Healthcare stakeholders now have access to promising new threads of knowledge. This information is in the form of "Big Data", so called not only for its sheer volume but for its complexity, diversity, and timeliness. Pharmaceutical industry experts, payors, and providers are now beginning to analyze big data to obtain insights. Although these efforts are still in their early stages, they could collectively help the industry address problems related to variability in healthcare quality and escalating healthcare spend. For instance, researchers can mine the data to see what treatments are most effective for particular conditions, identify patterns related to drug side effects or hospital re-admissions, and gain other important information that can help patients and reduce costs. Fortunately, recent technology advances in the industry have improved their ability to work with such data, even though the files are enormous and often have different database structures and technical characteristics.
Some innovative companies in the private sector - both established players and new entrants - are building applications and analytical tools that help patients, physicians, and other healthcare stake holders identify value and opportunities. Mckinsey & Co. recent evaluation of the marketplace revealed that over 200 businesses created since 2010 are developing a diverse set of innovative tools to make better use of available healthcare information. As their technological capabilities and understanding advance, we expect that innovators will develop even more interesting ideas for using big data - some of which could help substantially reduce the soaring cost of healthcare .
For big-data initiatives to succeed, the healthcare system must undergo some fundamental changes. Stake holders across the industry also need to protect patient privacy as more information becomes public, and ensure that safeguards are in place to protect organizations that release information.
The big-data revolution is in its early days, and most of the potential for value creation is still unclaimed. But it has set the industry on a path of rapid change and new discoveries, stakeholders that are committed to innovation will likely be the first to reap the rewards
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The release of big data is transforming the discussion of what is appropriate or right for a patient and right for the healthcare ecosystem.
Right living - Patients can build value by taking an active role in their own treatment, including disease prevention. The right-living pathway focuses on encouraging patients to make lifestyle choices that help them remain healthy, such as proper diet and exercise, and take an active role in their own care if they become sick.
Right care - This pathway involves ensuring that patients get the most timely, appropriate treatment available. In addition to relying heavily on protocols, right care requires a coordinated approach: across settings and providers, all caregivers should have the same information and work toward the same goal to avoid duplication of effort and suboptimal strategies.
Right provider - This pathway proposes that patients should always be treated by high-performing professionals that are best matched to the task and will achieve the best outcome. "Right provider" therefore has two meanings: the right match of provider skill set to the complexity of the assignment - for instance, nurses or physicians assistants performing tasks that do not require a doctor - but also the specific selection of the provider with the best proven outcomes.
Right value - To fulfill the goals of this pathway, providers and payors will continuously enhance healthcare value while preserving or improving its quality. This pathway could involve multiple measures for ensuring cost-effectiveness of care, such as tying provider reimbursement to patient outcomes, or eliminating fraud, waste, or abuse in the system.
Right innovation - This pathway involves the identification of new therapies and approaches to delivering care, across all aspects of the system, and improving the innovation engines themselves-for instance, by advancing medicine and boosting R&D productivity
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The "Big Data" Prospects in healthcare