Professional Patient Care Options 4

Big data within the health care industry is about to get even bigger thanks to the move toward electronic medical reports. Electronic medical records are getting a boost as a result of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. As a result, medical researchers may anticipate a tremendous influx of healthcare data to analyze.

The scientific community is abuzz about the potential for big data in the medical research arena. In line with Science 2.0, a science blog, several of the clearest opportunities recently identified in the area revolve around reducing costs in several key areas:

High-cost patients - Did you realize that just 5% of patients account for roughly half of all US healthcare costs? By targeting these high-cost patients, big data has the potential to make an enormous influence on total healthcare spending inside america. This is the best scientist example of the Pareto principle at work.

Readmissions - With nearly one third of readmissions deemed to be preventable, using big data to predict which patients are at a high risk of readmission could lead to better interventions and reduced re-admissions.

Triage - Big data could also be used to improve the triage process by applying algorithms to send patients to the correct unit for care and ensuring that everyone associated with providing that care is promptly informed through the process.

Decompensation - Decompensation refers to a patient's worsening health condition. Patient monitoring tools for example heart-rate and blood pressure level monitors are used to measure a patient's current condition. Using big data, researchers could be better able to determine the risk of decompensation, allowing healthcare providers to intervene prior to the patient's condition worsens.

Adverse events - No-one wishes to suffer from an adverse health event such as infection, a drug reaction, or renal failure. These events often cause death, yet are often preventable. Big data could make huge gains in both preventing adverse events and slashing their associated costs.

Diseases affecting multiple organ systems - Systemic diseases that affect multiple organ systems are among-the costliest to treat and manage. Using big data, medical researchers could possibly be better able to predict the likely progression of a disease which, subsequently, would help healthcare providers develop a more effective, and a lot more cost-effective, treatment solution.

While these areas all represent significant opportunities for medical researchers and the healthcare industry at large, how can researchers possibly make experience of all that data? Based on Dolphin, "Big Data relates to the truth that today's business intelligence systems are experiencing record levels of data growth from terabytes to petabytes and beyond. The challenge is in maximizing the opportunity for real-time business intelligence while minimizing the impact of exploding data volume on productivity and total cost of ownership (TCO)."

This is done throughout the utilization of business intelligence and data archiving software. With the right tools in hand, medical researchers have the capability to make experience of the sheer volumes of healthcare data from the past, present, and future.