Big data in health care sector

Department Of Computer Applications

Abstract

Health care sector has grown tremendously in stored in hard copy form, the current trend is

last few decades. The health care sector has towards the rapid digitization of these large

generated huge amounts of data that has huge amounts of data. There are different types of

volume, enormous velocity and vast variety. data sources which generates these enormous

Also it comes from a variety of new sources as amounts of data. Big data in healthcare refers to

hospitals are now tend to implemented electronic electronic health care records (EHR) that is quite

health record (EHR) systems. These sources large and complex that they are difficult to

have strained the existing capabilities of existing manage with traditional software and/or

conventional relational database management hardware. Also, they are not easily managed with

systems. In such scenario, big data solutions traditional or common data management tools

offer to harness these massive, heterogeneous and methods. Using the technologies that able to

and complex data sets to obtain more meaningful deal with such Big Data will offer many

and knowledgeable information. potential opportunities to the healthcare sector.

This paper basically discusses the impact of Healthcare big data refers to the vast quantities

implementing the big data solutions on the of data that is now available to healthcare

healthcare sector, the potential opportunities, providers. As a response to the digitization of

challenges and their solutions and available healthcare information and the rise of value-

platform and tools to implement Big data based care, the industry has taken advantage of

analytics in health care sector. big data and analytics to make strategic business
decisions. Faced with the challenges of
Keywords: Big Data, Health Care, Big Data healthcare data volume, velocity, variety, and
Analytics, oppurtunities and challenges. veracity, health systems need to adopt
technology capable of collecting, storing, and
I. Introduction
analyzing this information to produce actionable
The health care sector grows rapidly in last 30
insight.
years. The healthcare industry historically has
generated large amounts of data, driven by Particularly, big data analytics in healthcare

record keeping, compliance & regulatory enables analysis of the large datasets from

requirements and patient care. While most data is thousands of patients, identifying clusters and

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correlation between datasets, as well as
developing predictive models using data mining
techniques. Big data analytics in medicine and
healthcare integrates analysis of several scientific
areas such as bioinformatics, medical imaging,
sensor informatics, medical informatics and
health informatics.
II. Big Data
Big data is a term that is used to describe large
volume of data. Big data refers to a process that
is used when traditional data mining and
handling techniques cannot uncover the insights
and meaning of the underlying data. Data that is
unstructured or time sensitive or simply very
large cannot be processed by relational database
engines. This type of data requires a different
processing approach called big data, which uses
massive parallelism on readily-available
hardware.
Industry analyst Doug Laney originally coined
the concept of big data while referring to the
challenge of data management. According to
that, there are four important characteristics of
the Big data concept which is illustrated below.
1) Volume – The name Big Data itself is related
to a size which is enormous. Size of data plays a
very crucial role in determining value out of
data. Also, whether a particular data can actually
be considered as a Big Data or not, is dependent
upon the volume of data.
2) Variety –Variety refers to heterogeneous
sources and the nature of data, both structured
and unstructured. During earlier days,
spreadsheets and databases were the only sources
of data considered by most of the applications.
Nowadays, data in the form of emails, photos,
videos, monitoring devices, PDFs, audio, etc. are
also being considered in the analysis
applications.
3) Velocity – The term velocity refers to the
speed of generation of data. How fast the data is
generated and processed to meet the demands,
determines real potential in the data. Big Data
Velocity deals with the speed at which data
flows in from sources like business processes,
application logs, networks, and social media
sites, sensors, Mobile devices, etc. The flow of
data is massive and continuous.
4) Variability – This refers to the inconsistency
which can be shown by the data at times, thus
hampering the process of being able to handle
and manage the data effectively.
III. Big Data Sources
There is variety of sources from where the Big
Data is generated. They are:-
Media as a big data source - Media is the most
popular source of big data, as it provides
valuable insights on consumer preferences and
changing trends. Since it is self-broadcasted and
crosses all physical and demographical barriers,
it is the fastest way for businesses to get an in-
depth overview of their target audience, draw
patterns and conclusions, and enhance their
decision-making. Media includes social media
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and interactive platforms, like Google,
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram,
Cloud as a big data source - Today, companies
have moved ahead of traditional data sources by
shifting their data on the cloud. Cloud storage
accommodates structured and unstructured data
and provides business with real-time information
and on-demand insights. As big data can be
stored and sourced on public or private clouds,
via networks and servers, cloud makes for an
efficient and economical data source.
The web as a big data source - The public web
constitutes big data that is widespread and easily
accessible. Data on the Web or ‘Internet’ is
commonly available to individuals and
companies alike. Moreover, web services such as
Wikipedia provide free and quick informational
insights to everyone.
Iot as a big data source - Machine-generated
content or data created from IoT constitute a
valuable source of big data. This data is usually
generated from the sensors that are connected to
electronic devices. With IoT, data can now be
sourced from medical devices, vehicular
processes, video games, meters, cameras,
household appliances, and the like.
Databases as a big data source - Businesses
today prefer to use an amalgamation of
traditional and modern databases to acquire
relevant big data. Popular databases include a
variety of data sources, such as MS Access,
DB2, Oracle, SQL, and Amazon Simple, among
others.
IV. Health care and Big Data
The Healthcare sector is booming at a faster rate
and the necessity to manage patient care and
innovate medicines has increased synonymously.
With the rise in such needs, newer technologies
are being adopted in the industry. One such major
change is the use of Big Data and Analytics in the
Healthcare sector.
One of the characteristic that health care sector
possesses is its data richness. With the
development in diagnostic and treatment, health
care sector evolved so quickly in last few
decades. There are many sources in this sector
from where the data is generated. These data is
undoubtedly in the form of Big Data. The data
came from many sources and categorized as
follows:
1) Web and social media data: Data captured
from Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs, and the
like. It can also include health plan websites,
smartphone apps etc.
2) Machine-to-machine (M2M) device generated
data: readings from remote sensors, meters, and
other devices .
3) Biometric data: Data may in form of retinal
scans, x-ray images, finger prints, genetics,
handwriting, other medical images, blood
pressure and other similar types of data .
4) Human-generated data: In the form of
unstructured and semi-structured data. Some of
the examples are EMRs, Doctor’s notes and
paper documents.
Genomic Data: data in the form of DNA
sequence.
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V. Big Data Analytics sources to a data product useful for
organizations forms the core of Big Data
Big Data Analytics largely involves collecting
Analytics. Big Data analytics in Healthcare is
data from different sources, manipulate it in a
fundamentally a set of methodologies,
way that it becomes available to be consumed
procedures, frameworks and technologies
by analysts and finally deliver data products
which are used to transform raw data into
useful to the organization business.
meaningful as well as useful information. These
The process of converting large amounts of information are used to make decision making
unstructured raw data, retrieved from different effective

