CONTRIBUTION OF DATA IN HEALTHCARE SECTORBig Data is a huge volume of both structured andunstructured data thatis so large and difficult to process using the traditional database andsoftware techniques. In the recent times BigData has been widely used in the Healthcare industry to predict and curediseases, to improve the health and quality of life, and to avoid preventabledeaths. As the world’s population continues to grow, the quality of life hasimproved and the healthcare sectors has to transform themselves in order to adaptto the newer models of treatment delivery. Need for Big DataProvidingpatient centric services: Organizations always aims in providingbetter user satisfaction. Big data could be very useful to the patients as theydo not need to carry all their health reports while they go for consultation asthese data could be digitized and stored in a thumb drive or any such devices.In addition to this, the big data healthcare systems make the job of the doctortoo easier as they need not go through all medical records, but can requestonly a summarized report of the patient’s health records using the analysistools. This saves time and effort of both the patient and the doctor Predictingdiseases earlier: If the health records of a person aremaintained, then it would be easy to judge his current health state and predictany further medical complications that could be caused.
So, the doctor would bewell aware of the diseases that may affect the person and therefore he can takepreventive actions by prescribing proper medication to the patient. This willreduce the number of visits to the hospital. The doctors can also analyse theprevious symptoms of a person and based on the symptoms, he could predict andprevent certain diseases.Providingcustomized treatment: After analysing certain effects of amedicine in a patient’s body, further dosage can be altered. For example, theblood pressure of a person is tracked for a certain period of time and dosageof medicine is calculated for further treatment.
This can also help the doctorsto treat other patients who show similar symptoms.Reducing Hospital Readmissions: With the help ofthe Electronic Health Records(EHR), doctors can identify the high riskpatients based on their past history, chart information, etc., the hospitalscan identify at-risk patients and provide the necessary care to reducereadmission rates. Applications of Data in HealthcareElectronic Health Records(EHRs) Electronic Health Records arerecords that contain the details of the patients in the digital format. Every patient has their own digital record which includes theirdemographic, medical history, laboratory test results etc.
and these recordscould be shared via secure information systems and can be accessedacross multiple health care centres, personal trainers, etc. who will be ableto guide the patients based on the information present in the EHR. Doctors can make changes over time with no paperwork and no datareplication. Sharing data between physiciansand healthcare providers can reduce duplicate tests and improve patient care. EHRs can also trigger warnings and reminders when a patient has to get anew lab test or track prescriptions to see if the patient has been followingdoctors’ orders.Big DataJust Might Cure CancerAnother good example of the use of big data in healthcare is the Cancer Moon-shotprogram initiated by the US ex-President Barack Obama.
This program came upwith the goal of accomplishing 10 years’ worth of progress towards curingcancer in half that time. In the program, Medical researchers collect and analysethe data on treatment plans and recovery rates of cancer patients in order tofind trends and treatments that have the highest rates of success in the realworld. And after the analysis, researchers can see things like how certainmutations and cancer proteins interact with different treatments and findtrends that will lead to better patient outcomes.This data also leads to unexpected benefits, such as finding thatDesipramine, which is an anti-depressant, has the ability to help cure certaintypes of lung cancer.However, in order to make these kinds of insights more available,patient databases from different institutions such as hospitals, universities,and non-profit organizations need to be linked up. Then, the researchers couldaccess certain records like the patient biopsy reports from other institutions.Another potential use case would be genetically sequencing cancer tissuesamples from clinical trial patients and making these data available to thewider cancer database.But the issues relating to this are the Incompatible data systems i.
e,making the databases able to interface with each other is a hard task. Patientconfidentiality issues arise that arises with the differing laws between thestates. And also not all institutions will share these information as they haveput a lot of time and money into developing their own cancer database. TelemedicineIt provides medical assistance to thepatients who are in different locations just by examining the EHR of thepatient. Further, assistance can be provided by various communication meanslike video chat, messages, over the telephone, etc.It is used for primary consultations and initial diagnosis, remotepatient monitoring, and medical education for health professionals. Some morespecific uses include telesurgery – doctors can perform operations with the useof robots and high-speed real-time data delivery without physically being inthe same location with a patient.
Clinicians use telemedicine to provide personalized treatment plans andprevent hospitalization or re-admission. It allows clinicians to predict acutemedical events in advance and prevent deterioration of patient’s conditions. By keeping patients away from hospitals, telemedicine helps to reducecosts of healthcare and improve the quality of service. Patients can avoidwaiting lines and doctors don’t waste time for unnecessary consultations andpaperwork. Telemedicine also improves the availability of healthcare aspatients’ state can be monitored and consulted anywhere and anytime.
Real-time Monitoringof PatientsWearable sensors and devices enhance the opportunity for physicians tointeract with patients in entirely new ways, making healthcare more convenientand persistent. Real-time monitoring changes the view that face-to-face care isnot always a necessity. Today, a variety of devices and apps exist to monitor andtrack every sort of patient behaviour like the blood pressure, pulse rates,sugar levels, etc.
Which can be stored and examined later by the physicians.Many of these measurements require a follow-up visit with a physician. Othersmart devices can also detect if the medicines are being taken regularly athome. If not, they can initiate a call or other contact from providers to getpatients properly medicated. The possibilities offered by the healthcare tolower costs and improve patient care are almost limitless. References:https://innovatemedtec.com/digital-health/sensors-and-wearableshttps://www.datapine.com/blog/big-data-examples-in-healthcare/https://www.healthcatalyst.com/big-data-in-healthcare-made-simplehttp://www.ingrammicroadvisor.com/data-center/7-big-data-use-cases-for-healthcare
