As the capacity of computers and AI programs to store and parse information grows, so does our ability to work with huge volumes of data. Today, 'big data' analytics can help us to track patterns, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions in various aspects of healthcare and medicine. Here are four ways to use data and analytics to transform your approach to healthcare.

1. Using data to prioritise high value healthcare

All healthcare practitioners prescribe tests, treatments, and medicines intended to improve outcomes for patients. But some studies, such as the study conducted by Runciman et al (2012), are suggesting that, despite their best efforts, much of the care that is given to patients in Australian healthcare is inappropriate and unhelpful.

Healthcare data can help practitioners to identify and prioritise those treatments and medications that offer the most value to patients, whether this means reducing adverse effects triggered by medicines or ordering tests most likely to result in a diagnosis.

2. Using data to improve pharmaceutical research

The success of pharmaceutical research and development rests on the availability and accuracy of patient data. Big data can be used to improve the participant selection process in clinical trials and offers researchers access to patient data where follow-up data is already available. Using Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and other process automation in health and care settings can make trawling through large volumes of data much less time-consuming for both healthcare practitioners and researchers.

Data technology also allows us to analyse clinical trials almost in real time, which means that the results of trials and studies are readily available to healthcare practitioners and hospitals. In other words, data sharing means that the implications of important studies are more quickly understood by the medical community and swift action can be taken in cases where this is needed. 

3. Using data to improve population health measures

Advancing healthcare informatics can also be used to improve population health measures including chronic disease management. Keeping electronic medical records can help healthcare providers to develop advanced strategies that result in the earlier identification of at-risk groups and enable providers to offer personalised healthcare that simultaneously improves the patient experience and increases positive outcomes.

Likewise, datasets from the public sector can also be used to track disease patterns and identify outbreaks of diseases quickly, leading to a faster response and enabling local governments to increase disease surveillance as and when necessary.

4. Using data to develop targeted healthcare

Data sharing can also empower healthcare providers to offer a more personalised service to their patients. Patients who feel that their care isn't personal are less engaged in their own healthcare and less trusting of their doctors. Data can be used to offer patients care that factors in their own medical history, genetic predispositions, lifestyle, and other relevant factors. In this way, healthcare can become more effective and more preventative, affecting decisions ranging from the diagnoses that doctors make to the drugs that they prescribe. 

To learn more about harnessing data and analytics in healthcare join us at the FREE TO ATTEND Healthcare Informatics and Analytics event running as part of Australian Healthcare Week 2022 on March 16th – 17th at the ICC, Sydney.

Learn more about the expo and register your FREE ticket here!