Category Archives: Big Data

What can Big Data do for Healthcare?

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The population is increasing everywhere and this is driving every country in the world to focus on providing better Healthcare to its citizens and also Healthcare has become one of the top discussed agenda items in any International forum. Innovations in Healthcare are gaining much attention and Healthcare startup’s are on the rise in every part of the word.
Big Data has been playing a pivotal role in Healthcare since the beginning. With the increase in focus on Healthcare, Big Data and Predictive analysis are playing a crucial role in enhancing the quality of care.
Here are few areas where Big Data will continue to focus:
  • Personalized Medication – Big Data can help save patient’s previous data on the cloud which can be easily accessed anywhere and anytime required. This will allow Doctors to see the kind of medications which have been used by the patient and he can continue to do so with similar medicines. This helps in personalized care and better quality of care.
  • Diagnosis Patterns – When your medical history is stored in a central place, it becomes easier to access and also run patterns on the medical reports to have a better understanding of the patterns of care.
  • Faster turn around time for Medical Practitioners – New innovations in medicine can be easily deployed to Doctor’s offices using Big Data. Using Medicine Management tools Doctors can now not only consult with patient’s in their office but can also focus on delivering care remotely.
  • Predicting and fighting diseases – The most important aspect of Big Data. Having access to quite a lot of information, analysis can be performed to predict and fight diseases well in advance.

Interoperability – Future of Healthcare

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According to the dictionary, Interoperability is ability of a system to work with or use the part of equipment of another system.
Very simple and easy to articulate. But, it is the toughest to execute in the Healthcare space. Most organizations and Healthcare apps work in silos because no one has still figured out how each one can work with each other. So, until then, there will be silence but debates and ideas will exist.
For me, Interoperability does not necessarily mean that each organization has to work with each other and each app has to communicate with other apps freely. Interoperability is a framework and these guidelines are what we should be driving towards executing.
Interoperability is definitely very important component of the Future of Healthcare and it is going to play a pivotal role in the future.

How can Big Data change Healthcare?

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How can Big Data change or transform Healthcare? We capture Insurance information, medical history and wearable devices can track the lifestyle and provide more in-depth information on how the person actually is.
Have you noticed how a couple’s who have been together for longer periods communicate? They talk with their eyes many times. Whereas younger couple speak and share their thoughts and opinions. What happens over a period of time is that one gets to know the other better and mostly each one is proactively involved with each other.
In the same way, initially the data collected by the wearable devices can do a lot of talking and provide various parameters, but only over extended periods of time can the data be providing analysis. Patterns on how various lifestyle’s effect health and how to ensure quality care and take appropriate precautions are just a few things we can analyze from the data we collect. Insurance companies can use data to offer custom Insurance plans which can be more beneficial, Hospitals can provide personalized care, Individuals can themselves monitor and manage their health proactively.
Can Big Data alter the lives? To begin with, Yes. It can. All depends on how we are capturing and utilizing the data.
Do you agree?

Interoperability for Big Data

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You can search for the “most frequent flyer” and you sure will get results. How can the data of one person traveling across continents on different airlines be noticed and tracked? There are two major reservation systems in the world for airlines – <Write the names here>. Anyone buying a plane ticket anywhere in the world has to go through one of these two systems. So, when you search for the most frequent flyer in the world, results are easier to be found.
In America, according to a research, they found out that more than 80% of people are using and tracking Health using, at least, one wearable device (Phone, Step Tracker, Smart Tracker etc). All their information is being recorded and saved.
How do we gather this data and make meaningful use of it? Interoperability is the key here. Organizations which manufacture wearables and store the information should be able to share information with hospitals. Hospitals should be the focus point who gather the data and participate in research activities.
I use a Garmin wearable for tracking my steps, calorie intake and burnt, heart rate and active time. All the data is on Garmin website. When I go to a hospital, to understand my lifestyle, Doctor should be able to pull in my information from Garmin with my permission. This will help him in the better analysis. Second, hospitals should be able to use this information for preventive care.
In India, the PHC which today collects information in the region synchronizes data with the central server. This is how Government takes precautionary measures for any epidemics. Healthcare organizations (Hospitals, Tech Companies etc) should work with the Government to utilize the data for bettering quality of care.
What do you think?

Big Data in Healthcare

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Big Data is going to change the way we live. Wearable devices, Insurance claim information, Electronic Medical Records, Apps collecting data on phone etc are all good samaritans of Big Data.

What can we do with Big Data – Analysis, Predictions, Preventive Care, Best Practices etc are few of the aspects which we can derive from the Data.

There are various sources of data and the need of the hour is tools which can comprehend the details of this data to make it meaningful and usable.

If you look at the investment trends, Healthcare Investments have grown over 176% in 2015 and majority of the investments are in Data Analytics.

We have not yet scratched the tip of the iceberg and personally I feel the next decade will be focused on making meaningful use of the big data.

Do you have a pathbreaking algorithm which we can start with?