Fig No:1- Big Data Analytics in health care

As per the figure 1, data produces from variety like extraction, cleaning, conformation,
of sources like hospitals, medical groups, payers transformation and loading are executed on data
or other data providers. These data first needed during this phase. Finally, some meaningful and
to be aggregated. Moreover, many processes useful information are generated which can be

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used by variety of users and purpose as shown in
figure 1.
VI. Opportunities of Big Data in
Health Care
1)Decreasing Healthcare Costs Using Big Data -
Data analysis can give providers insight to
determine populations at risk for illness, so
proactive steps can be taken to prevent it. Big
data can more accurately pinpoint where
education and prevention is needed to produce
healthier populations at lower costs.Data and its
analytics are easier than ever to share. Treatment
is more evidence based using Big Data analytics.
2) Promoting Value and Innovation - Big data
also presents healthcare providers with the
opportunity to improve their value to patients
with a more holistic, patient-centered approach
to the delivery of care. Data can provide insight
to patients about their current state of health, and
encourage them to take more ownership of their
healthcare.Improvements in information sharing
can increase productivity, reduce overlap and
enhance the coordination of care.
3)Personalized medicine - Genetic markers are
already identifying health risks while lifestyle
choices predict the possibility of health issues
before they start. Big data will further
personalize medicine by determining the tests
and treatments needed for each patient, rather
than a one-protocol-fits-all approach. The ability
to provide treatment earlier can reduce additional
costs and even eliminate the risk of chronic
diseases.
4) Focused medicine - Data can allow providers
to focus their care to provide only what patients
need, exactly when they need it, thereby
preventing emergency treatments, optimizing the
timing of hospital discharges and better managing
patient throughput.
5) Managed patient data - Sharing digital and
electronic images, X-rays, scans and other patient
data is expected to become seamless, reducing
repeated procedures and tests, and further
increasing efficiency.
6) Electronic Health Records (EHRs) – It is the
most widespread application of big data in
medicine. Every patient has his own digital
record which includes demographics, medical
history, allergies, laboratory test results etc.
Records are shared via secure information
systems and are available for providers from both
public and private sector. Every record is
comprised of one modifiable file, which means
that doctors can implement changes over time
with no paperwork and no danger of data
replication.
7) Strengthen the Preventive Care - Prevention is
always better than cure. Following this thumb of
rule, with the advent of Big Data analytics, it is
easy to capture, analyze and compare patient
symptoms earlier to offer preventive care in a
better way.
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8) Health Trend Analysis - By using different
analytical approaches including data mining and
text mining techniques, health trend analysis and
comprehensive patient management is more easy
using Big Data Analytics.
9) Studying Drug Efficacy - Electronic health
record (EHR) data may also be used to study
drug efficacy.
VII. Challenges and Solutions of Big
Data in Health Care
1) Security - Since the big data contained
subject’s personal information and their health
history, it is important for the database to be
protected from hacking, cyber theft and phishing,
where the stolen data can be sold for a huge sum.
Before big data can be implemented, it is
necessary to ensure that the administration,
privacy, security of the big data is well protected.
To address these security and privacy challenges,
the big data analytics software solutions should
use advanced encryption algorithms and pseudo-
anonymization of the personal data. These
software solutions should provide security on the
network level and authentication for all involved
users, guarantee privacy and security, as well as
set up good governance standards and practices.
The accessibility of the healthcare data need to
be consistently reviewed and monitored.
2) Data Aggregation - In health care sector, the
