Understanding Big Data in Healthcare

Over the past years, the amount of information available in the healthcare industry has increased exponentially. This data explosion has led to the growth of big data in healthcare. It is no longer possible for providers to analyze data effectively without using machine-learning and other technological innovations that big data provides.

At Syntrix Consulting, we use data analysis to help teams both improve patient care and increase marketing success.

What is Big Data In Healthcare?

How do we define big data?

• Big data refers to ways of analyzing, extracting information, and dealing with data-sets that are too large or complex for traditional data-processing methods and software.

Big data in healthcare describes the enormous amount of health information that has become available with the advent of modern technology. Big healthcare data analytics can inform tasks from reviewing health records to tracking epidemics, and for minimizing fraud.

More so, big data is more than just traditional documentation. The sheer amount of information, the speed at which it moves, and the diverse input sources are part of the significant data definition.

Big Data and Business

Big data influences various parts of the healthcare industry, which includes business and marketing. This vast network of information can help healthcare companies grow to unprecedented heights.

When it comes to marketing, big data identifies marketing opportunities in a way that old-fashioned data analysis cannot. First, it generates propensity models, which use data to predict customer responses for different campaigns. These propensity models inform what routes marketers can take to make the most effective choices for their campaigns. For example, they can identify populations that will respond best to specific initiatives.

Knowing the right demographics for a campaign, provided by big data, makes the marketing process more successful and cost-effective.

Big data is also essential as it pertains to healthcare costs, a sector making up several trillion dollars of the GDP in the United States. Insights that drive efficiency allow companies to cut costs in marketing and focus on healthcare, which is primarily patient care.

Pros & Cons of Big Data

Pros

• Personalization: Big data allows healthcare providers to personalize care by creating detailed patient portals, providing a consistency between each patient’s medical history. Today, patient portals are the most common example of utilizing big data in the healthcare industry.

• Telemedicine: Big data is crucial for improving telemedicine quality to bring it on par with face-to-face physician visits. Telemedicine’s popularity has been growing for quite some time, and the demand for it has never been higher than it is now.

• Improved communication: Patient portals, emails, phone lines, and mobile apps connect providers to their patients like never before. By using big data, all of these forms of communication will support each other to make the experience more convenient for the patient.

Cons

• Billing: The billing process can vary significantly from state to state, and it can also be complicated due to different insurance companies. As big data provides a broader picture of billing, clarifying billing information, and ensuring it makes sense for the situation is critical.

• Inconsistency: Not all patients or providers fill out the required forms for healthcare visits, creating gaps in the analytics and big data. Even when all parties complete the relevant paperwork, the information required can vary according to the provider.

Learn more

Are you interested in learning how big data can improve your hospital or office? Contact Syntrix Consulting today to find out more about how our data analytics can help your company reach new heights.