcare industry is to provide adequate healthcare facilities to the patients. Since treatments or medical attention can prove to be very expensive, many health payors such as insurance companies or other organizations are making use of technology to provide value-based and data-driven incentives, which will eventually help cut down costs. The main features of patient-oriented healthcare are improving the quality of the healthcare provided so that the desired outcomes are obtained, reducing the cost of seeking healthcare, and providing support to reformed paying structures. By focusing primarily on the patient, their needs, and history, the doctors, hospitals, organizations, and insurance companies, etc. need to work a way to not only efficiently record data but also provide the right diagnosis and treatment while ensuring that the prices are justified and not too high.
• Monitor Patients: With the many advancements in the field of technology and healthcare, patients, as well as doctors, have the means to monitor the medical situation. Patients are constantly connected to apparatus which monitor vital signs such as heart rate, blood sugar level, etc. and also alert the doctors or nurses immediately if there is any change in condition. Even if the patients are not admitted to the hospital, they wear or carry devices that come with sensors and monitor health. For instance, those with diabetes or asthma can wear such devices, which will ensure that the right medication is being administered at the right time. Such devices also provide a comprehensive idea of the patient’s medical condition.
• Predictive Analysis and Improving Outcome: The encouraged adoption of EHR or Electronic Health Records by hospitals and other healthcare organizations has not only made it easier and more efficient to store medical data but has also made it much easier to provide the right treatment to patients. With the vast and varying nature of medical information, there is a need to efficiently organize and store it, and that is where EHR comes into the picture. About $30 billion was spent on encouraging the adoption of EHR and the subsequent sharing of patient information among different healthcare facilities to ease the process of analyzing the data and providing adequate treatment. By being able to analyze such data, it has become possible to diagnose any underlying health issues beforehand, treat them on time, and also avoid any unnecessary expenditure. Since the signs for illnesses such as congestive heart failure can be missed by doctors, having a proper record and health history enables them to catch the issue and treat it accordingly, without having to spend a lot (on the part of the hospital or the patient).

Besides these, data analysis can also help in avoiding any frauds, unnecessary costs, or wastage and abuse of funds. Given that the healthcare industry is a major aspect of life, there are bound to be those that commit any frauds with respect to their insurance, bills, etc. and also, there is always the possibility of spending too much on a particular area or case. What data analysis helps with is avoiding such situations so that the industry can function better and provide adequate facilities. However, it is also important to keep in mind that recording and analyzing all the medical data is a tedious task, even with the help of advanced technology, and there can always be an error or inadequacy, owing to the different kinds of data available.