data is in unstructured form. These unstructured
data is in the form of images, graphs, notes of
doctor’s etc. Apart from this, the nature of
structured data is mostly heterogeneous. These
may lead a huge problem at the time of
aggregation of these data. Natural language
processing and free-text software could solve
this problem at some extent but it is in its initial
stage.
3) Cloud Storage - The cloud storage can be used
to upload data or having the whole system
designed in the cloud. Thus, the cloud will need
to have sufficient space for the storage and
sufficient speed for data upload at the same time.
The storage apart involving words
documentations, it should also able to store
graphic type such as X ray, CT or MRI. The
system should also be able to generate graphic
presentations from the available data so that
clinicians are able to visualize and understand
quickly and take prompt decision . the
advancement in cloud storage technology is
offering a potential solution to this problem
through its added capacities of information
storage.
4) Capturing Accurate Data - The data being
captured for the analysis is ideally expected to be
truly clean, well-informed, complete and
accurate. But unfortunately, at times, data is often
skewed and cannot be used in multiple systems.
To solve this critical issue, the health care
providers need to redesign their data capture
routines, prioritise valuable data and train their
clinicians to recognise the value of relevant
information.
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5) Staying Up-to-Date - The dynamic nature of
healthcare data demands regular updations to
keep it relevant. The time interval between each
update may vary from seconds to a couple of
years for different datasets. It would be
challenging to understand the volatility of big
data one is handling unless a consistent
monitoring process is in place.
6) Requirement of Expert Knowledge - Big Data
systems require data scientists with specialized
experience to support design, implementation,
and continued use. The McKinsey Global
Institute estimates that there will be more than
100,000 person shortage through 2020. It means
that mean 50–60% of data scientist positions
may go vacant. Data scientists need highly
technical skill sets. They must possess soft skills
such as communication, collaboration,
leadership, creativity and more.
7) Protecting the Patient’s Privacy - One of the
significant challenges in leveraging health care’s
big data to its full extent is policies that protect
the privacy of patient’s data. Many laws protect
the patient’s data and not reveal the patient’s
identity that makes the big data analytics
difficult. On the contrary, sometimes health care
providers are themselves are reluctant to share
data because of market competition. A physician
many not want their competitors to know exactly
how many and which types of procedures they
performed and where. Also, the demographics of
hospitals provide one hospital a financial
advantage over another. Some of the datasets are
publicly available but these data sources are
typically historical data or limited to government
payers.
8) Cost Incurred for Establishment of Big Data
Architecture - To have a benefit through Big
Data analytics, it requires organization level
management and analysis as well as a large-scale
investment.
VII. Technology Support for Big Data
Analytics in Health Care
There are varieties of platforms and tools are
available for Big Data analytics in healthcare.
Some of these are:
1) Cloud Storage - Cloud storage uses a network
of remote servers. These servers are hosted on
the Internet to store, manage, and process data.
There are many vendors that provide cloud
storage. For example Google Cloud Storage is a
key part of storing and working with Big Data on
Google Cloud Platform. For Bigquery and
Hadoop, using a Google Cloud Storage bucket is
optional but recommended.
2) Column oriented databases - Column-oriented
databases basically stores data sets as segments
of columns of data rather than as rows of data. It
allows huge data compression and very fast
query times.
3) NoSQL databases - In relational databases
tabular relations are used while a NoSQL (Not
only SQL) database provides a different method
for storage and retrieval of data. It focuses on
storage and retrieval of huge volumes of
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