Hi-Tech Care
Learn how patient care is following in the footsteps of big players like Amazon and using big data.
New big data capabilities in healthcare could directly impact how we cure diseases and save lives.
There’s a lot of buzz surrounding big data — for good reason. When used in a meaningful way, big data is exciting because it can make positive impact in important areas such as health care.
Take Amazon’s suggestion engine: “People who bought this also bought that.” This is a model example of how companies use big data to conveniently find patterns that then inform decisions. Another example, is how 23andMe uses DNA to assess an individual’s risk of contracting certain diseases.
In terms of patient care, big data provides health professionals with timely access to digestible information as well as answer to questions that were previously out of reach. Just last year, IBM’s Watson supercomputer analyzed 20 million cancer research papers to be able to correctly diagnose a leukemia patient within 10 minutes.
While the proliferation of data raises challenges, it also allows for incredible opportunities to improve the lives of millions.