Big Data in the Healthcare Industry

The concept of big data has recently been introduced to the healthcare industry to provide a solution to a different problem related to information issues (Hermon & Williams, 2014). The strategy allows hospital to develop actionable insights, boost care outcomes and value of services offered to the healthcare consumers. Big data has several good outcomes: it affects patient quality of living, gives care, safety, treatment, and innovation and allows marketers to track consumer behaviors, interests, and preferences (Hermon & Williams, 2014). On the other side, big data impacts consumers’ privacy negatively and lead to the unintended consequence of manipulation of information gathered. After carrying out a comprehensive literature review about the impact of big data in healthcare, it is fundamental to indicate that its benefits outweigh the downsides.[C2]

A Good Outcome for Consumers resulting from this Trend

Big data accelerates progress on major health care dimensions resulting in positive outcomes for the healthcare consumers by affecting patient quality of living, care, safety, and treatment innovation (Hermon & Williams, 2014). Using big data and social media applications, patients can take an active role in their treatment including prevention of diseases. Further, healthcare consumers get the right care as hospitals use and analyze the collected data to develop strategies that ensure patients get the timely and most appropriate treatment available (Hermon & Williams, 2014). At the same time, big data analytics enable care providers to eliminate suboptimal care methods and offer the best services to patients. Data is also used to ensure healthcare consumers get cost effective care, for example, hospitals try different approaches such as provider reimbursement to patient outcome and identification of new therapies to deliver care as analytics of big data boost research and development productivity.

A Good Outcome for a Party other than the Consumer from this Trend

Advertisers fall under “other party” category and can significantly benefit from big data to boost their profits by tracking customer preferences which allow them to gain new clients (McGinnis et al., 2011). Big data is used to get greater insight into the behaviors and preferences of customers. Advertisers of healthcare products, for example, insurance companies can utilize social media to gain information about the clients in real time which in turn helps them to create smarter marketing campaigns, create new products based on the preferences of the clients. In particular, the information stored in social networks provides marketers with details of interest and behaviors of consumers enabling them to add suitable variables to their message (Apple.Inc., 2014). With increased number of parameters, advertisers can identify more consumers who would be interested in buying their products. At the same time, they can achieve the goal because big data analytics enable them to target the audience more accurately than before. An important example of big data possibility is the new Facebook Insight tool that analyzes consumer information and provides data about their lifestyle which health care insurance companies can use to improve their existing features or segments (McGinnis et al., 2011). Therefore, a marketer can take advantage of the technology to devise applications that track consumer’ health and fitness allowing them to develop products that affect potential clients’ preferences and create more precise coverage (Androidcentral, 2013).

A Bad Outcome for Consumers resulting from this Trend

The most important disadvantage or bad outcome of big data for healthcare consumers is that it erodes their privacy especially when it comes to confidential medical records (Kayyali Knott & Van Kuiken, 2013). To be effective and for healthcare facilities to benefit fully from big data analytics, they need to look at the patient information comprehensively including private report and posts on social networks (Le & Liaw, 2017). According to majority of the big data experts, the technology is taking away privacy of individuals. Further, although the strategy enables physicians to monitor the health of the patient, provide them with quality, safe and innovative care, it does not give consumer freedom. Currently, the laws that relate the privacy of medical record such as HIPPA, but they do not apply to the volume produced and shared through health care consumer devices and applications (Raghupathi & Raghupathi, 2014).

An unintended consequence for Consumers resulting from this Trend

Big data is being used to manipulate consumer behaviors by the advertiser. The intended effect of big data is to improve efficiency in marketing, but consumer behavior interests are being controlled through by interfering with data related to their preferences outside their control. Healthcare consumer choice is being denied through inference-based narrowcasting of marketing information (Wigan & Clarke, 2013). Social media networks are targeting individuals unjustifiable and decision about development and product marketing is made depending on the data of low quality and comprehensibility because it is treated as it is sufficiently authoritative. As a result, this has to lead to mass production of bias as firms are looking for vulnerabilities related to the consumer behaviors and interests (Wigan & Clarke, 2013).

Conclusion

Indeed, big data is becoming an important tool in healthcare industry as a solution to various problems. Based on the information collected from the above analysis, it is noteworthy that big data has more merits than demerits in healthcare as it accelerates progress of a vast number of dimensions of related services provided to consumers: efficiency, patient centeredness, effectiveness, safety, quality care, timely provision of treatment and establishes equality.

References

Androidcentral. (2013). Samsung health is filled with plenty of great features for you to utilize, but first, you need to get set up. Retrieved on August 1, 2017 from https://www.androidcentral.com/tag/s-health

Apple.Inc. (2014). Iso-Health. Retrieved on August 1, 2017 from https://www.apple.com/ios/health/

Hermon, R., & Williams, P. A. (2014). Big data in healthcare: What is it used for?

Kayyali, B., Knott, D., & Van Kuiken, S. (2013). The big-data revolution in US health care: Accelerating value and innovation. Mc Kinsey & Company, 2(8), 1-13.

Le, T. M., & Liaw, S. Y. (2017). Effects of Pros and Cons of Applying Big Data Analytics to Consumers’ Responses in an E-Commerce Context. Sustainability, 9(5), 798.

McGinnis, J. M., Olsen, L., Goolsby, W. A., & Grossmann, C. (Eds.). (2011). Clinical data as the basic staple of health learning: creating and protecting a public good: workshop summary. National Academies Press.

Raghupathi, W., & Raghupathi, V. (2014). Big data analytics in healthcare: promise and potential. Health information science and systems, 2(1), 3.

Wigan, M. R., & Clarke, R. (2013). Big data's big unintended consequences. Computer, 46(6), 46-53.