Big data solutions usage is permeating every facet of human
activity. The healthcare is rapidly adopting the use of big data apps
significantly faster than other industries. The asset management is another
sector that is fast adopting the use of big data in fund management. Big data
solutions made for the healthcare industry are benefitting both physicians and
patients. Big data applications for healthcare industry have enormous
capabilities in making medical care better planned, preventive, personalized,
and affordable. Using smart technologies, working with data analytics help
reduce the laborious work and error associated with manual data handling,
and healthcare workers can then focus on
forecast and avert infection outbreaks, decrease death rates, cut operations expenses, and improve patient outcomes.
Hospitals and other healthcare companies are expending so much
on the smart technology that makes use of algorithms to predict one's future
healthcare challenges by analyzing their previous behavours and visits to the
doctors and clinics.
Significant Characteristics of Big Data in Healthcare
- Size: Big
Data technology handles large data quantity. Healthcare services involve
huge data. So to create value-based and personalized healthcare services,
hospitals need customized solutions operating huge quantities of data.
- Speed:
Collection, processing and management of data is time consuming. But with
customized software solutions, collection, processing collected data are done with ease
and speedily.
- Sources:
Medical statistics are usually from different sources in different formats.
To perform predictive analytics on these data, customized solutions handle
data from numerous sources in varied forms.
- Staidness: to
downsize the danger of data deception, the customized ML-based solutions
need well-organized and standardized data input.
- Accuracy
- Reliability
Big data applications have transformed the healthcare industry
landscape completely especially in the areas of electronic health records (EHR),
telemedicine, medical imaging, surgery robots, etc. New digital solutions are
implementing big data technologies and operating massive data input to open new
horizons for the healthcare market. Predictive analytics technologies can
optimize cost, reduce time spent on paperwork, provide accurate and reliable data
records, and initiate the creation of new big data products.
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Advantages and Disadvantages of Big Data in Healthcare
Benefits of Big Data Analytics in Healthcare Industry
Predictive medicine
Big data algorithms are structured to assist doctors in carrying
out more accurate clinical diagnostics. The customized solutions can
process large data working with prognostic
analytics, and predictive modeling techniques. Big data analytics helps to detect
diseases at the early stage and make suggestion for the right treatments.
Doctors can quickly identify patients who are likely to develop a certain
condition, prevent the disease from worsening, and forecast epidemics before
they break out. Predictive modeling algorithms can be helpful in diagnosing illnesses
like diabetes at their very early stage, or forecasting the possible spread of
viruses to avert epidemics.
For example, using genomic data helps in developing a more exact vision of the further progress of cancer. Genomics data are becoming more available, making their accessibility and affordability easier.
Early intervention
High quality healthcare
Fraud detection
Effective management of population health
Telemedicine
Telemedicine is the application telecommunication technology in
rendering healthcare service remotely. This type of medical service delivery
has been around for over 40 your now, but with the revolution in smart
technology for online video call, smartphone, mobile apps etc telemedicine is
now gaining more prominence in healthcare industry.
Alert
Risk management
Medical imaging
In summary, the benefits of big data technologies in healthcare are
as follows:
- Patients’ records can be accessed at a click.
- Doctors can be able to monitor and consult patients remotely giving doctors less physical examinations and desk work.
- Reduces waiting time for patients to consult with doctors (ER Visits)
- Healthcare personnel can receive alert on emergencies and acute medical cases and respond immediately
- Hospitals can cut costs
- Efficient healthcare delivery
- Healthcare delivery becomes available to the general population
Challenges of Big Data in Healthcare
Big data analytics have been quite helpful in healthcare industries in offering quality and efficient healthcare delivery in the areas of preventing diseases, predicting medical outcome, reducing medical errors, and boosting all aspect of healthcare. Nevertheless, there remain some underlining disadvantages and challenging discouraging healthcare providers from applying big data technologies in their healthcare delivery operations.
Some of the challenging facing the use of big data analytics in healthcare delivery which pose as disadvantages include:
Man Power
Applying big data solutions in healthcare requires special
skills, and such kills are scarce. Handling of big data requires the combination
of medical, technological and statistical knowledge.
Privacy
One of the major drawbacks in the application of big data in
healthcare industry is the issue of lack of privacy. Application of big data
technologies involves monitoring of patient's data, tracking of medical inventory and assets, organizing collected data, and visualization of data on
the dashboard and the reports. So visualization of sensitive medical data especially
that of the patients creates negative impression of big data as it violets privacy laws. Big data gives
doctors unhindered access to a patient's private records from anywhere, and
this does not give the patient any freedom. Medical big data experts have said
that technology takes ways one's privacy for greater good. There
exist laws relating to medical record privacy, but some of these laws did not
capture big data sharing. But then, visualization is very critical for creating
images, diagrams, animations to pass medical information in an understandable
form.
Quality of Data Input
Big data solutions for healthcare can process and analyze data
speedily, but the accuracy and reliability of such information largely depend
on the quality of the data that were supplied to them. Where the input data is
incorrect the results obtained from customized big data technologies therefore will be misleading which can lead to wrong diagnosis and misapplication of medical
treatment. Data are usually gathered from different sources and forms, handling these
sensitive personal data is quite challenging. Input data must therefore be standardized,
unified, free from duplicates and any form of mistakes.
Data Safety
Data security is another challenge in applying big data in healthcare.
Big data storage is usually targets of hackers. This endangers the safety of
medical data. Healthcare organisations are very much concerned about the safety
of patients' sensitive personal data. For this, all healthcare applications
must meet the requirement for data security and be HIPAA compliant before they
can be deployed for healthcare services.
Replacing Medical Personnel
Application of technology in every sphere of human life is improving
the way things are done. These technologies are are also posing some threat to
world of works. Robotics are replacing human labour. In same manner, customized
solutions like big data could take over the jobs of medical personnel. Although
big data has not gotten to the point where it can auto-run itself and lacks
personal touch of doctors, but as technologies advance, robotics can begin to
perform some, functions of doctors and other healthcare providers. Some experts
say that the growth of big data could potentially undermine doctors and having
patients turn to technology for medical solutions instead of patronizing licensed
human doctors. It is a fact that big data cannot be avoided in healthcare, as
more hospitals and healthcare companies continue to make much investment in big
data technology. But then, its disadvantage as regards to taking over the jobs
of medical personnel need to be taken into consideration. Read more on healthcare on Sarjo World
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